Exam 2 Ch 9 Flashcards
Role and Structure of State Courts
100 million cases filed in lowest state courts every year
Criminal Cases
Legal cases which punish law violations
Civil Cases
Legal cases between two private parties
Trial Court
1st level of court
Settlement
Mutual agreement between parties to end civil case before a trial
Plea Bargin
Agreement where accused admits guilt for a lesser sentence
Appeal
Request for a lower court’s decision to be review by higher court
Intermediate Appellate Court
Court reviews court cases to find possible errors in proceedings
State Supreme Court
Highest level of court in state
Precendent
Use of past to determine current interpretation and decision making
Trial Courts
Court of First Instance:
– The court in which a case is introduced and nothing has been determined yet.
* Bench Trial:
– A trial in which no jury is present and the judge decides the facts as well as the law.
* General Jurisdiction Trial Courts:
– Courts that hear any civil or criminal cases that have not been assigned to a special
court.
* Limited Jurisdiction Trial Courts:
– Courts that hear cases that are statutorily limited by either the degree of seriousness or
the types of parties involved.
Appeal Courts
Appeal must be based on if errors were prejudicial (error that affects outcome of case)
Only 11 states and DC have only one level of review
Discretionary Jurisdiction
Mandatory Jurisdiction
- power of court to review or not
- requirement that court hears every case
En Banc -
Appeal court sessions where all judges hear case
Panels
Groups of 3 judges who sit to hear cases in state court of appeals
Selecting Judges
Most states hold
nonpartisan elections
for judges on trial
courts.
- The northeast is the
one area of the country
that relies upon
gubernatorial or
legislative
appointments for
judges.
Appointment - Pure Appointive System
Judicial selection system where only governor elects without preselection
3 states - California, Maine, New Jersey, governor appoints state judges alone
Appointment - Merit Selection
Hybrid of appointment and election. Involves bipartisan judicial nominating commission who creates list of qualified candidates from which governor or legislature picks form
Appointment - Retention Election
Judge runs uncontested and voters asked to retain judge for another term or not
Terms of Ofice
Most serve fixed terms,
The rare exceptions are judges in Rhode
Island, who serve life terms, and judges in
Massachusetts and New Hampshire, who
hold their positions until the age of 70
Impeachment
“All states have provisions for the impeachment of
state court judges” (275).
* “These typically mirror the language of the federal
system and require a majority vote of the house of
representatives and conviction by two-thirds of the
senate”
Prosecutor
lawyer who conducts criminal cases for people
Public defender
Lawyer who gives free legal services for those who can’t afford lawyers
Prosecutor
Authority comes from the state, but offices are local
Handle more than 2 million felonies and 7 million misdemeanors annually
Prosecutors
Legislative Overcriminalization
Indictment
Grand Jury
Jury Nullification
Tendency of government to make crime of things public doesn’t like
formal criminal charge
group of 6-23 citizens who decide if case goes to trial, if does, indictment
Jury cancels out law that jurors believe is immoral or wrongly applied
“A fresh wave of prosecutors
redefines justice”
“skepticism about the death penalty and
nonviolent drug cases, or greater scrutiny when
police shoot unarmed suspects” (277).
* “The new wave of progressive, big-city prosecutors
are using that discretion to seek alternatives to
incarceration…” (278).
Defense Attorneys.
Felonies, Misdeameanor
Assigned counsel
Contract Attorneys
assigned - private lawyers who handle cases paid from public funds
Contract - private attorneys who work with states/local gov on fixed fee for period of time
2012 study found that average time spent by public defender with client is less than 6 minutes
Juries
“Jurors must be residents of the county in which the court sits and
must generally be at least 18 years old” (281).
* “The right to a jury trial in state criminal proceedings is granted by
the Sixth Amendment” (281).
* Liability:
– A legal obligation or responsibility.
* “A majority of states continue to require 12-member juries to make
unanimous rulings in felony criminal cases, but seven states use 6-
member or 8-member juries for noncapital felonies” (283).
* “Oregon is the only state that does not require unanimous verdicts in
[felony criminal cases]” (283).
* “Unanimity is not required in most civil trials; instead, most states
provide for verdicts based on a supermajority of either five-sixths or
two-thirds” (
Sentencing
Indeterminate and Determinate Sentencing
“In most states, after a jury finds a defendant guilty, the judge holds a
separate sentencing hearing” (284).
* “In capital cases, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that only a unanimous
jury, and not the judge, can sentence a defendant to death ” (284).
* Indeterminate Sentencing:
– The sentencing of an offender, by a judge, to a minimum and maximum amount of
time in prison, with a parole board deciding how long the offender actually remains in
prison.
* Determinate Sentencing:
– The sentencing of an offender, by a judge, to a specific amount of time in prison
depending on the crime.
* Forty years ago we were closer to indeterminate sentencing, but now most
courts employ some form of determinate sentencing
Sentencing
Mandatory Minimum Services
Habitual Offender Laws
Truth-In-Sentencing Laws
Mandatory Minimum Sentences:
– The shortest sentences offenders may receive upon conviction
for certain offenses. The court has no authority to impose shorter
sentences.
* Habitual Offender Laws:
– Statutes imposing harsher sentences on offenders who
previously have been sentenced for crimes.
* Truth-In-Sentencing Laws:
– Laws that give parole boards less authority to shorten sentences
for good behavior by specifying the proportion of a sentence an
offender must serve before coming eligible for parole.
Recidivism
Relapse into criminal behabiors
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Way to end disagreement by means other than litigation. Involves appointment of mediator
