Chapter 11 Adjudicating the Law Policy and the Courts Dual Court System Two system one for the state and one federal one Federal Courts o Go through federal if you break a federal law o Banks interstate commerce is under federal law State Courts o Chances are you will break a state law o Rob a store and that goes through the state laws Criminal and Civil Cases Filed Since 2007 criminal cases are going down o Crimes based on violation of behavior rape robbery ect Civil cases going down o Divorce sueing violation of a contract Violent Crimes have gone down since the 1990s o Lower amounts because they are commited by psychopaths and sociopaths o Every population has an amount of these people o You can never bring this number down to 0 Property crimes have gone down Why has crime gone down o More enforcement More police officers and training o Crime is related to economy When the economy goes down desperate people resort to crime o Roe vs Wade o Meth Legalized abortion people who were aborted could have potentially been criminals Police seizure of meth More regulations on cooking of meth you control production of meth and crime o Crime has fallen in many parts of the world Crime is related to our regulations on lead Lead makes children more aggressive Fumes from cars were lead for a while and children breathing it had developmental delays Prison population Higher in state prisons Population increase for states has been high since the 70s o When people got tough on crime o Three strikes and you re out policy was bad Petty crimes gives you a criminal record and difficult for you to get a job When you don t get a job you turn back to crime Put robbers in with hard core criminals you associate with o Police are catching people who are committing violent crime hard core criminals Texas has 0 tolerance Incarceration Correlations with Crime Rates More violent crimes more people in jail Murder rate Rape o Police are solving murder case o Rapists are not being convicted Aggravated Assault Burglary robbery larceny motor vehicle o All in jail except if you are a rapist Incarceration Correlations Higher per capita income less incarceration rates Poverty is positively related to poverty when one goes up the other goes up Higher TANF benefits equals less crime Children in poverty o Children get TANF and don t have to steal for food Infant mortality o Infants in this country die of diarrhea Poor living conditions Mothers do not know to sterilize bottles to be clean changing diapers often Babies are dying of preventable diseases Maternal death rate high in U S o High C Section Higher tax burdens lower crime Revenue per capita no relationship Average turnout off year elections 1994 2010 o Could be spurious with states with higher turnout Wrongful Acts Criminal Law o Crime against state population o Misdemeanors Less serious punishment Jaywalking riding bike on wrong side of the road o Felonies More serious crimes Sexual assult ect When you have a record with felonies you will have trouble finding a job 90 of the charges do not go to trial Only 10 go to court because of plea bargain The state will offer you to plead guilty for a smaller sentence or probabtion especially if it is your first offense Prosecuting every crime would take an incredibly long time 99 9 of cases are state Civil Law o Disputes between individuals o Marriage is a contract o Anything when you can sue someone at any time Sue employer sue ex husband o Judge and jury might just apportion blame 50 50 payment in marriages o 27 million civil cases 99 8 are state o GOVERNED BY STATE LAWS Selective Incorporation Constitution allowed Congress to create any court below the supreme court o Due to the fact that population grew needed more courts in districts and states instead of a federal court o Federal court system o Supreme Court takes up the most serious of all cases their ruling becomes the law of the land Roe vs Wade abortion everywhere Typically take up cases where citizens rights are being All states have to provide rights of the accused or try people violated o Amendment V more than once o Amendment VI Speedy trial All states follow the same ruling Confront witness o Amendent VIII red or yellow light Ruled that you cant confront the camera for running a Excessive bail cruel and unusual punishment Cruel and unusual used to be about death penalty but it is no longer viewed to be so Most death penalty cases exist in Texas Now it is unconstitutional to put a mentally ill person to death Cases now deal with drugs used to kill people are brought to the supreme court Cruel and unusual to put minors to death Equal Protection under Criminal Law Mapp V Ohio o exclusionary rule they were looking for judge Been challenged many times Gideon v Wainwright Can t charge you for child pornography if their warrant said o Right to an attorney provided by the state o State will provide an attorney who is young and has no experience o When cases are about death penalty state will provide an experienced lawyer Much more expensive to persecute death penalty because good Miranda v Arizona lawyers cost a ton of money o Right to speak to an attorney and remain silent o Police have to read you your rights Equal Protection under Civil Law Rights where the states have taken them away Instances where states ignored the constitution and federal court said we have to adhere Brown v Board of Education o Changed fabric of American Society o Ended segregation o Speaks volumes about American judicial system Places in the world are fighting civil wars over minorities racial religious ect o Girls wanted to go to school closest to them o National guard sent in to protect the girls who wanted to go to school o Stanford vs Furgeson Separate but equal was constitutional o System of precedence Latest case heard by the supreme court will negate the previous one Brown v Education overruled Stanford v Furgeson Loving v Virginia o 41 states with missagenation laws Ruling against interracial marriages Loving couple black woman and white man Man worked in Virginia and lived in Maryland because Maryland allowed interracial marriage Supreme Court said it was unconstitutional to ban interracial marriage o Gay marriage is a modern version Lawrence v Texas o Started the ball rolling for same sex marriage o Lawrence and partner lived in Houston and decided to challenge law in Texas o In Texas it is illegal for men to perform sodomy o Told courts they were going to perform sodomy at
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