POLS 207 1st Edition Lecture 17 Outline of Last LectureI. 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 CourtIII. 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 LectureI. 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 OutVIII. The Death Penalty (Furman v. Georgia in 1972, Supreme Court Issues Guidelines in 1976, Death Penalty in Texas, Money, and Public Support)Current LectureTRIAL 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 bargainingo 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 natureo 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 warranto another responsibility = sentencing > determine what the sentence is Court Tier System in Texas- Generally follow court tier system already coveredo Limited Jurisdiction Courts lowest courts, Level #1o 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 Courtso 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 caseso 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/guiltyPolice 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 Policeo 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 3rd crime o second guy stole video tapes on his 3rd crime o normal penalty – up to 1 year in prisono 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
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