INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE
STATEWIDE DUAL CREDIT
HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER PRE-TEST
1. The earliest known written laws, discovered in 1901, were written by a Babylonian king. These laws were known as:
a. The Code of Hammurabi
b. The Magna Carta
c. The U.S. Constitution
d. The Bill of Rights
e. None of the above
2. The principle of ______is based upon the precedent of previous case decisions; subsequent cases are considered by this principle.
a. Predictability
b. Reliability
c. Habeas corpus
d. Stare decisis
3. Which of the following statements is false?
a. A felony offense carries a sentence of one year or longer.
b. A misdemeanor carries a sentence of 11 months, 29 days or less.
c. A person convicted of a felony will spend his/her sentence in a prison.
d. A person convicted of a felony will spend his/her sentence in a local jail.
4. The corpus dilecti is comprised of the mens rea and actus reus, acting in concurrence.
a. True
b. False
5. According to the double jeopardy defense, a defendant cannot be tried or punished twice for the same offense. According to the above statement, no case can be prosecuted in both criminal and civil court.
a. True
b. False
6. According to the form of policing found in early England, communities were divided into groups of 10 men who were responsible for the conduct of the group and ensured that a member charged with breaking the law would show up in court. These groups were referred to as tithings.
a. True
b. False
7. England’s “Bobbies” were created under which act?
a. The Bow Street Runners Act of 1748
b. The Thames River Police Act of 1798
c. The Metropolitan Police Act of 1829
d. All of the above
e. None of the above
8. Which Commission, and which person, was responsible for professionalizing American policing?
a. Wickersham Commission, August Vollmer
b. Knapp Commission, Rudy Guilliani
c. Christopher Commission, Christopher Robin
d. 911 Commission, Bill Clinton
e. None of the above
9. Which of the following agencies does NOT belong under the federal level of law enforcement?
a. Drug Enforcement Administration
b. Internal Revenue Service
c. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
d. Federal Bureau of Investigation
e. State Highway Patrol
10. According to ______, police have the right to search suspects to ensure their own safety if they think that the suspects are armed.
a. Weeks v. U.S.
b. Illinois v. Gates
c. Terry v. Ohio
d. Tyson v. Holyfield
e. None of the above
11. The plain view doctrine states that officers have the lawful right to use all of their senses (sight, smell, hearing, and touch) to detect evidence of unlawful action and in so doing does not violate the 4th Amendment’s illegal search requirements.
a. true
b. false
12. The blood feud is based on ______.
a. Rehabilitation
b. Restitution
c. Vengeance
d. Mutual respect
13-17. Match the Amendment with its major component.
13. First _____ a. free from cruel and unusual punishment
14. Fourth _____ b. access to the courts, freedom of assembly
15. Fifth _____ c. right to counsel
16. Sixth _____ d. free from unreasonable searches & seizures
17. Eighth _____ e. free from self-incrimination
18. Community policing initiatives would include such things as:
a. Neighborhood police substations
b. Bicycle patrols
c. Foot patrols
d. Neighborhood watch programs
e. All of the above
19. Which required that oath-takers would swear they were telling the truth, even if they had not personally witnessed a crime?
a. Trial by ordeal
b. Blood oath
c. Trial by jury
d. Trial by compurgation
e. None of the above
20. How many U.S. district courts are currently in existence?
a. 50
b. 94
c. 100
d. 150
e. 200
21. The rule of four states ____.
a. That four of the nine US Supreme Court justices must agree to hear a case.
b. A minimum of four jurors must vote against capital punishment in order for the case to be dropped from a first degree murder to second degree murder trial
c. A case must be appealed to the state Supreme Court prior to being heard in the U.S. Supreme Court
d. Four constitutional issues must be identified in order for a case to be won on appeal
22. The role of the prosecutor is to:
a. Decide which cases are formally defined as crimes
b. Argue cases in court
c. To dismiss the case prior to formal charging of the defendant
d. Provide information to the defense regarding the defendant/evidence/case
e. All of the above
23. Who appoints federal judges, and who confirms that appointment?
a. The District Attorney General, the Governor
b. The President, the Senate
c. The President, the Governor of the state
d. The Governor of the state, the President
24. What is nolo contendre?
a. A pleading in court of mental incapacitation
b. A pleading in court of no contest
c. It is the same as pleading guilty
d. It is the same as pleading not guilty
25. The ______is the list of names randomly selected from the master jury list to form the jury pool.
a. Master jury list
b. Venire
c. Voir dire
d. Lex talionis
26. You have a friend who is adamant that any person who kills another should receive the death penalty as a sentence for murder. Your friend says there are no if, ands, or buts about it…murder is murder and should be responded to in kind. You cannot change your friend’s mind. If you were a defense attorney in a capital trial, and your friend was a potential juror in the case, could you use a challenge for cause to remove your friend based upon your friend’s strong stance? (Ignore the fact that you can’t have a friend on the jury – this is a hypothetical case).
a. Yes
b. No
27. The Batson v. Kentucky case determined that potential jurors cannot be excused from a jury based upon the race of the potential juror.
