Texas Justice System: A Cartoon Analysis

Critically analyze the implications of the state’s decision to opt out of Medicaid expansion on the citizens of the state.

Courts are established social, political, and judicial institutions necessary for the manifestation of justice and the maintenance of law and order. The courts are part of the judicial branch of government, as outlined in Article III of the United States Constitution. Courts are the arenas in which the law is tried and applied. Judges are the presiding officers of the court. The United States Supreme Court is the most fundamental court because has "the authority to decide the constitutionality of federal laws and resolve other disputes over them," (United States Courts, 2012). This is true even though even though the court does not expressly enforce that law; enforcement is the province of the executive branch.

This is an area where public opinion and public policy match in that they both heavily favor regressive taxation (Brown et al., 2014). Tausanovitch and Warshaw (2013) have developed a means of understanding political preference in comparison with public opinion and public policy to determine whether a government is best serving the desires of its people. This type of tool would be very useful for the state of Texas to use to determine whether the government is serving the desires of its constituents. But, just because public opinion and public policy line up doesn’t mean that the interests of citizens are best served because some groups may still be left out and those groups may have more needs than others. Texas’ current operational stance of “pay-as-you-go” makes for a very tight budget where the government cannot always afford to spend money on things the citizens of Texas may need. For instance, Texas operates its roads with the same “pay-as-you-go” mentality by opting for toll roads (Brown et al., 2014). Toll roads receive some government funding through state issued bonds and the collection of tolls after completion. This system is hardly fair for the citizens who do not use the toll roads but still must subsidize them through taxpayer dollars when the toll revenue does not meet the projected earnings. There are also many more citizens in Texas who live below the poverty line, 18.4% for Texas in comparison to 15.1% for the entire United States (Brown et al., 2014). With a larger proportion of citizens in poverty the burden to the state becomes greater, especially when funding remains low (Insert citation). Texas is just hurting its citizens by not being able to provide as much support and assistance to them as possible. Texas was given the opportunity, along with every other state in the union, to expand its offering of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. A sample of public opinion was obtained

In Texas, the Judicial system is made of up judges whose jurisdiction ranges from municipal, county, probate, district, and justice of the peace courts, each of which undergoes an election process, one which is the same for each judge, expect for the municipal. An advocate for another system, Wallace Jefferson, firmly believes that an appointment system should take place for all judges to assure that those who are put into a position are done so based off of merit and qualification. However, given the current system, judges, per say those who wish to serve on a district court, must adhere to these requirements. Judges must be a U.S. citizen, a resident of Texas, have been practicing law as a lawyer or state judge for at least four years, be between the ages of 25 and 75 and be a resident of their respective judicial district for two years, minimum.

Laws in general are thought up in order to maintain order in our society. Over time, it has

The Texas judicial system has been called one of the most complex in the United States, if not the world. It features five layers of courts, several instances of overlapping jurisdiction, and a bifurcated appellate system at the top level. The structure of the system is laid out in Article 5 of the Texas Constitution.

Texas has the largest uninsured population with an estimated 6.2 million uninsured citizens within its stateliness, approximately a quarter of the statewide population (Rapoport, 2012). In 2012, then governor, Rick Perry decided that Texas would not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This decision led to much debate over whether or not Perry made the right decision to leave upwards of a million Texans, who did not receive insurance subsidies and did not qualify for Medicaid, uninsured. These Texans fell under what many politicians refer to as the “coverage gap.” Texas decided not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act because of the effects it would have on hospitals, financial reasons, and increased number of

The criminal justice system of Texas and Norway may seem quite similar at glance, but are actually extremely different from one another. Although both systems consist of the executive, judicial, and legislative branches, they have many distinctions between them two. To begin with, the Texas criminal justice system is an entire system broken down into different positions handling different responsibilities. The attorney general, also known as AG, is an elected executive who has major responsibility within the judicial system. The AG represents the state entirely when it becomes involved in the federal courts.

