Specialized courts are alternative courts that are narrowly focused in terms of the types of cases they hear. The judges that oversee these courts are considered to be experts in their fields. Cases that fall within their parameter are routed to them. As Zimmer (2009) notes, “by transferring the adjudication of particularly difficult or complex legal issues or factual disputes from the scope of general jurisdiction courts and concentrating their adjudication in a specialized court of limited jurisdiction, several desirable objectives are attained” (p. 1). These desirable objectives include: 1) the efficiency of the judicial system, 2) a more efficient legal system, 3) more uniformity in terms of application of the law, 4) expertise is provided, 5) case management is more improved, 6) eliminates forum shopping by litigants, 7) increases the overall flexibility of the court system, 8) provides an administrative agency review mechanism, and 9) provides consistency of administrative…

References
Federal Justice Center. (2005). Crime victims’ rights act of 2004 and the Federal courts. Retrieved from  http://www.uscourts.gov /sites/default/files/cvra0001.pdf
Fund for Modern Courts. (2018). Court restructuring and simplification. Retrieved from http://moderncourts.org/programs-advocacy/court-restructuring-and-simplification/
Mikeska, J. (2018). Court consolidation. Retrieved from http://www.ncsc.org/~/media/Files/PDF/Education%20and%20Careers/CEDP%20Papers/2000/Court%20Consolidation.ashx
Vera Institute of Justice. (2002). Effects of state victim rights legislation on local criminal justice systems. Retrieved from https://www.vera.org/publications/effects-of-state-victim-rights-legislation-on-local-criminal-justice-systems
Zimmer, M. (2009). Overview of specialized courts. International Journal for Court Administration (August 2009), 1-15. Retrieved from http://www.iaca.ws/files/LWB-SpecializedCourts.pdf

Witnesses, Cross Examination, Physical Evidence
1
The scriptures confirmed my views about how criminal procedure should operate according to each topic. Deuteronomy is clear about needing more than one witness, which aligns with common sense. To prevent a “he said, she said” type of argument in court, it is necessary that there be other supporting witnesses. However, as Loftus (1980) has shown, even eyewitness testimony can be unreliable for a number of psychological reasons; and witnesses can also engage in conspiracy, so relying solely on witness testimony should not be considered full-proof. Of course, Deuteronomy 19:21 also offers a way for courts to deal with false witnesses: “Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” Cross examination must occur so that judges can get to the truth of the matter and discern whether witnesses are being honest or are…

References
Liptak, A. (2009). Justices reject inmate right to DNA tests. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/us/19scotus.html
Loftus, E. F. (1980). Impact of expert psychological testimony on the unreliability of eyewitness identification. Journal of Applied Psychology, 65(1), 9.

Court Systems

The structure and platform on which the legal system is based upon is very important in understanding the total landscape of how justice is carried out within the confines of the government. The purpose of this essay is to explore the inner workings of both the federal and state court systems and highlight their similarities and differences. Also, this essay will investigate the roles of court administrators in the different types of functions that a court serves. A investigation into the state of Colorado and its court structure will also be presented to help give a practical example of the court system. Finally, the essay will address quasi-judicial bodies and their impact on the courts and legal system.

The Basis for Authority

The United States Courts Government Website (n.d.), details a comprehensive overview of the basis of America's court system. The United States Constitution is understood to be…

References

Cornell University Legal Information Institute (ND). "Quasi-judicial." Viewed 15 Oct 2013. Retrieved from  http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/quasi-judicial 

Linhares, G. (2012). Role of the State Court Administrator. National Center for State Courts, Trends in Courts, 2012. Retrieved from  http://www.ncsc.org/sitecore/content/microsites/future-trends-2012/home/leadership-and-the-courts/4-2-evolution-of-the-state-court.aspx 

The State Of Colorado. "Colorado State Court System." Viewed 15 Oct 2013. Retrieved from  http://www.courts.state.co.us/Courts/Index.cfm 

The United States Court (ND). "The Difference Between Federal and State Courts. Viewed 15 Oct 2013. Retrieved from  http://www.uscourts.gov /FederalCourts/UnderstandingtheFederalCourts/Jurisdiction/Diff erencebetweenFederalAndStateCourts.aspx

Court Analysis

Justice and Court Administration

Administration and management of courts is filled with challenges. Often depending upon the geographical context of the court, such challenges will include resource shortage, a perpetual docket of criminal cases and the broader complexity of providing civil order and justice to communities while balancing constitutional law and local ordinance. Moreover, the complexity of administering justice in and of itself plays a part in the difficulty of court management, with issues such as the deepening ethnic diversity of encountered populations and shifting ideas about victims' rights playing defining roles in the tasks before any given court. The discussion here on language interpretation services and the timeline in the evolution of victims' rights are offered within the context of court administration.

Language Interpretation Services:

It is often the case that courts will find themselves burdened with the task of wading through the details of officer-defendant confrontations…

Works Cited:

Missouri Courts (MC). (2010). Court Interpreter Services. Courts.mo.gov.

Muraskin, R. & Roberts, A. (2004).Visions for Change: Crime and Justice in the Twenty-First Century. Prentice Hall.