a. True
b. False
28. The standard of proof in a criminal trial is proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
a. True
b. False
29. The right to confront witnesses can be found in the ___ Amendment.
a. First
b. Second
c. Sixth
d. Eight
e. Thirteenth
30. The right to a speedy trial can be found in the _____ Amendment.
a. First
b. Second
c. Sixth
d. Eight
e. Thirteenth
31. The right to an impartial jury can be found in the ____ Amendment.
a. First
b. Second
c. Sixth
d. Eight
e. Thirteenth
32. The law of retaliation/retribution was also known as ______.
a. Lexus maximus
b. Lexus gratuitous
c. Lex talionis
d. Lex retributus
e. None of the above
33. If you were a visitor to the early prisons developed in this country, and you observed inmates working together in a large room in complete silence, you would conclude that this prison was designed under the ______system.
a. Connecticut
b. Delaware
c. Pennsylvania
d. New York/Auburn
e. Virginia
34. The first penitentiary was located at the Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia in 1790.
a. True
b. False
35. According to ______, the hedonistc calculus principle stated that people search for pleasure and avoid pain; therefore, the less certain the punishment, the more severe it must be in order to have a deterrent effect.
a. Karl Marx
b. Cesare Beccaria
c. John Howard
d. Jeremy Bentham
e. George W. Bush
36. England continued to transport convicts to the American colonies until the early 1800s.
a. True
b. False
37. Ruby Robber stole money from an open cash register drawer at the local convenience store. She was not armed with a weapon; instead, when the cashier turned away from the open drawer, Ruby reached in and stole a handful of $20 bills. After being convicted of robbery, she was sentenced to 10 years in the county jail. Which of the following statement(s) is/are correct regarding this story?
a. Ruby should have been sentenced to 10 years in a state prison.
b. Ruby’s crime was a misdemeanor, so imprisonment at the county jail was appropriate.
c. A 10-year sentence for robbery is extreme; the maximum penalty for this type of crime is 8 years.
d. Ruby should have been considered a non-violent offender and given the opportunity for probation rather than being incarcerated.
38. By placing Polly Pickpocket in the stocks in the public square, those who pass by are expected to learn the lesson that picking pockets is not acceptable behavior based on Polly’s example. This is:
a. general deterrence
b. specific/special deterrence
c. incapacitation
d. selective incapacitation
39. Who was the famous sheriff from England who advanced penal (prison) reform in the early days of prisons?
a. Jeremy Bentham
b. Cesare Beccaria
c. Steve Spurrier
d. John Howard
e. Edgar Poe
40. Trial by ordeals were designed to determine innocence or guilt of the accused by having the accused participate in dangerous and painful tests of faith. If one were innocent, it was believed, God would save him/her.
a. True
b. False
41. The case that had the most far-reaching impact on the juvenile justice system regarding due process rights is _____.
a. Kent v. U.S.
b. In re Winship
c. In re Gault
d. McKeiver v. PA
e. Breed v. Jones
42. The right to remain silent, the right to an attorney, and the idea that statements are made voluntarily will be used against the person make up the ______.
a. The Guide to Police Interrogations for Dummies
b. Miranda warnings
c. Totality of the circumstances
d. Reasonableness test
43. Routine activity theory views crime as being caused by the interaction of three variables?
a. Swift, certain, and severe penalties
b. Suitable targets, motivated offenders, and the absence of capable guardians
c. Biochemical factors, neurological conditions, and genetic predispositions
d. Atavistic tendencies, feeblemindedness, and poor temperament
44. Which element of Hirschi’s social bond is illustrated by participation in school activities, sports, community organizations, and social clubs?
a. Attachment
b. Commitment
c. Involvement
d. Belief
45. Which theory attempts to explain criminal behavior by examining people’s goals and their means of achieving such goals?
a. Social control
b. Differential association
c. Labeling
d. Strain
46. In which of the following cases did the Supreme Court hold the death penalty, as administered, to be unconstitutional?
a. Gregg v. Georgia
b. Furman v. Georgia
c. Proffitt v. Florida
d. McGautha v. California
47. In which of the following cases did the Supreme Court rule that Kentucky’s three-drug lethal injection protocol, which is similar to the execution protocol of most other death penalty states, did not violate the Eighth Amendment as “cruel and unusual”?
a. Baze v. Rees
b. Sumner v. Shuman
c. Hitchcock v. Dugger
d. Delo v. Lashay
48. According to Lombroso, the physical characteristics, called ______anomalies, that distinguish born criminals from the general population; criminals are throwbacks to animals or primitive people.
a. Atavistic
b. Moralistic
c. Biosocial
d. Fiduciary
49. What does a hypothetical murder rate of 7 in the UCR mean
a. about 7,000 people were murdered in that given year
b. about 7% of all murders were cleared that year
c. about 7 in 100,000 citizens were murdered that year
d. about 7 in 1,000 citizens were murdered that year
50. Phrenologists studied:
a. The skeletal structure of immigrant groups
b. The shape of facial features
c. Bumps on the head
d. The difference in criminality between men and women
Introduction to Criminal Justice Statewide Dual Credit High School Teacher’s Pre-test 8