POLS Chapter 9 Lecture Notes 10 29 12 If governor dies Lt Governor takes over then president pro temp of the senate takes over Because TX is traditionalistic and power is given to the elites Governor and Lt Governor run on separate tickets but can be from the same party TX legislature meets every 2 years for 140 days Special sessions last 30 days Governor sets the agenda Courts Article 3 of the constitution Supreme Court is the highest federal court all others are established by congress States establish their own courts Judicial Decision Making Judicial activism Interpreting and sets precedence o Actively interpreting laws to achieve goals Independent judicial branch o Judges aren t appointed o Terms last 4 years o Judges don t run on a party platform Pork barrel legislation I ll vote for this if you put something in there that will help my district Governor has line item veto on bills to do with money appropriation U S v Lopez Gun control U S attempted to use the commerce clause Judicial Terminology Federal v state States hold more court cases Types of court cases civil and criminal Settlement civil or plea bargain criminal Appeal 11 courts have ONLY 1 appeal court because they are the smaller states Precedent Stare decisis Stand on previous decisions 94 district courts and 13 circuit courts TX Supreme Court handles civil matters TX Court of Criminal Appeal handles criminal matters Judicial Branch Structure Trial Courts Courts of first instance Appellate Courts o Bench trials Judge solely hears the case and makes the decision o Jury trial Judge s job is to inform the jury of question of case and types of decision they can make and rules they must follow o Courts can be established that deal with specific cases and areas o Prejudicial error o Levels of review o Ripeness Standing or questioning of suit o Case won t be appealed if appellate court has already made a similar decision in the past o Number of appellate judges per state varies from 3 to 102 CA o 3 judges for every 1 court of appeals Population decides on number of judges Courts will rotate pools of judges from case to case Em banc All together all judges in that district will hear the case and make a decision State Supreme Courts o Second only to U S Supreme Court o Ultimate interpreters of the state s constitution o If Supreme Court decides not to hear the case the decision from the previous court stands These decisions are usually final o U S Supreme Court 5 000 appeals per year 10 150 cases heard Judicial Selection Public accountability Judicial independence Partisan v Nonpartisan o Should be nonpartisan Partisanship is okay within specific districts Partisanship can lead to the rise of political party machines EX Judges doing favors for politicians of same party Public opinions and judicial decision making Partisan elections in TX LA NM AL IL OH and PA Executive and Legislative Appointments Pure appointive system Governor names people to appoint to the positions Retention elections Elections on judges that were appointed to office but have messed up o Way to remove unwanted judges o They can also be impeached Merit selection system Missouri Plan Committee to select judges that have applied for opening Governor then appoints someone from the committee s selection o Rarely happens Returns to retention system Judicial independence o Gideon v Wainwright Established the right to an attorney for every person involved in a Actors Defense attorney Defend the accused Prosecutors Try the crimes for the state criminal case Juries Defendant s Rights Innocent until proven guilty Jury trial Speedy trial Cruel and unusual punishment Right to confront your accuser and witness Sentencing Indeterminate v Determinate o Indeterminate 35 years to life Rehab criminals and put them back in society o Determinate Minimum number of years for every crime committed Mandatory minimum Certain number of years that must be served for the crime o Related to indeterminate This method reduces conflict in society Habitual offender Harsher sentence each time a crime is committed o 3 strike system Truth in sentencing Reduces discretion for parole board Much variance across states when it comes to courts and the judicial branch
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