MGMT 211 Lecture 5 Outline of Last Lecture I Chapter 2 Continued II 5th Amendment Outline of Current Lecture I Chapter 3 Continued Texas Court System II Federal Court System a Constitutional Court System III Supreme Court Current Lecture I Chapter 3 Continued Texas Court system a Anything but typical Texas is a mess b If you don t like your decision at Municipal JP or Small Claims courts i County Court problem created by the Texas Constitution 1 Each county shall have only one county court 2 Because county judge can be budget officer head of commissioner s court a Lots of administrative functions within the county b Brazos County judge is administrator of court house 3 Judge elected by people they serve 4 Jurisdiction hear appeals from 3 courts higher dollar amount civil cases Class B and A misdemeanor probate matters a Probate settle estate of the dead b Harris County lots of people die lots of Class A B misdemeanor cases appealed i Legislature need another court to handle all of this ii County Court at Law created by legislature 1 Original claim same as county court but you could have more than one in each county 2 Legislature thought they could do more improve upon county court 3 To be a county court judge same as being eligible voter 4 County Court at Law judge must have law degree and be in good standing 5 County doesn t necessarily have c c a l a All counties surrounding Brazos County don t have one 6 Created with an individual bill a Improved as they go along iii iv b therefore county court at laws don t have the same jurisdiction i dollar amounts vary ii Some c c a l can hear family law cases but not all c Can hear at least all the things that County Court can hear may have higher dollar amount or family law jurisdiction d Major change have to be an attorney and good standing to be a judge 7 Trial de novo a Try case at Municipal Court and lose can appeal to c c a l and start over i New jury at c c a l b EXCEPT Some Municipal Courts have become courts of record court reporter some courts do and don t i If you go to upper courts to appeal with no contest you just said to court I m guilty and I want to appeal 8 Both a trial and an appellate court 9 C c a l can be split up civil criminal for big counties District court state employees 1 Can cross county lines can travel from courthouse to courthouse 2 Brazos County 3 district courts only practice in Brazos County 3 Other counties share their district judges drive from place to place a Judge can be all over the place you have to chase them down 4 NOT an appellate court 5 One judge good standing higher salary that C C A L hierarchy a Usually make 100 000 6 12 person juries some are 6 7 3 district judges created by the Constitution 8 High dollar amount civil cases at this level 9 Felony cases family law ALWAYS comes to this level 10 4 year term partisan election elected by people that they serve a Can be multiple counties b Can have multiple judges Goes to Court of Appeals 1 14 in Texas 2 True appellate court oral arguments briefs 3 Number of judges vary a 6 year term b Chief Justice Associate Justice 4 True appellate court 5 Supposed to serve the same number of people not the same volume of cases a Major metropolitan areas Eastland used to be 6 7 8 9 II Houston has 2 courts of appeals Brazos is in 3 courts Supposed to be balanced by population If you have multiple courts where do you go a Randomization 10 Some cases will not get to this level a Sue over a 5 t shirt you won t make it past Small Claims it won t add value to courts v Look at the judges you vote for don t stay along party lines vi One of 2 Highest Courts 1 Splits them out a Civil TX Supreme Court b Criminal TX Court of Criminal Appeals 2 9 judges justices a One Chief Justice 8 associate judges b 6 year term elected c Have to be independently wealthy or take political donations to run for this position i Political donation can taint a judge ii Big businesses can give a lot of money and basically buy a win Insurance 3 Capital murder automatic appeal to TX Court of Criminal Appeals from district courts a Mandatory appeal must b Comes from the district court where it was tried Federal Court System a Constitutional Court System i Only one court mentioned in Article 2 of Constitution Supreme Court ii Constitution gives Congress the right to create other courts they deem necessary iii Unique follow constitutional models appointed by president approved by Senate serve for life iv The Trial Court U S District Court 1 One judge appointed by President confirmed by Senate and serves for life 2 Has to be at least one in every state a Texas has dozens divided into 4 different districts most any state can be divided into i Northern Southern Eastern and Western 1 Not located there necessarily a Brazos County Southern i Go to Houston 14 courts b Hearne just north of BrazosWestern with El Paso 3 Usually more than one judge in one court 4 12 jurors 5 Civil or Criminal a Anything that involves a national issue question treaty b Diversity of Citizenship historical i States hated each other during the war stabbing each other in the back and favoring their citizens ii Definition Where you re being sued in one state by someone who lives in another state 1 You go to LSU for a football game wreck in Boudreaux Parish and cause a lot of damage sued for 100 000 in Boudreaux you can remove it to federal district court a Won t count if your cousin from Shreveport was driving iii Must also have 75 000 controversy or more 1 Federal courts don t like D O C cases a Have to use federal law b c they don t want to learn laws of states v Next U S Court of Appeals 1 11 of these for the states divided a Texas in 5th circuit in New Orleans i Temporarily moved to Houston during Katrina th b 9 circuit all of California and nearly all western states III i 2 courts one in San Fransisco and satellite one in L A c 2 more circuit courts i One is for D C vi 2nd is for intellectual property patents etc a 1st Circuit Mass New Hampshire Maine and Puerto Rico b Division unpopular must learn law from the different states French in Louisiana Spanish in Texas 2 This is usually as far as you get 3 Can vary from place to place Supreme Court a Unlike state supreme courts You don t have an …