Sentencing and Appeals MCQs
Sentencing and Appeals MCQs
Welcome to MCQss.com! This page features MCQs that focus on the topics of sentencing and appeals. Dive into an interactive learning experience where you can assess your knowledge and gain a comprehensive understanding of these crucial aspects of the legal system.
Through our MCQs, you can test your knowledge and comprehension of the concepts related to sentencing and appeals. The questions cover a wide range of topics, including the factors considered in sentencing, mitigating and aggravating circumstances, sentencing guidelines, appellate jurisdiction, grounds for appeal, procedural requirements, and the role of appellate courts.
Engaging with these MCQs not only helps you assess your understanding but also enhances your critical thinking and analytical skills in relation to sentencing and appeals. It provides an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the types of questions commonly encountered in exams, interviews, or quizzes related to these topics.
Explore the MCQs on MCQss.com and delve deeper into the complexities of sentencing and appeals. Whether you are a law student, legal professional, or simply interested in the criminal justice system, these questions serve as a valuable resource to expand your knowledge and prepare for various assessments
1: The Eighth Amendment guides all sentencing decisions because it prohibits______.
A. Interference with due process
B. Cruel and unusual punishment
C. An equitable sentencing scheme
D. The government’s arbitrary actions
2: Relevant conduct may be used to enhance a sentence because it is conduct______.
A. Associated with the offense, but not charged as a crime
B. The prosecutor withheld from the court at sentencing
C. The judge chose to overlook at the sentencing hearing
D. The probation officer failed to charge as a crime
3: What type of sentence involves the imposition of fixed or flat prison time?
A. Malleable
B. Discretionary
C. Determinate
D. Indeterminate
4: To calculate a sentence under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines’ grid before making additions and subtractions, a judge determines the sentencing range by intersecting which of the following about the crime with the offender’s criminal history?
A. Statutory maximum
B. Base offense level
C. Statutory minimum
D. Defendant’s confession
5: In the Apprendi v. New Jersey (2000) case, the U.S. Supreme Court held that to enhance a sentence, “Other than the fact of prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury” and proved by which legal standard?
A. Beyond a reasonable doubt
B. By law enforcement
C. Beyond a preponderance
D. By the offender’s conduct
6: Mandatory minimum sentences operate to force the offender to serve a______.
A. Drug-free sentence in prison
B. Federal guideline sentence
C. Minimum term of incarceration
D. Probationary sentence in prison
7: Offenders serving a suspended sentence often must meet all of the following conditions while on probation and parole, EXCEPT______.
A. Submitting to drug testing
B. Making a curfew every night
C. Looking for and keeping a job
D. Becoming government informants
8: Three-strike laws were enacted as a response to the public perception that offenders repeatedly______.
A. Went in and out of prison
B. Disrespected prison authority
C. Failed mandatory drug testing
D. Lied to the court about their location
9: Megan’s Laws classify sex offenders in the following tiers EXCEPT______.
A. Tier 1: Notify law enforcement only
B. Tier 2: Notify people likely to encounter offender
C. Tier 3: Notify the community and public
D. Tier 4: Civil commitment of sex offenders
10: In the 1980s, the term “superpredator” entered the popular vernacular and, as a result, many states did which of the following with juveniles?
A. Began sentencing juveniles to the death penalty
B. Lowered the age at which juveniles could be tried as adults
C. Started restorative justice programs for juvenile well-being
D. Began running on “get tough on crime” political platforms
11: During death-penalty voir dire, a Witherspoon or Witt excludable means the potential juror cannot______.
A. Impose a life without parole sentence
B. Impose the death penalty
C. Impose a finding of guilt
D. Impose a finding of innocence
12: Execution of offenders is guided by which of the following U.S. Supreme Court’s standard?
A. Actual innocence of decency
B. Evolving standards of decency
C. Meaningless standard of decency
D. Justified standard of decency
13: There is no one definition of “cruel and unusual” punishment.
A. True
B. False
14: The COMPAS risk assessment algorithm may be the sole basis a judge relies on to determine an offender’s sentence.
A. True
B. False
15: The U.S. Supreme Court is in favor of executing offenders who claim they are “actually innocent” of the crime for which they have been convicted and sentenced to death.
A. True
B. False
16: According to old English common law, the penalty for misdemeanor was a public flogging.
A. True
B. False
17: The current trend in corrections/sentencing is toward determinate sentencing.
A. True
B. False
18: One example of an intermediate sanction is parole.
A. True
B. False
19: Federal sentencing guidelines serve to severely restrict the discretion of judges in regard to sentencing.
A. True
B. False
20: One criticism of mandatory drug laws is that they fail to take into consideration the unique qualities of each situation.
A. True
B. False
21: In a weighing state, in order to recommend the death penalty, a jury must evaluate the aggravating circumstances against the mitigating circumstances and find the aggravating circumstances more significant.
A. True
B. False
22: Generally speaking, an appeal must be filed after a guilty verdict has been handed down.
