Questions and Answers of Law Courts And Justice In America

What do you think are the main differences between legal rules and other kinds of rules?
Give one or two examples of how changing values and/or technology have led to changes in the law.
Do you believe that the "ruling class" (decide for yourselves who these people may be) unfairly pass laws favorable to themselves and detrimental to the rest of us? If they do, what can we do about
In what ways can conflict be beneficial to a society? Can conflict actually support consensus?
Would you choose to live under a brutal dictator such as Hitler, Stalin, or Saddam Hussein or suffer the chaos of a society without any kind of law?
Why is law sometimes at odds with justice? Give an example.
Relate the rule of law to Packer's models of criminal justice.
Explain the concept of judicial review.
Why is Marbury v. Madison such an important decision?
What are some of the benefits of the common law approach?
What are the primary sources of law?
How did the Bill of Rights come to be applied to the individual states?
Why was the Bill of Rights adopted, and what rights are contained in it?
What are the different standards of review in constitutional law, and when are they used?
Given the Supreme Court's "discovery" of penumbras in the Bill of Rights such as the right to privacy, should this right be extended to assisted suicide for terminally ill patients and/or access to
How has the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment been applied by the Supreme Court?
How has the due process clause of the 14th Amendment been applied by the Supreme Court?
Using strict scrutiny review, under what circumstances can a state abridge fundamental rights?
How has the Supreme Court interpreted the Second Amendment in recent years?
Why does the standard of review matter in constitutional law?
What are some of the prominent limitations on the criminal law?
What are the five elements of the corpus delicti, and why must each be proven?
What is the difference between an excuse defense and a justification defense?
What are the major categories of crimes, and how are crimes classified?
How does the civil law differ procedurally from the criminal law?
Name and explain the different standards for the burden of proof.
What is a justification defense? Give three examples and explain them.
What is an excuse defense? Give five examples and explain.
Explain the M'Naghten rule.
Explain the differences between civil law and common law.
Explain the concept of jurisdiction and give four examples of the different types of jurisdiction.
How does a case get to the Supreme Court? What is the basis for acceptance of an appeal?
What is the Missouri plan and how does it work?
When a trial begins, which side presents its case first, and why?
Briefly explain the different types of appeals.
What is voir dire?
What are the three different types of functions courts provide?
What is the Judiciary Act of 1789 , and what did it do?
List the steps involved in pretrial proceedings in the order that they occur after arrest.
What is the purpose of a grand jury?
How do specialized courts, such as drug treatment courts, differ from traditional courts? What do you think is the most important difference between these types of courts?
What are the advantages of adjudicating cases-for example, domestic violence cases or cases involving defendants with mental health problems-in a specialized court? Are there any disadvantages to
How does restorative justice differ from the other utilitarian perspectives on punishment? How are the principles of restorative justice incorporated into problem-solving courts?
Assume that you have been asked to evaluate the effectiveness of a specialized court. How would you measure the court's success?
How did the research design used by Gottfredson et al. (2003) improve upon the research design typically used to evaluate drug treatment courts? What did their evaluation of the BCDTC reveal?
How does the focus of domestic violence courts and veterans courts differ from that of drug treatment courts and other problem-solving courts?
Why did arrests for domestic violence increase following the implementation of the Lexington County (South Carolina) Domestic Violence Court?
If you were a local elected official and could choose whether to fund a community court, a homeless court, a mental health court, veterans court, or a reentry court, which would you choose? Why?
How do juvenile courts differ from adult criminal courts? What accounts for these differences?
What are the pros and cons of prosecuting juveniles in adult criminal courts? Would you favor or oppose a "blanket rule" that all crimes involving youth under a certain age-say 16-must be adjudicated
What do you envision as the future of problem-solving courts? Will additional types of courts develop in the years to come? If so, what types of courts might these be?
What role should politics play in the selection of U.S. Attorneys?
Do you think local prosecuting attorneys should be elected or appointed? What are the pros and cons of each selection method?
What factors should voters consider in deciding if a prosecutor should be reelected?
In your opinion, should prosecutors' offices have to explain to the public why they declined to file charges in cases? What would be some ramifications of such a requirement?
Of the three models of prosecuting cases-horizontal model, vertical model, and mixed model—which do you think would be most appropriate for the prosecutor's office where you attend school?
What effect does being a member of the courtroom workgroup have on the way assistant prosecutors perform their jobs?
Is it fair to allow prosecutors to determine what evidence is exculpatory? What alternative methods (if any) would be better?
