United States Court System Analysis

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Stated in the book CJ in the USA: An Introduction to Criminal Justice “The courts are just one component of the overall criminal justice system. The function of the courts is to judge and make proper disposition of crimes, it is in this venue that the guilt or innocence of a defendant is determined”(Byrum,2014). Key players important to the court system are prosecution, defense, judge, and the jury. To start off the prosecutor works with police by reviewing evidence, and preparing a search warrant. They then prepare the arrest warrant based on information gathered by law enforcement. Prosecutors also preserve defendant 's rights when violated. Then in the end prosecutors make the decision on whether or not to charge the suspect with a crime …show more content…
“The court system is when disposition of crimes or alleged crimes one made”(The Courts). To begin there are three main levels dealing with the federal court system. District courts (the trial courts), circuit courts the first step of an appeal, and then lastly the supreme court of the United States the final level of appeal in the federal system. The federal courts can only hear certain cases that have been approved through the United States constitution or federal statutes. A federal judge and supreme court justices are selected by the president and confirmed by the senate. That judge has the option to stay in that position for the rest of their lives, but typically many wind up resigning or retiring early. Judges can be removed by being impeached from being accused of wrongdoing some way or another. One United States district judge is assigned to a court hand picked by the president with the approval from the senate for the rest of their lifetimes. This certain court deals with both criminal and civil trials within the federal court system. The circuit courts come into play when the federal district court has picked a case, then that case can be appealed to the U.S. court of appeal. “There are 12 federal circuits that divide the country into different regions”(Introduction to the Federal Court System). Multiple judges ranging from 6 to possibility 29 or more are assigned to each circuit court. …show more content…
“Of cases filed annually in the U.S. about one million cases are filed in federal courts, while more than thirty million are filed in the state/local courts”(State Courts In-Depth). Sadly state/local courts cannot hear cases that involve bankruptcy, immigration, patents, copyrights, and violation of federal criminal laws. These cases are all handled by federal courts. The structure of state/local court system vary from state to state, but all states courts operate on a number of levels. What makes each state different from one another is the type of matter being heard or the amount of money at stake. In the end almost every state functions on at least three tiers: trial, intermediate appellate, and high appellate. The courts are not located in one certain building let alone the same city. The state/local courts are generally spaced throughout the state. All in all I learned an enormous amount of information throughout this module. From how courts operate in each court system and what they deal with everyday. I really enjoyed this module because I never knew everything that made up a court system, i just knew the basics i 've learned in high school. I now have a greater knowledge on how every court system is ran and how they

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