POLS 3030

Week 9: Courts
 Agenda

Foundations of Actors in State and Structure of Courts Discussion

Law Local Courts at the State level
Foundations of Law
• Common Law 
• English law
• Rather than statues, law is decided based on precedent 
• Judges bound by what has been decided in the past 
• Napoleonic Code
• Used by Spain and France
• Law, rather than precedent, is constructed on statues
• More judicial interpretation, with judges being able to
interpret every element of the statute rather than historic
perspectives
• Louisiana (Hybrid)
• Criminal law is based on common law
• Civil law (torts, contracts, family law, etc.)  is based on the
Spanish/French system
Foundations of Law
Criminal Law

• Cases arising from actions violating laws protecting the health, safety, and morals of the community
• The government is always the plaintiff
• Example: Murder

Civil Law

• Cases involving disputes between citizens or between a government and a citizen where no crime is alleged
• Two general types:
• Contract cases are disputes that arise over voluntary actions
• Tort cases are disputes that arise out of obligations inherent in social life

Public Law

• Cases in which the powers of government or the rights of citizens are involved
• The government is the defendant
• Two general types:
• Constitutional law involves judicial review of the basis of a government’s action in relation to specific clauses of the
Constitution as interpreted in Supreme Court cases
• Administrative law involves disputes over the statutory authority, jurisdiction, or procedures of administrative agencies
Criminal
• Deals with crime and punishment for criminal
offenses
• Burdon of proof is Beyond a reasonable doubt"
• The State must prove 100% fault
• Punishment can be fines, incarceration, or death
penalty
• Case is filed by the Government
• Only the defendant can appeal the verdict, not the • Both parties can appeal
government
• Jury must reach a unanimous decision
• Examples include theft, assault, murder
Civil
• Deals with Disputes between individual
actors/organizations regarding compensation
• Burdon of proof is based on "preponderance of
evidence"
• This falls on the plaintiff, but does not have to
show 100% fault or guilt
• Punishment is compensation for energies or
damages
• Case is filed by a private party
• Not all states require unanimous decision for civil
cases
• Examples include child custody, divorce, or
personal injury
 • In 1992 a 79 year old woman

Civil Law: Tort Law and bought coffee from McDonalds,

spilling it in her lap

McDonalds Coffee • She received third-degree

burns to her thighs and
groin, requiring skin grafts
• She sued (New Mexico District
Court), offering to settle for
$20,000 for medical expenses
• McDonalds offered $800
• The Jury Awarded Her
$2.8 Million
• Over 700 similar cases
were seen across the
country
• McDonalds served the
coffee at 180-190 degrees,
far too hot
• McDonalds admitted
people didn’t know it was
too hot to consume 
Foundation: Actors
• Prosecutors 
• Public Defenders
• Juries
• Judges
Actors - Prosecutors
"The Most Powerful Office in the Criminal Justice System"

• Many Judges and State politicians were prosecutors 

• Very Electable: High pay, speaking ability, and prestige
• Attorney: Casper, WY: Full Time; $4,619.33 - $15,433.60 Monthly

Jurisdiction

• Prosecutors have specific jurisdictions, usually a county

• Nationally there are 2300 state court prosecutor offices
• 78,000 attorneys  and staffers
• 2 million Felonies and 7 million misdemeanors
• Most serve areas of less than 100,000 people with minimal staff
 Discretion
• Prosecutors have power over what they
charge and when
• "Legislative overcriminalization"
• States and Cities often create a law for
Actors: everything people dislike, overburdening
Prosecutors the system
• Reform
Cont. • Another reason is the capacity to allow
for reform or more strict prosecution of
the crimes committed in a district
• Groups like the ACLU push for
Prosecutorial reform: 
Prosecutorial Reform | American Civil Libe
rties Union (aclu.org)
Public Defenders
Gideon v
• Right to counsel is essential to actualize 6th Amendment rights
Wainwright • Court extended right for felony and misdemeanors

(1963)

• Assigned Counsel – Office has staffed public defenders

Three models • Contract – The state contracts out to firms, nonprofits, or

for Defenders individuals for each case

• Combination – Often starts as assigned with contracts for overload
 Public Defenders on Average make between
$47,500 – $65,000 in first 5 years out of law school
• Verses $135,000 - $172,000 in large law firms
Public Defenders
Recommended Standards by the Justice
Policy Institute:
• No more than 150 felony, 400 misdemeanor, 200 juvenile, or
200 mental health cases each year
• Example: Kentucky average: 460 cases; Florida: 500 Felonies
• Example: Washington State: average time per case: 1 hour;
Louisiana State average time: 7 minutes
• American Bar Association recommends 47 hours of work for a
felony case for it to be prepared effectively 
 Concepts: Independence vs Accountability

Independence – The idea that judges should be free

from pressure in their decision-making
• Leads to life-long terms and long tenures

Actors: Judges Accountability – The idea that judges should be held

accountable for the decisions that they make 
• Leads to election and retention votes

The independence of the Judiciary often comes under

attack, but seldom does policy or change happen
• People might be politically charged, but generally like the idea of
independent judiciaries 
Actors: Judges Cont. 

