Courts
Adversarial vs. Inquisitorial
Judge is a primary investigator in how the case and decision will work
Judge is more like a referee, along with making the ultimate decision
Inquisitorial is used mainly in European countries
Adversarial is mainly used in the United States
Federal vs. State
State holds civil suits, greater case loads, and cannot litigate state law in a federal court
Federal upholds constitutional amendments and runs the appellate processes
Both have supreme courts
Police on the state, federal, local, and special jurisdiction work among both courts
Types of Courts
Veterans Court
Mental Health Court
Drug Court
Domestic Violence Court
Parts of a Court System
Prosecutor: Local, State Attorney Generals, and US Attorneys
Defense: Private Attorney and Indigent Defense
Judges
Prosecutor Functions:Trial counsel for police, house counsel for the police, and representatives of the court, and elected officials
Defense Functions: Defender to someone who cannot afford and attorney
Assigned: willing to take on indigent defenses and be paid by the courts
Contract: Firms groups of lawyers who are given the contract for the indigent court cases
Public Defender: the government makes an entity of public defenders to handle the public defender cases
Adjudicator: individual that is going to be the decision maker
Negotiator: Mediator of the court, attempting to gain the middle ground
Administrator: Sets the schedule and sets how many court cases they will hear in a given day
Use of discretion: Charges to be filed, sentencing an offender, and plea of the accused
6th Amendment: Right to Counsel
Gideon v. Wainwright
Miranda v. Arizona
Ross v. Moffitt
Courtroom Work Group
Local Legal Culture
Shared values and expectations
The Police and Courts
- The police and courts work alongside each other in an order to convict law breaking citizens and prevent further crime through deterrence, rehabilitation, and punishment
How to become a Judge:
Partisan Election, Nonpartisan Election, and Merit Selection