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CHAPTER 10
Study Guide To Go
Learning Objectives
1. Identify the sources of law in Texas.
2. Outline the organization and jurisdiction of each type of Texas court.
3. Describe qualifications, term of office, annual salary, method of selection, and method of
filling an unexpired term for judges and justices of Texas courts.
4. Describe procedures for disciplining judges, justices, and lawyers in Texas.
5. Comment on the availability of legal services for all Texans, especially the poor.
6. Describe the organization and function of grand juries and trial juries under Texas law.
7. Outline the basic procedures followed in trying civil and criminal cases in Texas courts.
8. Identify the conditions under which a capital felony is committed.
9. Outline the questions that a jury must answer in determining the punishment for a capital
offense.
10. List the categories of offenses, give examples of offenses, and describe the ranges of
punishment authorized under Texas law.
11. Describe Texas’s adult penal institutions and rehabilitation programs.
12. Discuss reentry issues for convicted felons, and give arguments for and against making
reentry easier.
13. Describe Texas’s juvenile justice system, giving special attention to procedures and
institutions.
14. Identify selected problems and reforms (or proposed reforms) relating to crowded dockets,
judicial selection, use of technology, exoneration issues, and racial/ethnic diversity in the
justice system.
15. List guidelines for avoiding gender bias that are recommended by the Supreme Court of
Texas Gender Bias Task Force.
16. Describe what attorney Eric J. Davis did to obtain the exoneration and prison release of
Arthur Mumphrey.
Laws, Courts, and Justice
I. An Introduction to Texas’s Justice System
II. State Law in Texas
A. Sources of Law
B. Code Revision
III. Courts, Judges, and Lawyers
A. Local Trial Courts
1. Municipal Courts
2. Justice of the Peace Courts
3. Small-Claims Courts
B. County Trial Courts
1. Constitutional County Courts
2. County Courts-at-Law
3. Probate Courts
C. State Trial Courts
1. District Courts
2. Drug Courts
D. Appellate Courts
1. Courts of Appeals
2. Court of Criminal Appeals
3. Supreme Court
E. Disciplining and Removing Judges and Justices
F. Lawyers
1. State Bar of Texas
2. Legal Services for the Poor
3. Self-Help Legal Software
IV. Juries
A. Grand Jury
B. Trial Jury
1. Qualifications of Jurors
2. Selection of Jurors
3. Compensation of Jurors
4. Juror Diversity
V. Judicial Procedures
A. Civil Justice System
B. Civil Trial Procedure
1. Pretrial Actions
2. Trial and Appeal of a Civil Case
C. Criminal Justice System
1. Graded Penalties
2. Capital Punishment
D. Criminal Trial Procedure
1. Pretrial Actions
2. Trial of a Criminal Case
3. Verdict, Sentence, and Appeal
VI. Correction and Rehabilitation
A. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice
B. State Institutions of Corrections for Adults
1. The Prison
2. Prison Problems
3. State Felony Jails
C. Local Government Jails
1. County Jails
2. Municipal Jails
D. Private Prisons
E. Supervision of Released Offenders
1. Community Supervision
2. Parole
3. Rehabilitation
4. Reentry Issues
VII. Juvenile Justice
A. State and Local Agencies
B. Procedures and Institutions
1. Court Procedures
2. Texas Youth Commission Facilities
3. Racial and Ethnic Issues
VIII. Problems and Reforms: Implications for Public Policy
A. Coping with Crowded Dockets
B. Judicial Selection
C. Technology
D. Exoneration Issues
E. Racial and Ethnic Diversity
Overview of the Text (pp. 383-427)
Early in the twenty-first century, the Texas justice system is confronted by important issues. For
example, technology confirms that some innocent people have been punished, but survival of any
justice system depends on citizens’ belief in the legitimacy of authority.
An Introduction to Texas's Justice System (p. 384-385). Except for municipal court judges,
members of the state’s judiciary are popularly elected. Consequently, there is a close connection
between politics and justice; but judges attract less public attention than legislators and executive
officials.
State Law in Texas (pp. 385-386). There are more than 3,000 judges and almost that many
courts in the Texas judicial system. Some hear civil law cases involving property, family issues,
and personal injury; others hear criminal law cases; and many have jurisdiction over cases
involving both civil disputes and criminal offenses. Courts with original jurisdiction try cases for
the first time, but courts with appellate jurisdiction hear appeals after cases have been tried in
lower courts. Some courts exercise both original and appellate jurisdiction.