Elections Appointment

• Partisan elections – Judges first • Governors or state legislatures

run in party primaries, with appoint judges
their political designation • This can change, with some
listed on the general election states appointing one level and
ballot electing another. 
• Non-Partisan elections –
names appear on ballots, but
no party affiliation is cited
 Merit Selection
• A hybrid of appointment and election
• A committee is formed to choose candidates, of which
an appointment is made

Judges: • Example: In Utah, the governor appoints a

committee for each judicial district. Members vet

Elections and applications and gives a list of five names to the

governor, of which one MUST be chosen

Appointments A retention election often follows the first

few years after initial appointment
• Retention votes almost always pass, unless a judge is
made (in)famous for a decision
• Example: In Wyoming retention votes happen every
8 years for Supreme Court; 6 years for the District
Court; and 4 years for the Circuit court
Judges: Elections • Elected Judges: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
- Bing video
and Appointments
Court Levels
Trial Court

• Fact-Finding and decision on most cases

Appeals Court

• Intermediate appellate court – reviews the decisions to see if errors were made

State Supreme Court

• Highest state court of appeals

• Pick and choose which appeals they want to hear
• Can decide interpretation of law and constitution 

The next level is the US Supreme Court

Trial Courts
• Trial Courts aka "Court of First Instance"
• Judge Hears Civil and Criminal Cases
• Jury Trial 
• Trial by jury of peers
• Bench Trial
• Rather than a jury, only the Judge hears the case
• Most Civil court cases heard here (Think Judge Judy)
• These are normally faster than Jury trials and cost the state less money
• Purpose: Find and make decisions based on facts presented
• Types of Trial Court
• General Jurisdiction
• Hears any civil or criminal cases not sent to a specialty court
• Special/Limited Jurisdiction
• Immigration, bankruptcy, family court, etc. 
Appellate Courts
When a party challenges the results of Trial Courts

• Appellate courts only decide if there was an error in the initial trial
• This error has to be shown to have resulted in a different outcome

There are no standardization across appellate courts

• 11 states – mostly those with small populations – do not have intermediate appellate courts. 
• Example: In Wyoming, there is no separate court between District court and State Supreme
Court
• In the other states, there is a Court of Appeals between District and State Supreme Court
Jurisdiction

• Discretionary Jurisdiction – in some states the courts can pick or choose what they hear
• Mandatory Jurisdiction – Judges must hear the appeal
 Federal Court 

• Established by Article III of US Constitution

State v
• Supreme Court and ability to create lower federal courts
• 13 US Courts of Appeals 

Federal: •
•
94 District Courts
Specialty Courts

Court • Appeals courts can go to US Supreme Court

Structure State Courts

• Established by State laws and Constitution

• Most States have Supreme Court and Lower-level courts
• Specific Courts (Family Court, Juvenile Court, Probate
Court, etc.)
• Intermediate Court of Appeals 
• State Supreme Court
 Federal

• Judges Nominated by President,

State v Confirmed by Senate
Federal: • Hold office for life/Good behavior
Judicial • May be removed via impeachment

Selection
State

• Judges can be Appointed or Elected

• Appointed for a term or life
• Retention votes Periodically
 Federal

• Constitutional Law
State v •
•
US Treaties 
Ambassadors and Public Administrators 
Federal: • Disputes between States

Types of State
Cases • Most criminal Cases
• Probate (wills and estates)
• Contract Cases
• Tort Cases
• Family Law
• State Constitutional Law
 Territories have similar court systems to states
• Example: Puerto Rico has a Court of First Instance, Appeals, and
Supreme Court

Territorial courts within the Federal system

• The US District courts of Guam, The Northern Mariana Islands,
and The Virgin Islands 
Territorial • They exercise the same jurisdiction as U.S. district courts 
• They're also authorized by Congress to exercise local
Courts  jurisdiction
• Judges are appointed by the President and serve terms of ten
years not life (Art. IV)
• U.S. District Court for Puerto Rico 
• in 1966 Congress provided that future judges appointed to the
court would serve with the Article III protections of life tenure
• American Samoa
• Does not have a district court – must be sent to Hawaii or D.C.
Discussion • Topic: In-Class Discussion and Article Annotations 7: Bureau
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