Buy American Court System Assignment

Buy American Court System Assignment
1. American Court System
Abstract portrayal of the court system through the use of a gavel above a sound block with the red, white, and blue image of flag on it.
The American Court System can be complex due to the breadth of laws, issues, and jurisdictions that exist in the United States. To start, it is important to know that we have a dual court system, which means that we have a state court system and a federal court system.
The state court system is comprised of both civil courts and criminal courts. The structure of state courts can vary, but they generally have lower courts, trial courts, an appellate court, and then a court of last resort, also known as the state supreme court.
The federal court system is four-tiered and includes:
· Magistrate court. Courts with limited jurisdiction over minor civil and criminal matters not exceeding a set amount of money.
· District courts. Trial courts that have jurisdiction over certain cases within specific judicial districts.
· Circuit courts of appeal. Courts that decide appeals from the district courts within a federal judicial circuit. In some cases, they decide appeals from other designated federal courts.
· The U.S. Supreme Court. The highest court in the judicial system.
Each of these courts, at both the federal level and state level, has certain types of cases that they hear. This is known as jurisdiction, or a court’s legal authority to hear certain cases and issue rulings on them.
2. The Trial Process
The trial process is comprised of several steps (to include some pretrial steps):
· Booking
· Initial Appearance
· Preliminary Hearing
· Grand Jury
· Arraignment
· Trial (Jury or Bench)
Jury Selection Process
Summary: The impact jury composition can have on a case is discussed. Gender, religion, background, employment status, and income level are all factors that affect the way jurors look at evidence.
The Power of Eyewitnesses
Summary: Discussion about how the use of eye witness testimony can have a great deal of influence on the outcome of a case, for better or worse.
3. The Courtroom Work Group
The courtroom workgroup consists of several different occupations. The following is a description of each role.
Courtroom Work Group
empty courtroom
Judge. Oversees the function and process in the courtroom. Rules on motions made by the prosecutor and defense attorney and instructs the jury.
Prosecutor. Presents the case on behalf of the state/government against the defendant.
Defense Attorney. Defends the defendant and ensures no violation of rights.
Victim Advocate. Provides support and referral services for crime victims throughout the trial process.
Court Reporter. Records all courtroom hearings. Clerk. Organizes all legal documents generated from a trial.
Bailiff. Moves the defendant and the jury in and out of the courtroom and maintains safety and civility.
The following videos highlight a few of the careers discussed:
Career, Story, Challenges, and Advice
Summary: Ruth Moyer reflects on her career as a criminal defense attorney and describes her daily life in that role. Misconceptions and future directions of the field are also discussed.
A Passion for Writing
Summary: Jeff Mason describes how his interest in police stories and in creative writing shaped his career path.
Future Directions of Victim Advocates
Summary: Discussion of victim advocacy and offenders’ rights.
4. Sentencing Issues
defendant and attorney standing to receive the sentence from a judge.
You have learned about many of the important steps and stages in different processes in the criminal justice system. Arguably, one of the most important or significant stages is criminal sentencing. This is when a judge imposes the criminal sanctions or criminal sentence if a person is convicted and found guilty.
Sentences can range from fines, probation, electronic monitoring/house arrest, to jail or prison time, and even capital punishment. Judges have a great deal of discretion in sentencing. Even with sentencing guidelines, judges still maintain a wide latitude on the sentences they impose.
Judges can impose determinate sentences, which could be a set amount of time in prison (e.g., five years), or they can impose an indeterminate sentence, which would be a range of time often based on the person’s progress and behavior in prison (e.g., five to ten years). When a person is convicted of more than one crime, the judge can run the sentences for the multiple convictions at the same time (concurrent sentence), or have the person serve each sentence after the other (consecutive sentence).
Summary: Discussion of sentencing and how it has changed over the years. An explanation of plea bargaining, its impact on crime rate, and research in the field is included.
Discussion of sentencing and how it has changed over the years. An explanation of plea bargaining, its impact on crime rate, and research in the field is included.
Judges and Bias
Summary: Explanation of how many attorneys are familiar with judges’ biases and how this can affect the justice system.
Race Roles in Drug Sentencing
Summary: Discussion of discriminatory practices in the criminal justice system. Her example is of a white person charged with possession of 10 times the amount of narcotics as a black person, but receives the same prison term.
Question:
After completing the assigned readings, define the legal concepts of aggravating circumstances and mitigating circumstances in a criminal case.
Identify at least one example of each using a real case or imagined scenario.
Discuss how much these circumstances can impact the outcome of a case.
300-450 words excluding references, APA format and a minimum of 3 references