The structure of the state and local Texas court system is responsible for securing liberty and equality under the law, very similar to the goals of the federal courts. In Texas judges are elected to go into office. The highest level of court in Texas is known as the Texas Supreme Court. The Texas Supreme court “is the highest civil court in Texas; consists of nine justices and has final state appellate authority over civil cases” (pg.249) The requirements for being a Texas supreme court justice is; must be a citizen of the United States and a resident of Texas, be at least 35 years of age, and have been practicing lawyer or judge for at least 10 years. It is very often that before cases make it to the Supreme Court or the Court of criminal

In support of Medicaid expansion in Texas, over 50 chambers of commerce across Texas have expressed strong interest in the expansion (8). Similarly, Texas Medical Association and Texas Hospital Association have also expressed their support (9). Laura Guerra-Cardus, Associate Director of the Children's Defense Fund, states "diverse groups from all across Texas support accepting federal funds to insure more Texans through Medicaid" (8). Finally, Texas Democratic officials also iterate their support by acknowledging that Texas stands alone with the highest percentage of uninsured people in the nation (10).

Why is Medicaid a huge topic in Texas and how does it relate to me? This is one important question to consider. Well, this paper will help shed light on the matter and illustrate the urgency for such an action. Just recently Texas had an option to extend Medicaid, but hastily decline to expand it. Medicaid expansion was part of the Health Care Reform or also known as the Obama Care; the federal government gave the 52 states an offer to expand the current Medicaid in ways that would include the coverage of more children and lower income adults as well. The latest on the issue is Texas had just agreed on a deal to reinstate Medicaid temporarily. The agreement on the reform has given Texas some time to see how the plan fairs across the other

"We don't believe it’s right and we know it's going to basically bankrupt the states."(Hensley 2012) quote given from Texas Governor Rick Perry about Medicaid expanding in Texas. The Medicaid expansion "would simply enlarge a broken system that is already financially unsustainable," he wrote. "Expanding it as the PPACA provides would only exacerbate the failure of the current system, and would threaten even Texas with financial ruin." (Hensley 2012). Texas is among the twenty-two states that did not expand Medicaid, and for good reason at that.

In the nineteen thirties, the people of Missouri would pick judges and eventually politicians realized they could buy judges. They would buy votes especially an American politician Tom Pendergast, would try to pack the court with those who agreed with his political ideas. Until merit selection, the lawyers went against it and wanted a better way for judicial selection. Both Democrats and Republicans worked together and campaigned without financial interest. Leading to the Missouri plan where the judge is now chosen by merit and qualifications.

One of the topics we have discussed, and read about in this course is the role that the State Governments have in the expansion of their Medicaid program. It’s a tough decision, but it seems to have caught the eye of most Americans. Many states are not sure if they should expand their programs, with the help of the Federal Governments. It’s been said that 17 states have already outright rejected two major parts of this act (Branham 2013, 10). The real question now is will expanding Medicaid help give everyone insurance benefits, so they can stay healthy? That is the question that Governors, and Legislatures are asking themselves when it comes to saying thanks, or no thanks, to the

He uses Jefferson, an uneducated African-American wrongfully convicted for murder, to demonstrate this. Jefferson’s court appointed attorney attempts to defend him by stating that he was a “thing to hold the handle of a plow, a thing to load your bales of cotton, a thing to dig your ditches, to chop your wood, to pull your corn” (8). His attorney then further degrades his level of competence and intelligence by stating that he “[w]ould just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this” (8). Despite his attorney’s efforts, however, “he had been found guilty of the charges brought against him” and had been sentenced to “[d]eath by electrocution” (9). Gaines’ courtroom setting highly relates to the extremely unfair criminal convictions and subjections coloured people faced through Caucasian dominated juries and judges. This type of social setting not only created an unfair situation, but one which lacked diversity and morality. For example, if a coloured individual was accused of some crime, he or she would undoubtedly be found guilty and given the harshest penalty possible as they were being judged by individuals who viewed them as hogs—a creature of filth and stupidity. And worse, in a courtroom in excess of white jurors, lawyers, and judges, it is inevitable that anything law-abiding would be considered right as they were manipulators, and so they could be no