Texas law includes state statutes, the Texas Constitution, and the common law dating back to
medieval England. Statutory law is found in Vernon's Revised Annotated Texas Civil Statute of
the State of Texas, in General and Special Laws of the State of Texas published after each
legislative session, and in codes on broad topics found in Vernon’s Texas Codes Annotated.
Courts, Judges, and Lawyers (pp. 386-398). The state’s minor trial courts (municipal and
justice-of-the-peace courts) are one-judge tribunals, as are county- and district-level courts. The
number of judicial personnel on appellate courts varies. Each of the 14 courts of appeals has a
chief justice and from two to twelve justices. The Court of Criminal Appeals has a presiding
judge and eight judges, and the Supreme Court has a chief justice and eight justices. Municipal
court judges are selected by methods and for terms specified by city charters. Other judges are
popularly elected for terms of four years (justices of the peace and judges of county and district
courts) or six years (judges and justices of appellate courts).
Traditional methods of disciplining delinquent judges involve trial by jury for judges at all levels
and (for judges of district and higher courts) legislative address or impeachment by the House and
removal by the Senate. In recent years, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct has handled
most disciplinary matters.
About 70,000 lawyers are licensed to practice law in Texas. All of them must join and pay dues to
the State Bar of Texas. Efforts to improve the image of lawyers among their fellow Texans
include increased regulation by the State Bar and providing low-cost and pro bono legal services
to poor people.
Juries (pp. 399-402). A citizen can participate in the administration of justice by serving on a
grand jury or a trial jury. The former is composed of twelve people. They may be selected at
random from a list of fifteen to twenty names. In most Texas counties, a judge-appointed grand
jury commission prepares this list. Trial jurors are selected by attorneys from a venire panel that
has been summoned. Twelve jurors are selected for a district court trial; six are selected for a trial
before a lower court. The function of a grand jury is to return an indictment if the evidence
indicates that an individual has committed a felony. A trial jury is responsible for listening to
testimony and examining evidence to establish the guilt or innocence of a person charged with a
crime or a party’s liability in a civil case. Jurors are paid a minimum of $6 for the first day of
service and $40 for each subsequent day.
Judicial Procedures (pp. 402–410). In a civil proceeding, the plaintiff files a complaint with a
court clerk. A citation is then served on the defendant, who files an answer. If either party so
desires, a jury is selected to hear the case. After a verdict is reached, a judgment is issued. Appeal
to a higher court is made on the basis of the trial court record and briefs submitted by interested
parties. The Supreme Court of Texas is the highest state court having civil jurisdiction. When the
death penalty is assessed by a district court, the convicted person has an automatic right to appeal
directly to the Court of Criminal Appeals.
In a criminal trial, the prosecuting attorney calls witnesses and introduces evidence intended to
support the charges. The defense may challenge the evidence, cross-examine witnesses, and
present other evidence and witnesses on behalf of the defendant. A unanimous decision is
required for a jury to reach a verdict. All convicted defendants are allowed to appeal to a higher
court. The Court of Criminal Appeals is the highest state court exercising appellate criminal
jurisdiction.
Correction and Rehabilitation (pp. 410-419). Convicted felons are usually imprisoned in
facilities operated by the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
(TDCJ). Some are confined in commercially operated, privatized facilities. Persons confined for
state jail felonies are housed in state felony jails, which are designed for holding nonviolent
offenders and providing alcohol and substance abuse treatment. Those incarcerated for Class A
and Class B misdemeanor convictions, along with convicted felons awaiting transfer to a TDCJ
facility, are held in a jail supervised by a county sheriff or in a commercially managed
(“privatized”) facility. State institutions of correction are supposed to serve the dual purpose of
isolating offenders for the protection of society and rehabilitating them so that they will become
law-abiding citizens when they are released from confinement.
Persons convicted of less serious offenses for the first time are usually placed under community
supervision—that is, they are allowed to remain free as long as they comply with conditions
imposed by the judge. Parole is a community-based rehabilitation program involving release of an
inmate before completion of the imprisonment sentence.
