Final Exam Review for State and Local Government | POLS 2312, Study notes of Local Government Studies

Download Final Exam Review for State and Local Government | POLS 2312 and more Study notes Local Government Studies in PDF only on Docsity! POLS 2312 FINAL EXAM REVIEW QUESTIONS FINAL EXAM REVIEW POLS 2312 1. Compare/contrast, using at least five criteria: "appellate" and "trial" courts. Give an example of each in Texas. Trial Courts; Federal courts are called district courts. Cases are heard for the first time in a trial court. Cases only affect the people involved with the case. The 2 sides present evidence and witnesses, and either a judge or jury makes a decision based on the evidence presented. Appellate Courts; Federal appellate courts are called court of appeals. Cases can be further appealed to the U.S. supreme court. If either party disagrees with the decision in the trial court, they can appeal, ask a higher court to review the decision. The outcome of the appeals case have the potential to affect large number of people, because these decisions are binding on district courts within the circuit. No new evidence is presented, the jugde simply reviews the materials from the original trial and determine whether the lower court made the correct legal decision. An example of a Texas Appellate Court is; Court of Criminal Appeals and Supreme Court of Texas. Trial Court in Texas; District Courts, Trial Courts of General Civil and Criminal junction, Municipal Courts, Justice of the Peace Courts. 2. Outline/discuss: three types of juries in Texas. What is the purpose of each? Grand Jury and Appellate or Trial Juries. Grand juries are supposed to ensure that the government has sufficient evidence to proceed with a criminal prosecution against an individual. If at least 9 believe there is sufficient evidence, they issue an indictment. Petit or trial juries hear evidence and render verdicts in cases involving both civil and criminal matters. 3. Compare and contrast the "merit plan" (appointment) and the "election" approaches to selecting state and county judicial officials. Which do you prefer? Why? most states, for the purpose of choosing their own judges, have opted for some sort of popular election, at either the point of initial judicial selection, or for later retention. Merit selection is a way of choosing judges that uses a nonpartisan commission of lawyers and non-lawyers to locate, recruit, investigate, and evaluate applicants for judgeships. The commission then submits the names of the most highly qualified applicants (usually three) to the appointing authority (usually the governor), who must make a final selection from the list. For subsequent terms of office, judges are evaluated for retention either by a commission or by the voters in an uncontested election 4. Outline/discuss: any five explanations for the exponential increase in civil litigation in America. 5. Outline/discuss: any five explanations for the five hundred per cent increase in the number of prisoners confined behind bars over the past twenty five years litigation in America. immigration , increase in poverty, stricter laws, 1 in 3 blacks dont graduate from HS, New crimes versus people release, Recidivism. 6. Outline discuss: any three criticisms of the death penalty. And any three reasons to support this method of punishment? Execute the wrong person, costly, Morally unacceptable, more poor people executed. Cheaper, make room in prison, deturances 7. Outline/discuss any three reasons your instructor assigned “Gideon’s Trumpet.” Gideons Trial, precedent, 8. Compare/contrast: “council-manager,” “council-mayor,” and commission forms of municipal government in Texas The council–manager government form is one of two predominant forms of municipal government in the United States; the other common form of local government is the mayor-council government form, which characteristically occurs in large cities.[1] Council–manager government form also is used in county governments in the United States and the governing body in a county may be called a council, a commission, freeholders, aldermen, and such. The council-manager form also is used for municipal government in Canadaand in Ireland, among many other countries, both for city councils and county councils. The mayor–council government system, sometimes called the mayor–commission government system, is one of the two most common forms of local government for municipalities. It is the one most frequently adopted in large cities, although the other form,council-manager government, is the typical local government form of more municipalities. 9. Compare/contrast the services provided by county and city governments in Texas.