POLS Chapter 9 Book Notes 10 28 12 Role and Structure of State Courts State courts hear more cases than the federal courts Criminal cases Cases that involve violations of the law Civil cases Cases that involve disputes between private parties Settlement Mutual agreement between parties to end a case before going to trial Plea bargain Agreement in which the accused admits guilt usually in exchange for a promise that a particular sentence will be imposed Appeal Request to have a lower court s decision in a case reviewed by a higher court Trial courts o First level of the court system o Court of first instance Court in which a case is introduced and nothing has been determined yet o Most cases heard are traffic cases o Bench trials Trials in which no jury is present and a judge decides the facts o General jurisdiction trial courts Courts that hear any civil or criminal cases that have not been assigned to a special court o Limited or special jurisdiction trial courts Courts that hear cases that are statutorily limited by either the degree of seriousness or the types of parties involved Appeals courts Intermediate appeals and courts of last resort o Intermediate appellate court Court that reviews court cases to find possible errors in their proceedings o Appeals must state that there were legal errors in the trial The error must be prejudicial Affect the outcome of a case o Discretionary jurisdiction Court has the power to decide whether or not to grant review of a case o May be divided into regional districts This could be a problem because of courts not ruling with the same o En banc Appeals court sessions in which all the judges hear a case together o Panels Groups of usually three judges who sit to hear cases in state courts of appeals Conferencing drafts of opinions together o TX has two supreme courts in which one hears criminal appeals and the other hears civil Both en banc Intermediate appellate court has both criminal and civil jurisdiction o NH and WV has system where all appeals go to the court of last resort in which this court has discretionary review Selecting Judges Missouri Plan or judicial merit system Bipartisan judicial appointment selected by a nominating committee that is then voted on retention elections by the people to keep or not to keep the appointed judge o In some states they must face periodic retention elections Popular elections for judges o Elections allow greater popular control over the judiciary and more public accountability o Far less minority and women judges o TX justices elected in partisan elections o Caperton v Massey 2009 U S Supreme Court ruled that WV Supreme Court of Appeals Justice Brent Benjamin should have recused himself from a case in which he decided in favor of the defendant who just so happened to contribute 3 million towards his campaign o Republican Party of Minnesota v White 2002 U S Supreme Court struck down restrictions on judicial campaigning saying it was in violation to judges free speech o Lack of voter participation Appointment o Two categories Pure Appointive systems Judicial selection systems in which the governor appoints judges alone without a nominating commission o Retention elections Elections in which judges run uncontested and voters are asked to Merit selection system vote yes or no o VA is the only state in which the legislature appoints all state judges without a nominating committee Terms of office o Most state judges have a term of less than 10 years o Term length influences the willingness of individual justices to express their partisanship Judicial Compensation U S Constitution forbids reducing federal judge s salaries in order to protect them in the case of an unpopular decision Prosecution and Defense of Cases in State Courts Prosecutor Represents the public in a criminal case o Elected and serve a four year term o Extremely broad powers Legislative overcriminalization Tendency of government to make a crime out of anything the public does not like Need to individualize justice Defense attorneys o Public defender programs o Assigned counsel Private lawyers selected by the courts to handle particular cases and paid from public funds o Contract attorneys Private attorneys who enter into agreements with a state a county or a judicial district to work on a fixed fee basis per case or for a specific length of time Verdicts must be super majority of 5 6 or 2 3 o Juries Most states minimum age to be called in for jury duty is 18 Must have ability to communicate in English No convicted felons Process to select jurors Literate Voir dire Interviewing and examination of potential jurors For cause challenge A lawyer s asking the judge to excuse a potential juror because the individual appears to be biased or unable to be fair o No limit on number of challenges Peremptory challenges Lawyers dismissing potential jurors for any reason except race or gender Defendants rights v victims rights o Defendants rights Right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty Right to be safe from arrest or searches and seizures unless the government has made a showing of probable cause Right to a lawyer Right to a jury trial Right to confront witnesses Rights to due process and the equal protection of laws If proven guilty the right to punishment that is not cruel and unusual Sentencing o TX judges can NOT disregard the jury s decision o Indeterminate sentencing Judge sentences an offender to a minimum and a maximum time in prison and a parole board decides how long the offender actually will remain in prison o Determinate sentencing Judge sentences an offender to serve a specific amount of time in prison depending on the crime o Mandatory minimum sentences Shortest sentences that offenders may receive upon conviction for certain offenses The court has no authority to impose a shorter sentence o Habitual offender laws Statutes imposing harsher sentences on offenders who previously have been sentenced for crimes o 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 becoming eligible for parole Problems form the lack of sentencing uniformity o State judges also tend to have more discretion than federal judges Case for Court Reform Problem of Increasing Caseloads o Alternative dispute resolution Way to end a disagreement by means other than litigation It usually involves the appointment of a mediator to
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