CJS200 Week Five Checkpoint Historical Development Submitted by Travis Hance

Outline the dual court system in the United States. The dual court system in the United States is the result of a necessary evolution of the powers that are shared between state and federal levels. While in the majority of cases there is little difference between laws at each level, it is vital that states retain powers without fear of federal control. Therefore the Constitution dictates that each state retains certain rights. The state court system therefore has the initial jurisdiction when charges are brought, with some limited exceptions for special circumstance. Once the state trial has been completed, the suspect has a somewhat broad opportunity to appeal through a level of appellate courts within the state, and finally through the federal system with the ultimate authority being vested within the United States Supreme Court. Describe the historical development of U.S. courts. Initially the court system was a cruel and unfair process, with individuals entrusted with the title of judge meeting out individual punishments as they saw fit. As the system naturally evolved, punishments such as flogging, torture racks, and beheading were initially common. However, society began to demand a more humane approach that required a balance against the inherent possibility of human error within the court process. The concepts of both a jury trial and an appellate process began to take form. Identify the steps involved in the pretrial criminal process. The basic pretrial process is a relatively indeterminate amount of time that consists of the suspect progressing through a process. Such due process includes the suspects right to be informed of the charges, approaching and seeing a judge or magistrate, a preliminary trial, an indictment, arraignment, and or adjudication and sentencing. The procedure is designed to give both the legal system and the suspect access to due process in order to protect Constitutional rights. List the six basic steps of an appeal. The initial step is for the suspect to make their wishes known through a basic process that requests a superior court to review the case and details,

known as filing a notice of appeal (1). Once this has been received and processed the official transcripts of the trial are transferred to the appellate court (2). Legal counsel on both the prosecution and defense teams will begin to review the case as needed, then file briefs with the court (3). Upon receipt of a court date, the counselors will provide oral arguments both for and against the appellate action (4). The appellate judge will deliberate over the evidence, including previous testimony, court records, briefs, and arguments (5). Finally the appellate judge will issue a ruling based on the evidence, determining whether the case moves forward or is reversed.