Short eassys questions
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Introduction to the U.S. Legal System Midterm Examination Checklist (Fall 2019)
Overview and Purpose: The midterm examination (exam) for GOVT/CRJU 2392 is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 14, 2019. The exam is designed to assess your comprehension of important concepts described in the course textbook (Banks and O’Brien), lectures, and in-class discussions. Procedure: The exam is closed book and closed notes: Students will not have access to any resources during the exam session. Students must complete their own work and avoid looking at their neighbors’ exam booklets. Communication with another student during the exam session will be considered cheating, resulting in a failing grade and a report filed with appropriate university authorities. If possible, students should avoid bringing excess personal belongings to the exam session. All cell phones must be placed in “silent” mode prior to beginning the exam, and all phones or any other communicative devices (i.e. Apple Watches) should be stored away in students’ pockets, backpacks, purses, etc. Similarly, all study aids must be stored away prior to beginning the exam. Any use of devices during the exam session will be considered cheating and disciplinary proceedings will be initiated. Once a student begins the exam, that student will not be permitted to leave the room. If a student leaves the room, the exam will be considered completed. All university and department policies concerning cheating and academic honesty are in full effect for the exam session. Content: Student comprehension of the material covered will be evaluated through objective response items (20 points; multiple choice) and four short essay prompts (40 points). In the latter section, students will have the option of choosing from a bank of pre-selected short essay prompts drawn from textbook and in-class discussion themes. The essays students will be required to answer are also provided at the end of the PowerPoint slides that guide class discussions. I am providing these questions to you well in advance of the exam to allow you to practice drafting answers that effectively communicate knowledge.
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Content (continued): Ultimately, students are responsible for any and all material covered in the textbook (Banks and O’Brien) and weekly lectures/discussions. As mentioned previously, the content provided in lecture/discussion slides emphasizes the most important, or fundamental, themes of each chapter. While the exam will draw heavily from the lecture/discussion slides, a few exam items are designed to assess whether students have actually read textbook chapters. This is inevitable, as our meetings do not provide enough time to cover all legal system concepts in extreme detail. However, students should pay particular attention to the following terms and concepts: Civil Law Systems Common Law Systems U.S. Institutional Structure Public Law Controversies Private Law Controversies The Roles of Courts (5) Jurisprudence Natural Law/Rights Legal Positivism Sociological/Legal Realism Economics in Law Feminist Theory/Jurisprudence Critical Legal Studies/Critical Race Theory Judicial Federalism Single v. Two-Tiered Trial Courts Limited v. General Jurisdiction Courts District v. Appellate Courts Appeal by Right v. Appeal by Permission Certiorari Structure of Texas Courts Judicial Selection Merit Plans Judicial Election Types Selection of Federal Judges (Criteria & Process) Selection of Supreme Court Justices (Criteria & Process) Judicial Independence v. Judicial Accountability Demographics of U.S. Judiciary Caseload of State Courts (compared to Federal) Legal Training Approaches Law School Admission Criteria Interest Group Strategies Specialization in Legal Practice Access to Justice, Criminal Cases v. Civil Cases Pro Se v. Pro Bono Demographics in Practice of Law Preparation Tips: 1) Read the assigned material. Students are expected to have completed readings in a timely manner, as the textbook often examines lecture themes in greater detail. Furthermore, these details will be useful as you develop comprehensive responses to short answer prompts. 2) “Cramming” has limited utility in terms of retaining and retrieving knowledge. As with any other activity, sustained focus on one subject can be counterproductive and cause mental “burnout.” Take breaks during your review, allowing enough time between study sessions to temporarily “forget” the material. When retrieval from memory is more difficult, we actually tend to retain knowledge more efficiently. 3) Effective studying is active, not passive. Active studying means quizzing yourself, usually via flashcards or with a partner, after reading and reviewing material. It means practicing by writing out your responses to essay prompts and the items listed above, and then training yourself to recall and recite those responses, point-by-point.
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Grading Criteria: Written responses to the short essay questions will be assessed according to the accuracy of the response, comprehensiveness of the response, and presentation of the response. “Accuracy” entails providing correct definitions of key concepts and factually correct information as applicable; “comprehensiveness” entails providing detailed definitions and descriptions of all the themes implicated in each essay prompt, as well as thoughtful insights regarding the “pros and cons” of those themes; and “presentation” of the response entails clarity, organization, and absence of proofreading errors (i.e. written professionally). While length of responses varies somewhat, students should not find it difficult to construct responses comprised of two to four paragraphs. Answers that fall short of any of these criteria will not receive full credit.
A-range:
Accurate, comprehensive, and sound presentation, and,
Response provides details suggesting familiarity with textbook examples and explanations of themes implicated in essay prompt
B-range maximum:
Accurate and sound presentation, but not comprehensive (i.e. omits important distinctions or elements called for in the response), or,
Accurate and comprehensive, but lacking in presentation (suffers from clarity and organizational issues; multiple proofreading mistakes)
C-range maximum:
Fairly comprehensive and often sound presentation, but inaccurate (incorrect definitions or failure to correctly explain concepts), or,
Accurate, but not comprehensive and also lacking in presentation (may also fall into D- range category if sorely lacking in terms of comprehensiveness)
D-range and below:
Responses that are generally inaccurate, lacking comprehensiveness, and poorly presented
Time: Students will have one hour and 15 minutes to complete the exam – the length of one normal class meeting. All students have the ability to do well on this exam, and to demonstrate to the instructor and themselves the extent of their knowledge of the U.S. legal system.
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Short Writing Options
Short Essay (SE) #1 - As reviewed in class and the textbook, describe the five roles courts serve in the U.S. legal system. For each role, be sure to provide an illustrative example.
SE #2 - Compare and contrast the jurisprudential theories of natural law, positivism, and legal realism. In your response, you should also explain why each theory of law is controversial.
SE #3 – Compare and contrast the structure and purposes of state court systems and the federal court system in the U.S. A successful response will describe the organization of each system, the number and types of cases resolved by each court system, and explain why state high courts and the U.S. Supreme Court are not really the courts of last resort for most litigants.
SE #4 - Describe the processes through which judges are selected in the U.S. legal system at the state and federal levels. In your response, be certain to explain how each selection process you have described relates to the ideas of “judicial independence” and “judicial accountability.”
SE #5 - Describe the various legal services and protection available to indigent defendants in the U.S. legal system. In your response, you must identify the constitutional source of that protection, the types of cases that constitutional source applies to, and how that constitutional protection actually works in practice (the effects on the defendants, the judicial system, and society).
SE #6 – Explain the controversy surrounding demographic diversity in the US legal system, focusing on judges and lawyers. Your response should define what is meant by the term “diversity,” provide statistics concerning the extent to which the judiciary and legal profession can be considered diverse, and should explain the arguments surrounding the idea of diversity, focusing on why some believe diversity should be encouraged, while others believe it is irrelevant to the practice of law.