In Griffin v. California (1965), a case involving the rape and murder of a woman in a dark alley, the Supreme Court considered whether the following arguments by the prosecutor constituted
Do you think community prosecution is an effective use of resources?
Think about the community where you live for a moment. Identify a quality-of-life problem in your community related to criminal behavior that may be a fitting target for a community prosecution
Do you think the rule announced in Scott, that a defendant may not be sentenced to jail or prison unless he or she was represented by an attorney or voluntarily waived his or her right to counsel,
Given that $90 %$ of criminal defendants are indigent, do you think more of an effort should be made to increase the money that is paid to counsel appointed to represent these people to ensure that
What do you think of the ability of judges to choose the attorney who will represent an indigent defendant in the ad hoc assigned counsel system? Should there be some other method to ensure that
Which assigned counsel method do you find to be the better method for appointing lawyers?
Which contract attorney program, either fixed price or fixed fee, do you think is better? Can you think of any other way that a contract program could operate?
Which system do you think ensures that the best possible representation is provided to indigent defendants, assigned counsel, contract, or public defender?
Do you think more of an effort should be made to increase public perception of public defenders given the amount of criticism they receive?
Given that research shows that there is little difference in the outcome achieved when a client is represented by a private attorney as opposed to an appointed one, why would someone prefer to hire
If you were a defense attorney and thought that your client was guilty, how would you weigh this against your duty to ethically represent him or her and safeguard this person's rights?
Do you think the two-pronged test announced in Strickland creates too high of a standard by which to judge the effectiveness of assistance of counsel?
Given that indigent defendants have no right to choose the counsel that is appointed to them, what do you think should be the solution if they do not like the attorney appointed them or cannot work
Should the court really be allowed to refuse to allow an attorney to represent someone?
Should clients be allowed to play more of a role in strategizing their case? What if you were an attorney and you knew that it would be better for your client to plea out but he or she insisted on
Do you think some form of counsel should be provided for every offense? For example, should it be required that an attorney be available for advice on how to proceed with a traffic infraction?
Do you think that if a client can afford representation, he or she should be forced to hire private counsel to reduce the workload that public defenders face?
The notorious trial of Sam Sheppard is discussed in the chapter as an example of the failure of a trial judge to adequately perform his duties. What kind of impact do you think a case such as this
What do you think should be done to make trial judges more accountable when they fail to adequately ensure that the rights of the accused are safeguarded? Should the public have a say in the
Do you think that there should be more cooperation or sharing of administrative responsibilities either among the court staff or among judges to improve the scheduling and timing problems?
Which system of electing judges, partisan or nonpartisan, do you think is better for preserving the goals of the judicial system?
Do you think judges should be elected at all considering that most of the public is not educated in the ways of the legal system?
If all judges were appointed, how would the public be able to hold them accountable for the rulings they make?
Which interest do you think is more important when determining how to select judges, judicial accountability or judicial independence?
Which system for selecting judges do you find achieves the best balance of accountability and judicial independence: pure appointment, election, or merit selection? Why?
The chapter speaks of state programs and the National Judicial College, which provides training to judges to help them be more effective on the bench. Should participation in these programs be
Given that most judges were attorneys who specialized in only one or two areas of law, should they be required to learn (take classes on) other areas of law rather than leaving it up to them to put
Is it fair to try a defendant in absentia? What are some possible alternatives?
What might explain the long period of time it takes to complete criminal prosecutions?
Why is cross-examination of prosecution witnesses such an important right?
Can you think of a circumstance when a defendant's rights and the rights of a victim may come into conflict? What should a court do in such a situation?
Should the Supreme Court take into account the practical implications of its Confrontation Clause decisions?
Why might people be opposed to a Victims' Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution?
Should juries be given less discretion to interpret evidence and establish the facts of the case? How do you ensure that a juror doesn't get influenced by the media?
Should the right to a trial by jury be limited to only serious offenses, or should it be guaranteed regardless of the level of offense?
What are your thoughts on the way the Supreme Court has attempted to define what constitutes a serious offense versus a petty crime? Should there be a more concrete definition?
Should all verdicts be required to be unanimous or only a substantial majority? What are the advantages and disadvantages to both?
What are your thoughts on the "key-man" system for selecting juries versus current methods?
Should statutory exemptions for serving on a jury be declared illegal on a nationwide basis rather than letting each state choose whether to have this type of law?
Should jurors be allowed to take notes, or can this distract them from what's going on in the trial?
Should there be greater attention paid to the racial and gender makeup of juries to ensure that it actually reflects every viewpoint of the community?

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