Lectures: Test 3 Flashcards
What does it mean that Texas has a plural executive?
Power shared with 4 other elected people: there are 5 main people in the plural executive who are elected.
In Texas, governors and rest of executive branch are elected when?
3rd Tuesday in January.
What is a lame duck period?
Someone new replaces incumbent; lame duck period is the time between the new person replacing the old one.
Unspent money for governor electoral campaigns goes into _____
a campaign chest
What are the official qualifications to be a governor in Texas?
30 years old, an American citizen, a Texas citizen for 5 years of your life.
The succession of governor has the chain _____
Lt gov’t, then majority party leader, then speaker of house, attorney general, and then chief justices of court of appeals in ranking order.
A strong governor is characterized primarily by _____
time spent in office
In terms of clemency powers, the governor can pardon under what conditions?
that the Board of Pardons and Paroles says yes too.
Can the gov’t pardon ppl on death row?
no
what fraction of congress must agree for a governor to be impeached?
2/3
governor appointments have terms of how long?
4 to 6 years
What does the secretary of state do?
primary job to run elections. They also count votes, grant charters, issue business permits, extradite criminals.
Governor can appoint if there are vacancies in the following:
railroad commission, board of education, district attorneys, judges, and US senators.
What does state board of education do?
write regulations regarding things like what it takes to graduate high school. Control dispensing state funds for education. Select textbooks. Are a middleman between national and local levels.
How does the public safety commissioner get their job?
appointed by governor.
What does the public safety commissioner do?
in charge of cops, DPS. Appoints adjutant general who’s in charge of the national guard.
The commander and chief of Texas is _____
the governor
What is an el offico board?
a board you’re automatically apart of by virtue of being governor
Regarding the budget, the governor only has the power of his or her _____
line item veto
What is a pocket veto and does the governor have it?
basically pocket veto is idea that s/he can not explicitly veto something but just ignore it and it never becomes law. If governor doesn’t sign bill for 10 days during session or 20 days after session, that bill becomes law. Governor doesn’t have a pocket veto in TX.
The president of the senate is _____
the Lt. Governor.
The Lt. Gov does what?
Makes appointments to committees in the Senate. Can pigeonhole
The chair of the legislative budget board is _____
the Lt. Gov’t
What does the Attorney General do?
lawyer for the state. Elected for 4 year term. Has 4000 employees. Gives Congress opinions on legality of legislation. If Texas conflicts with fed, he reps for TX. Other way around too. Enforces child support. Would challenge someone if they’re running for office but are not eligible. Amicus Curie as well: can send letters to higher courts like SCOTUS basically giving opinions
What does the comptroller of public accounts do?
TX accountant. 4 year terms. 2800 employees. Estimate TX budget. Auditor. Also chief tax collector. Reason TX gets tons of debt is because of their shitty estimates for budgets.
What does the commissioner of general land office do?
4 year term, 600 employees. When TX got into Union, one condition was that they got to keep control over public lands, so this dood is in charge of that. Collects rents. Leases for state land. Do mineral/drilling leases. Tied drilling profits to school. Keep historical maps and documents.
What does the commissioner of agriculture do?
Has to be practicing farmer. 4 year term. Inspects agriculture, gas, etc. Makes sure weights and measurements are correct. Tries to protect consumers and farm workers. Required that these guys provide school lunches with greens.
Once impeached, what elected offices is it possible to hold?
can’t hold other elected office in state or local.
Impeachment can occur for what kinds of offenses?
civil and criminal
Midland is in HoR district __ and Senate district __
82 and 31
To be a House representative, you must _____
be a US citizen, able to vote, lived in TX for 2 years, lived in district for 1 year, have to be 21 y/o.
The TX HoR has _____ members including Speaker of House and the Senate has _____ members including the Lt. Gov.
150, 31
To be a Texas Senator, you must _____
be a US citizen, able to vote, 26 y/o, lived in TX for 5 years, in district for 1 year.
What is a media blitz-run and it’s other dumb names?
Running ads in newspapers, tv, etc. to talk about all the strong TX issues like education, immigration, religion, abortion, etc.
What are the rules for candidates running for TX legislature?
Have to have a campaign treasurer: not allowed to run your own finances. No cash donations or easily pocketed of over $100. Corporations and unions can’t directly give, must use PACs, etc. You have to file a full expenditure report report—criminal offense if you don’t. If mismatch between expenditure report and books for interest groups, TX Ethics Commission investigates, has responsibility for holding both groups accountable. Liability for mismatch for a candidate tends to be the candidate.
What is descriptive representation? How does this relate to the actual TX legislature?
Ideal—we want Congress to have the demographics of the state. However, actual legislature skewed in favor of whites and males.
Careers for legislatures tend to be ____
attorneys or in business
Most congress is _____
35-50 y/o, native-born Texans, and wealthy
Congress meets how often?
140 days every odd-numbered year, i.e. we have a biennial Congress.
What does it mean to say we have a citizen legislature in TX?
Legislatures are “part time” for Congress and have other jobs when not legislating.
What’s a resolution?
Thing passed by Congress that basically just expresses an opinion on something.
What are the types of resolutions?
Simple: HR or SR, only passes through 1 chamber, no governor, only affects voting chamber, like a rules change.
