Chapter 8 Courts and the Quest for Justice

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Chapter 8Courts and the Quest for Justice
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Functions of Courts

• COURTS where arguments are settled
• COURTS need unquestioned legitamacy
• Functions of the Courts
• The Due Process Function -Individual Rights
• The Crime Control Function Society Rights
• The Rehabilitation Function medical model
• The Bureaucratic Function speed and efficiency

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BASIC PRINCIPLES

• Jurisdiction ( JURIS DICTION)
• Geographic jurisdiction
• Federal versus State
• State versus State
• International jurisdiction
• Subject-matter jurisdiction
• Courts of general jurisdiction
• Courts of limited jurisdiction

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TRIAL and APPELLATE COURT

• Trial Courts
• Have original jurisdiction
• Are concerned with questions of fact
• Trial and Sentence by Judge
• Appellate Courts
• Courts of review
• Concerned with questions of law
• Basis for Precedent

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DUAL COURT SYSTEM

• Fed and State court have limited jurisdiction
• Some crimes are illegal by both Federal and State
  systems
• Person can be tried in either system
• Prosecutors steer suspect to where they can get
  the harsher penalty

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Learning Objective 4

• Outline the several levels of a typical state
  court system.

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STATE COURT SYSTEM

• The state court system includes
• Lower courts, or courts of limited jurisdiction
• Magistrate courts
• Specialty courts
• Trial courts of general jurisdiction
• Appellate courts
• The states highest courts

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Learning Objective 5

• Outline the federal court system

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FEDERAL COURT SYSTEM

• Three-tiered model
• U.S. District Court
• Lowest tier/Judge-Jury/ 94 nationally
• U.S. (Circuit) Court of Appeals
• Decision is Final/13/ Exception appeal to Supreme
  Court
• United States Supreme Court
• Reviews a relatively small amount of cases

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U.S. SUPREME COURT

• Has a huge impact on Criminal Justice System
  handles only a small number of cases percentage
  wise
• Gideon v Wainright ( right to counsel )
• Miranda v. Arizona ( pretrial interrogations )
• Furman v. Georgia- (death penalty
  unconstitutional)
• Gregg v. Georgia ( when death penalty is allowed )

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SUPREME COURT

• Makes Criminal Justice Policy
• Through judicial review
• Through authority to interpret statutory law
• Jurisdiction of Supreme Court
• Consists of nine justices ( 8 1)
• Rare instances has original or trial jurisdiction
• Rarely do cases originate at the Supreme Court

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SUPREME COURT

• Which cases reach Supreme Court ?
• Thousands are filed and on the average 100 are
  heard
• Writ of certiorari send for case from the lower
  court
• Lower courts petitions for writ of certiorari
• No writ unless at least 4 justices approve Rule
  of 4
• 90 denied unless the case addresses an
  important federal law or constitutional issue

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SUPREME COURT

• The United States Supreme Court normally does not
  hear any evidence.
• The courts decision is based on the written
  records, written arguments, and occasionally oral
  arguments.
• Justices decide each case in conference, and then
  the senior justice on the majority side writes
  the opinion.
• Concurring opinions
• Dissenting opinions

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JUDGES IN THE COURT SYSTEM

• The duties of judges before trial include
  determining
• Whether there is sufficient probable cause to
  issue an arrest or search warrant, or to
  authorize electronic surveillance
• Whether the defendant should be release on bail
  and the amount of that bail
• Whether to accept pretrial motions
• Whether to accept a plea bargaining
• Sometimes acts as the negotiator

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JUDGES IN THE COURT SYSTEM

• The duties of judges during the trial
• Takes over the role of the referee, is expected
  to be neutral, responsible that trial follows the
  dictates of law
• Acts as a teacher, explains points of law to the
  jury, decides on length and type of sentence
• Acts as an administrator, schedules the docket
  and keeps track of tremendous amount of paperwork

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Learning Objective 8

• Selection of Judges
• Based on two key factors
• Independence
• Accountability
• Federal court judges
• Appointed by the President and confirmed by the
  senate
• State court judges
• Election ( partisan and non partisan)
• Merit

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SELECTION of COURT JUDGES

• Selection of Judges
• State court judges
• Appointment
• Election
• Partisan elections
• Nonpartisan elections
• Merit selection (The Missouri Plan)
• Diversity on the bench

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COURTROOM WORKGROUP

• Members of the courtroom work group
• Judges
• Prosecutors
• Defense attorneys
• Bailiffs
• Clerks of the court
• Court reporters

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ASSEMBLY LINE JUSTICE

• Excessive caseload results in assembly line
  justice
• System lacks resources to deal with excessive
  caseload
• Judges are measured by their ability to keep the
  assembly line going

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IMPACTS ON THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

• Police officers do not investigate less serious
  offenses unless the offender is caught in the act
• Police officers are encouraged to obtain
  confessions rather than other types of evidence
• Prosecutors press charges for less serious
  offenses only when the are a slam dunk
• Prosecutors are more likely to plea bargain
  resulting in less prison time for offenders