A. True
B. False
23: If an appellate court finds a trial to have “structural defects” in those areas fundamental to a fair trial, a new trial is automatically ordered.
A. True
B. False
24: Federal habeas corpus review is the most important collateral remedy for both federal and state inmates.
A. True
B. False
25: The final judgment rule provides that a defendant ordinarily may appeal only following a guilty verdict and sentencing.
A. True
B. False
26: All of the following were identified in the text as purposes of punishment EXCEPT ______.
A. Incapacitation
B. Restitution
C. Institutionalization
D. Restoration
27: A punishment in which a defendant is allowed to return home under a series of restrictions and must regularly report to an officer without ever having been sentenced to incarceration is known as ______.
A. An intermediate sanction
B. Probation
C. Parole
D. Boot camp
28: In most jurisdictions, who completes and files the presentence report?
A. The bailiff
B. A probation officer
C. The lead police investigator
D. The jury foreman
29: The protection against cruel and unusual punishment is found in which amendment?
A. The First Amendment
B. The Second Amendment
C. The Sixth Amendment
D. The Eighth Amendment
30: Christopher is a defendant in a manslaughter case, he was provided the opportunity to make a statement. This is referred to as the ______.
A. Right of allocution
B. Final judgment rule
C. Interlocutory appeal
D. Habeas corpus
31: Is actual innocence a defendant’s claim that to he is “innocent” of a crime for which he has been convicted?
A. False
B. True
32: _____ is the defendant’s right to address the court before sentence is imposed
A. All of these
B. Serving probation
C. Allocution
D. Fingerprinting
33: _____ is defined as shortened the time for, and the number of, habeas corpus petitions filed on behalf of prisoners
A. All of these
B. Recklessly
C. Defense of others
D. Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA)
34: _____ is known as in death penalty cases, first minitrial determines whether the defendant is innocent of first-degree murder; if not, case proceeds to second minitrial, where the jury decides whether to impose a life without parole or death sentence
A. Chain of causation
B. Bifurcated trial
C. All of these
D. Inchoate impossibility
35: Is capital punishment government-sanctioned homicide as a punishment for the crime of first-degree murder?
A. False
B. True
36: _____ is an exception that allows appeals before a final judgment
A. Collateral order doctrine
B. None of these
C. The judge
D. The prosecutor
37: _____ is defined as Sentences imposed on one offender on conviction of many crimes that run at the same time
A. Warrants are rarely required to search a home especially in high-crime areas
B. The government has a relationship with a vehicle through registration and inspection
C. All of these
D. Concurrent sentences
38: _____ is known as sentences imposed on one offender on conviction of many crimes that run one after the other (e.g., sentence A runs for 5 years, then sentence B starts to run)
A. None of these
B. Serving probation
C. Solving cold cases
D. Consecutive sentences
39: Is cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the Eighth Amendment?
A. False
B. True
40: _____ is a sentence imposed for a fixed period of time
A. Held admissible at trial
B. Determinate sentencing
C. Time, manner, and place restriction
D. All of these
41: _____ is defined as the legal standard by which the U.S. Supreme Court removes certain defendants (e.g., juveniles who kill, and intellectually disabled offenders) from eligibility for the death penalty
A. No contest plea
B. If both tenants on site refuse consent to search, the police may search anyway
C. Evolving standards of decency
D. All of these
42: _____ is known as the process a convicted defendant must go through to finish all available levels of legal review before a higher court entertains an appeal
A. All of these
B. The judge chose to overlook at the sentencing hearing
C. The probation officer failed to charge as a crime
D. Exhaustion of remedies
43: Is expungement the sealing or destroying of a defendant’s criminal record?
A. True
B. False
44: _____ is reduced the 100:1 powder cocaine to crack disparity in federal guideline sentencing
A. Constructive possession
B. Support
C. Fair Sentencing Act
D. All of these
45: _____ is defined as enacted in 1987 to reduce sentencing disparities in federal courts; made federal sentencing a mathematical equation; once mandatory, now advisory
A. All of these
B. Federal Sentencing Guidelines
C. A prediction of the future
D. The scienter for theft
46: _____ is known as a rule that allows appeals only from decisions that definitively resolve an issue in the case
A. The jury pool and asking questions
B. An individual and asking questions
C. Final judgment rule
D. None of these
47: Is indeterminate sentencing a sentence of a range of years of imprisonment, such as 7 to 15 years, with the expectation that good behavior while in prison will result in an earlier release?
A. False
B. True
48: _____ is an appeal filed before a final judgment is rendered in a particular case
A. Seven
B. Nine
C. Interlocutory appeal
D. None of these
49: _____ is defined as a sentence that ensures an offender will serve no less than a certain number of years of incarceration
A. Direct examination
B. None of these
C. Cyberstalking
D. Mandatory minimum sentence
50: _____ is known as if an offender cannot get proper redress on appeal, courts may examine the case to fix a grave mistake; for some cases, redress is to obtain executive clemency
A. Manifest injustice
B. Elevating awareness of discrimination
C. Totality of the circumstances
D. None of these
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Sentencing and Appeals MCQs
