POLS 207 1st Edition Lecture 21 Outline of Last Lecture I The Courts Outline of Current Lecture II States Courts A Texas Courts III Participation IV Chapter 12 Current Lecture Configuration of State Courts Texas and one other state have their supreme court split into two one for criminal and another for civil cases State Courts Original Jurisdiction Questions of fact and questions of law FACT Did prohibited behavior occur Is defendant legally responsible Substantive questions Answered by Juries in cases involving juries LAW Procedural due process Rules of conflict adjudication What evidence is permissible what issues are germane who is eligible to speak to which issues etc Always answered by Judge If defendant is found responsible Judge decides punishment in criminal cases compensation in civil cases Supreme Courts Intermediate Appellate Courts Trial Courts Appellate Jurisdiction Questions of law only Uphold or reverse decisions on questions of law made by trial court Review court record hear from attorneys If reversed then a new trial is possible Appellate courts do not set defendants free There are no juries but multiple judges They nullify the decision Very few cases are appealed PROCESS Loser appeals briefs from parties briefs from friends of the court hearing then decision Texas Courts States Highest Appellate Courts Supreme Court Civil Matters Court of Criminal Appeals highest appellate court for criminal matters State Intermediate Appellate Courts Court of Appeals State Trial Courts of General and Special Jurisdiction District Courts Country Trial Courts of Limited Jurisdiction County Level Courts o Constitutional Country Courts o County Courts at Law o Statutory Probate Courts Local Trial Courts of Limited Jurisdiction Justice Courts Municipal Courts Two Supreme Courts are underworked would make more sense for their just to be one However to change it there would need to be statutory amendment and Texans don t like change Elite Participation Attorneys o Protecting your rights Judges o Elected in non partisan elections in Texas o Normally lawyers that decide to become a judge o However the Texas Constitution does not state that Judges have to have been lawyers o Justice of Peace courts can be applied for by many mostly administrative Unique Style Judicial Selection TRIAL COURT JUDGES Legislative election 2 Appointment by governor 2 Partisan election 11 Nonpartisan election 16 Merit plan 19 APPELLATE COURT JUDGES Legislative election 2 Appointment by governor 3 Partisan election 7 Nonpartisan election 14 Merit plan 24 Partisan election allows people to just vote their PID Leading to many believing judges are just politicians Judicial Selection Methods for Justices in Court of Last Resort 2008 Mostly by merit system New system where the Governor or Legislature are appoint judges for 1 or 2 years and then after that they go to an election So he is running on his record of these years Better system than allowing the Governor to merely appoint Texas is using legislative appointment Lay Participation Grand juries o Chosen from your driving license But into a pool with others and chosen from it o Grand jurors indict those who they believe have done wrong this does not mean that you are guilty just that there is sufficient evidence to send you to trial Trial juries o They decide whether you are guilty or not o Trial of your peers someone like you who judges you o Several problems historically in the South there were black codes One of these were that black men couldn t sit on trial juries but this has been eliminated Texas Crime and Punishment Crime rate o high crime rate o used the deterrent method to try and prevent crime such as the death penalty Doesn t work Incarceration rate o Second or third highest in the nation Executions Chapter 12 Can State and Local Policies Affect Education Poverty Crime Conflicting liberal and conservative perspectives Goals shared by all states For crime government is reactive not proactive Number in Poverty and Poverty Rates On a general decline in percentage terms but rising in number