Juvenile Justice (pp. 419-422). Generally, delinquent children who are at least 10 years of age
but less than 17 years of age are subject to the laws of the Texas Family Code. Each county has a
juvenile probation board that designates one or more juvenile judges and a chief juvenile
probation officer. The board makes policies for a juvenile probation department that serves one or
more counties. The Texas Juvenile Probation Commission oversees these county departments.
Juvenile offenders who are detained must be segregated from adult criminals. Counseling and
probation are the principal means of dealing with juvenile offenders. Young offenders may be
tried in juvenile courts. If a court finds that a youth has engaged in delinquent conduct and is in
need of supervision, a disposition hearing is held. Youths who have committed serious offenses
(or who have violated terms of probation) are confined in one of the Texas Youth Commission’s
training schools or in a boot camp. If paroled from a TYC facility, the parolee is required to
continue in a program of supervised rehabilitation.
For felonies subject to the Juvenile Determinate Sentencing Law, a juvenile offender may serve
part of a sentence in a TYC facility and then be transferred to TDCJ. Depending on age, juveniles
may be tried as adults for commission of a capital offense or other felony and confined in a TDCJ
prison for a maximum of 40 years.
Problems and Reforms: Implications for Public Policy (pp. 422-426). Many reforms have
been made in the Texas system of law and justice; others have been proposed but not adopted or
implemented. Because justice delayed is justice denied, the legislature has continued to expand
the number of courts and judges. Other attempts to cope with crowded dockets include
transferring cases from overburdened courts to courts with fewer pending cases, assigning active
and retired judges to courts with crowded dockets, and using various alternative dispute
resolution (ADR) processes to settle disputes in a more informal environment.
People who are dissatisfied with partisan election of judges have advocated nonpartisan elections
or a Missouri Plan system. The Missouri Plan features a nominating commission that
recommends persons for gubernatorial appointment when a vacancy occurs. After a trial period,
voters decide whether to give the appointee a full term or allow the governor to make another
appointment. Others critics of partisan elections favor an appointment-retention system in which
judges are appointed by the governor and retained by popular vote. The Texas Legislature has
repeatedly rejected such proposals.
DNA testing is one example of how new technology affects all aspects of the Texas justice
system. As protection against deficiencies in crime labs, the 79th Legislature created the 11-
member Texas Forensic Science Commission to investigate charges of negligence and
misconduct at these facilities.
Looking Ahead (pp. 426-427). Although the Texas legal system is complex, citizens should
understand it. Ordinary Texans, as well as our lawyers and judges, are affected by the state’s laws
and courts.
Overview of the Selected Readings
“Some Suggested Ways to Avoid Gender Bias” by the Supreme Court of Texas
Gender Bias Task Force (pp. 432-433)
Several ways are suggested to avoid gender bias and to promote gender fairness within the
courtroom setting. These include paying attention to forms of address, as well as to the content of
speech and other forms of expression. Consistent forms of address, regardless of gender, as well
as consistent levels of formality, should be used. Further, one should avoid diminutive and
potentially degrading terms, while also striving to use gender-neutral language. Promoting gender
fairness in content is aided by avoiding comments on physical appearance and by steering clear of
any joke or comment that has sexual, racial, or ethnic content. Treating everyone with respect is
crucial. Inappropriate comments and gestures, even those not meant to offend—as well as any
touching of another person—are unsuitable. Such behavior may make the other person
uncomfortable or even constitute sexual harassment. In short, careful consideration of what you
do and how you do it will help to prevent bias and will promote fairness.
“Mumphrey Attorney Called Shining Star in Legal Arena” by Renée C. Lee (pp. 433-
435)
Eric J. Davis is not yet a big-name criminal law attorney. But after his string of impressive legal
victories and with a reputation for fairness, toughness, and professionalism, fellow lawyers call
Davis a “shining star” and expect him to become a judge. Recently, Davis’s determination helped
Arthur Mumphrey, who spent 18 years in prison for a sexual assault that he did not commit.
Davis was not slowed by difficulties in finding DNA samples that proved Mumphrey’s
innocence. Eventually, he won Mumphrey’s freedom. Despite such cases, Davis insists that the
legal system is effective. Moreover, working as a lawyer allows him to do what he has sought to
do since his childhood years in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward—help others.
