American Law Court System and Procedures

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I. The Adversarial System Parts of American Courts –Accused –Accuser –Impartial Judge Point –Achieve justice through arguments and evidence presented by the accuser and the accused –Key Point: The accuser has the “burden of proof” –Negative-Sides ignore evidence not helpful to their case

II. Two Distinct Systems of Justice Civil Courts –One party suing another party Plaintiff – Accuser Defendant – Accused –Most settled out of court Criminal Courts –The state suing a party Plaintiff – State Prosecutor (district attorney) Defendant – Accused –Most settled by plea bargain

III. Court Officers Judge –May be one judge or a panel (appeals; supreme) Controls proceedings/Issues ruling Panels may have differing opinions –Majority Opinion – The actual verdict –Concurrent Opinion – Agrees with the majority, but for a different reason; can offer additional commentary –Dissenting Opinion – When a judge disagrees –Clerk of Court Creates Docket (Trial Dates) –Bailiff (Sheriff’s Dept) Enforces security Carries out judge’s orders

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IV. Juries Grand Jury (behind closed doors trial) –Decides if there is enough evidence to indict (accuse someone of a crime) –25 People Petit (Trial) Jury (open to public trials) –Decides guilt or innocence –12 People Criminal Juries must be unanimous Civil Juries rule by majority

V. Possible Outcomes Acquittal-Defendant found Innocent Guilty-Defendant found guilty Dismissal-Trial stops due to inadequate evidence Hung Jury-When petit jury can’t reach decision Mistrial-Something illegal has been done during the trial

VI: Why two Court Systems? The U.S. Constitution created a governmental structure for the United States known as federalism. Federalism refers to a sharing of powers between the national government and the state governments. The Constitution gives certain powers to the federal government and reserves the rest for the states. Therefore, while the Constitution states that the federal government is supreme with regard to those powers expressly or implicitly delegated to it, the states remain supreme in matters reserved to them. This supremacy of each government in its own sphere is known as separate sovereignty, meaning each government is sovereign in its own right. Both the federal and state governments need their own court systems to apply and interpret their laws. Furthermore, both the federal and state constitutions attempt to do this by specifically spelling out the jurisdiction of their respective court systems.

VII: Federal Court System 1. U.S. District Courts –94 courts (at least one in each state) –Original jurisdiction (federal cases start here) –Hears both civil and criminal cases

VII: Federal Court System 2. U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal –13 Circuit Courts of Appeal (13 th in D.C.) –any party who is dissatisfied with the judgment of a U.S. District Court –examine the trial record for only mistakes of law; the facts have already been determined by the U.S. District Court –usually will neither review the facts of the case nor take any additional evidence –Panels of 3 judges

VII: Federal Court System 3. U.S. Supreme Court –nine judges, known as justices, and is presided over by the Chief Justice –Located in Washington D.C. –Parties who are not satisfied with the decision of a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal (or, in rare cases, of a U.S. District Court) or a state supreme court can petition the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case-done mainly by a legal procedure known as a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari (A document which a losing party files with the Supreme Court asking the Supreme Court to review the decision of a lower court) –accepts between 100 and 150 of the some 7,000 cases a year, it takes four justices to agree to hear the case to proceed

VII: Federal Court System Special Article III Courts –U.S. Court of Claims: This court sits in Washington, D.C., and handles cases involving suits against the government. –U.S. Court of International Trade: This court sits in New York and handles cases involving tariffs and international trade disputes. Special Courts Created by Congress –Magistrate judges: These judges handle certain criminal and civil matters, often with the consent of the parties. –Bankruptcy courts: These courts handle cases arising under the Bankruptcy Code. –U.S. Court of Military Appeals: This court is the final appellate court for cases arising under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. –U.S. Tax Court: This court handles cases arising over alleged tax deficiencies. –U.S. Court of Veterans' Appeals: This court handles certain cases arising from the denial of veterans' benefits

State Court System htmlhttp://screen.yahoo.com/maine-justice html

VIII: NC State Court System District Courts –District Courts are divided into four categories: criminal, civil, juvenile and magistrate. The District Court sits in the county seat of each county. It may also sit in certain other cities and towns as authorized by the General Assembly of the state. –Civil cases including divorce, child support, custody, and cases less than $10,000 are heard in District Court. The District Court also hears juvenile cases. –Magistrates accept guilty pleas for minor misdemeanors, traffic violations and worthless-check cases, among other offenses. In civil cases, the magistrate handles small claims up to $5,000 and landlord eviction cases.

VIII: NC State Court System Superior Court –exclusive jurisdiction over felony criminal cases, civil cases which involve an amount in controversy in excess of $10,000 and misdemeanor and infraction cases which are appealed from the District Court –12-person jury hears criminal cases- in civil cases juries are often waived, and the judge makes the final decision –divided into eight divisions and 46 districts; the judges rotate among the districts in their division every 6 months in an effort to avoid the appearance, or reality, of favoritism that might result from having a permanent judge or judges in one district

VIII: NC State Court System Court of Appeals –only appellate court in North Carolina –rotating panels of three, 15 judges decide only questions of law on cases appealed from the Superior and District courts, with the exception of death penalty cases

VIII: NC State Court System Supreme Court of North Carolina –seven justices, a chief justice and six associate justices –concerned with errors in legal procedures or in judicial interpretation of the law, not factual evidence –a decision by the Supreme Court of North Carolina is the final decision in the state court system