POLS 207 1st Edition Lecture 17 Outline of Last Lecture I State Courts How They Different From Executive and Legislative Branch II Structure of State Court Systems a Courts of Limited Jurisdiction Major Trial Courts Appellate Courts Supreme Court III Judicial Federalism involves a dual system of courts state and federal IV Five Judicial Selection Methods a Partisan Election Nonpartisan Election Legislative Selection Appointive by Governor Interim Appointments and Missouri or Merit Plans 3 Stages Outline of Current Lecture I Plea Bargaining in Courts II Trial by Jury and Reversible Error III Court Tier System in Texas IV Selecting Judges in Texas Partisan Elections Interim Appointments by Governor V Court Procedures in Texas Grand Juries Petit Juries VI Federal State and Local Police Protection VII Crime Reform Three Strikes and You re Out VIII The Death Penalty Furman v Georgia in 1972 Supreme Court Issues Guidelines in 1976 Death Penalty in Texas Money and Public Support Current Lecture TRIAL COURTS AND SUPREME COURTS Decision Making plea bargaining negotiation between defense and the prosecutor the defendant will plead guilty in exchange for something from the state prosecutor such as a reduction of charges less punishment o vast majority of cases in US are decided with plea bargaining o over 90 of criminal cases will not go to trial but instead will be decided by plea bargaining o prosecutor can also recommend a lighter sentence the minimum sentence instead of the maximum sentence if the defendant pleads guilty at the end of the day the judge still decides the sentence but judge will normally follow prosecutor s recommendation because rely on plea bargaining to reduce number of court cases plea bargaining is controversial in nature o many people do not like it Why might people be opposed to it allows defendant to get off easy or innocent people feel pressured to plead guilty to get lesser punishment So why use it Two main reasons for use o helps reduce court case load the US system cannot handle all the trials w o plea bargaining o if the prosecutor s argument is not strong enough can still give a punishment even if it s less o defendant sees it as a better option Trial by Jury 1 in 20 cases go to Jury Trial fewer than 1 of all criminal cases are resolved by jury trial Jury Responsibility o citizens who are expected to evaluate evidence determine innocent guilty Responsibilities of Judges o Primary responsibility prevent reversible error reversible error a procedural error that will allow the appellate courts to reverse the decision of a case to throw out the verdict judge is going to oversee the selection of the jury oversee evidence allowed into the case will give instructions to jury about the case all to make sure no mistake is made such that an appellate court will say there was an error and reverse the case example error when a judge allows police evidence obtained without a warrant o another responsibility sentencing determine what the sentence is Court Tier System in Texas Generally follow court tier system already covered o Limited Jurisdiction Courts lowest courts Level 1 o District Courts Level 2 major civil and criminal courts court of original jurisdiction for felony crimes in the state of Texas murder crimes etc start at District Courts o Appellate Courts 14 Level 3 Appellate Courts in Texas o Supreme Courts Level 4 has two courts of last resort Texas Supreme Court only for civil cases Court of Criminal Appeals only for criminal cases Selecting Judges in TEXAS Partisan elections o criticisms voters know very little about judges when they elect Interim appointments by the Governor in 1990s Jean Kelley won Democratic nomination for Texas Supreme Court o Jean Kelley won because had the same name as a famous actor o But when people realized in general election that Jean Kelly was not the famous actor he did not win the general election Court Procedures in Texas Grand Juries o Grand Juries screen mechanisms in criminal cases o evaluate case to see if there is enough good strong evidence to go to trial o not there to decided innocent guilty Petit Juries o juries selected based on random selection through voter registration or Driver s License list receive a card in the mail to serve on jury go through a screening mechanisms to select final 12 who then serve on the trial jury to determine innocent guilty Police Protection in the States Federal only about 5 of all law enforcement is part of federal enforcement State develops in 20th C with highway development acquired highway duties and state law enforcement as well as assisting the local law enforcement o about 15 of law enforcement officers serve at state level Local involves 80 of all law enforcement o two local police types County Sheriffs City Police o County Sheriffs initially primary law enforcement type before cities developed still the principle law enforcement but TODAY only outside of city limits How do we select them elect them elected everywhere except RHODE ISLAND o City Police over half 50 of law enforcement is at the city level Crime Punishment Popular reform in mid 1990s in California o Three Strikes and You re Out criminals have high repeat of offense rates when a criminal got out of jail he killed a child sparked this reform 3rd time you commit a crime you get a life imprisonment o What happened to prison and inmate number it increased which is a problem o What happened to court case loads it increased because on 3rd crime if accept plea bargaining then saying guilty so get a life sentence so plea bargaining decreased causing court cases to increase o Prison costs went up tripled in California US Supreme Court came in and evaluated some of the Three Strikes Cases o in two main cases both defendants argued three strikes was unconstitutional because it was cruel and unusual punishment o one guy sentenced to life for stealing golf clubs on his 3 rd crime o second guy stole video tapes on his 3rd crime o normal penalty up to 1 year in prison o but now since 3rd crime both men got life in prison o US Supreme Court ruled it was constitutional but modified it more to focus on violent crimes Three Strikes began in 1990s in California they are constitutional and continue to exist today Death Penalty Furman v Georgia in 1972 o the US Supreme Court effectively outlawed use of execution death penalty o court said it was being unfairly applied and insufficient safe guards o not saying it will never be implemented
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