Concurrent: HCR or SCR, both chambers and governor, mainly symbolic shit.
Joint: Both chambers, no governor, basically amendments.
What’s a bill in the legislature?
proposed laws, introduced in House and Senate at the same time, has to go through each, ratified, and then sent to the governor.
What are the types of bills; explain each.
Local bills: deal with things at one location.
General bills: deal with whole state.
Special bills: deal with special occasions.
What are the steps to becoming a law for a bill?
Introduce it to both chambers. Will be put into committee where it will either be considered and voted on or put into a subcommittee to be considered and voted on by them before being considered and voted on by the committee proper. Then it goes to Congress: first the House. Will get assigned to a calendar. It’s read the second time once out of committee: have to call a quorum: 2/3 of members have to show up to vote on it. 1/2 of those members have to vote yes for it to go on. Then it goes to the Senate for its second reading there. Must have a quorum of 21 Senators for it to be read. For the 3rd reading, 51% of House have to show up, and 4/5 of Senate must show up for their 3rd reading. If it doesn’t have amendments, needs 51% yes to pass; if it does, then 2/3. Goes to the governor for sign or veto.
What do legislatures start to introduce bills to the legislature?
The Monday after the General Election or 30 days before the special session if you know a special session will occur.
What’s a justice of the peace?
1 to 8 per city. 4 year term. Deal with criminal cases with less than $500 in fines, and civil with less than $10k. They do warrants, notaries, marriages, and if no doctors in the area, they are coroners.
What’s an appellate jurisdiction?
A jurisdiction where you can appeal.
What’s a municipal court?
Aka local court; city ordinances and minor violations.
What’s a district court?
General trial courts. Jurisdiction is felony cases, juvenile cases.
What’s a commissioner’s court?
“county court at law”. Supplementary to county courts; 2/3 normally crime cases.
What’s a constitutional county court?
254 of these in Texas. Handles criminal cases of greater than $500 fine to 1 year in jain, civil cases between $200 and $10k
What does an appeals court do?
Review procedures followed by lower courts. They do NOT retry a person. Just determine whether procedures were followed.
Explain the second level of courts in TX
Bifurcated: SC which handles civil, juvenile, and constitutional cases, and Court of Criminal Appeals which handles criminal cases.
A court that handles wills and inheritance as its specialized jurisdiction is _____
probate court
What are the three types of law
civil law: disputes between ppl., where law hasn’t been broken. Remedy generally is that offending party pays compensation to injured party.
criminal law: state/fed law broken/break criminal statutes. If guilty, punishment may involve loss of liberty or life.
tort law: special kind of civil law where one party hurt another, like malpractice in medicine.
What is the standard of proof for civil cases?
Preponderance of the evidence: basically he said she said.
What is the general procedure for civil cases?
mediation/arbitration
What’s Stare Decisis?
Court saying “we made this decision already. We’re not gonna make it again” regarding precedent or something
What’s the punishment for a felony?
More than $4000 fine or more than a year in jail.
What’s the most serious crime?
capital murder
What’s manslaughter?
An accidental murder
What’s the least serious degree of a felony vs. the most serious?
3rd degree is least and then 1st degree is most serious
What are the classes of misdemeanors?
Class A: burglary of vehicle, a second DWI, lewdness, small amounts of marijuana.
Class B: prostitution, terrorist threats, a first DWI charge.
Class C: public intoxication, disorderly conduct, minor’s possession of alcohol.
What is a misdemeanor?
minor crime or offense punishable with a small fine or a short jail sentence
What happens after a person is arrested?
They are arraigned and posted to bail. Arraign means charges are explained and due process rights are reviewed by a judge.
What are the three possible outcomes of being arrested?
Personal recognizance: you get out with promise of coming back. Stay in jail. Bail: you pay money, promise to come back to court or you don’t get your money back, defendant may be released on bail.
What’s a grand jury?
Pre-trial: they decide whether you qualify for an actual trial by deciding a “true bill.” 12 ppl. Look at evidence, and 9 of them have to say you yes you need to be tried: they then issue an indictment.
What can a DA do after a grand jury makes its decision?
Can go ahead and move forward if the grand jury says no, but that’s not a great idea. If they say no, the DA can find more evidence to try to convince a grand jury again. It may turn into a cold case, waiting for more evidence because it’s technically an open case, but it never goes anywhere.
Can you plead guilty or not guilty before a grand jury?
yes
What’s a bench trial?
Defendant may waive right to a jury, have a determination of guilt be made by a judge. This usually only occurs for civil cases.
How many jurors are there in juries for felony cases and for misdemeanor cases?
12 for felony, 6 for misdemeanor.
What is the standard of proof for a criminal jury?
Beyond a shadow of a doubt; that is, it has to be unanimous.
What is a mistrial / hung jury?
The jury can’t reach a verdict
What is double jeopardy and how does it apply to mistrials?
Double jeopardy says you can’t be tried twice. In cases of mistrials, it doesn’t apply because they say the defendant was never in danger of being sentenced in the first place.
What are the ways you can be kicked off a jury?
Peremptory challenge: they just feel icky about you; judge has to approve; limited number of these.
Challenge for a cause: Has a reason, unlimited, judge approval.
What are possible outcomes after you’re found guilty?
Deferred adjudication, rehabilitation, incarceration, probation.