Robinson, M. (2002). Justice Blind? Prentice Hall.

Court Service Management

How does a court system cope with a changing of the guard when a new administration is elected and key executives and managers are replaced, and/or when policy changes direction as a new political party assumes power?

The court deals with transitions of power by maintaining the established traditions and principles from the Constitution. This is used to ensure that case precedent is respected and to provide stability for the entire political system. As the basic guarantees of the Constitution will not change and cannot be adjusted based upon a new party coming to power. In this case, the structure and attitudes will remain the same. This is from the institution and its practices remaining in place. egardless of what is happening with transitions in power. (Koopmans, 2003) (Neubauer, 2012) (Oakley, 2009)

However, the courts will be impacted by these changes to a certain extent. This will…

References

Glannon, J. (2008). Civil Procedures. Frederick, MD: Kluwer Law.

Howard, J. (1999). The Shifting Wind. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

Koopmans, T. (2003). Courts and Political Institutions. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Lane, S. (2012). Highway 420. Staten Island, NY: Sandi Lane.

Robertson illustrated his point about the dangers of the Supreme Court's power anecdotally, such as when, later in the book he talks about the McCain-Feingold Bill which was designed to restrict campaign finance and reform the ways political campaigns were funded both privately and via government assistance. Although the Republicans in neither the Legislative or Executive branch supported the bill, they agreed to pass it in order to end the debate, believing that the bill would be ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in that it violated first amendment laws, among other things (Robertson 2004,-page 234). hen the voted for or signed the bill as the case may have been, they believed that the court would ultimately overrule the other branches by finding the proposed legislation unconstitutional based on the text of the law itself. The Supreme Court, however, did not agree with this perspective and ruled the law legal.…

Works Cited

Appel, J.M. (2009, August 22). Anticipating the incapacitated justice. Huffington Post.

Center for Internet and Society. (2005). Pat Robertson suggests that Muslims shouldn't serve as judges. Stanford University Press: Stanford, CA. Retrieved from  http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blogs/chander/archives/003105.shtml 

Robertson, P. (2004). Courting Disaster: How the Supreme Court is usurping the Power of Congress and the People. Integrity: Brentwood, TN.

System of Checks and Balances

Power

The concept of Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances is more or less the same thing. Both of these ideas were introduced into the government to ensure that one branch of the government does not have all the power. Another reason it was introduced was so that the responsibilities and duties are distributed among different areas to ensure that the government is doing its job perfectly. Separation of Powers is basically a model of government in which various parts of the government have different tasks. The three different branches of the United States government are Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Before we get into the history of separation of powers, it is only necessary to tell which branch is in charge of what activities.

The legislative branch is basically the Congress and its major responsibility is to approve acts and make them into laws.…

References

Factmonster.com (2007). Checks and Balances | FactMonster.com. [online] Retrieved from:  http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0777009.html  [Accessed: 28 Jul 2013].

Ncsl.org (2005). Separation of Powers -- An Overview. [online] Retrieved from:  http://www.ncsl.org/legislatures-elections/legislatures/separation-of-powers-an-overview.aspx  [Accessed: 28 Jul 2013].

court process for the below mentioned case would be either litigation by judge or by jury. The facets that we are looking at include the actions of Mr. Smith and if these actions actually deserve the sentence that he received. The process would entail Mr. Smith filing a complaint. In the decision of whether or not this is a criminal or civil matter depends solely amongst the facts. In the facts provided below the court that Mr. Smith was sentenced in there is no reason for him to have been tried on a civil level considering no one was hurt. From the view of Smith -- he questions whether or not the penalties upon him were too harsh or not. Given the fact that he did come forward, to tell what had happened. A problem is that he is faced with the prosecution stating that the only reason he came…

Courting Disaster

This study reviews Pat obertson's "Courting disaster: How the Supreme Court is usurping the power of Congress and the people." Pat obertson is the founder and chairperson of the Christian Broadcasting Network, founder of egent University, and The Center for Law and Justice. He and his wife have four children and thirteen grandchildren. They reside in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Using both legal and religious points-of-view, obertson attempts to prove that the current operation of the judicial system is dangerous to both the republican form of government and our individual freedoms. While seeking to strengthen his argument, the author has compiled fascinating facts, quotes, case decisions, and opinions of the Court (Mu-ller-Fahrenholz, 2007).

From this study, it is evident that obertson undertook a political expedition seeking to identify various issues that bedeviled the American society. However, he fails to provide solutions to the identified problems. This is an action…

References

Barrett, P., & Smolla, R.A. (2010). A year in the life of the Supreme Court. Durham [u.a.: Duke Univ. Press.

Edwards, L., & Meese, E. (2011). Bringing justice to the people: The story of the freedom-based public interest law movement. Washington, DC: Heritage Books.

Melashenko, E.L., & Smith, D.B. (2009). Rock-solid living in a run-amok world. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Pub. Association.

Mu-ller-Fahrenholz, G. (2007). America's battle for God: A European Christian looks at civil religion. Grand Rapids, Mich. [u.a.: William B. Eerdmans Publ.

Systems Theory makes several assumptions that are useful for understanding the 14-year-old's behavior:

The state or condition of a system, at any one point in time, is a function of the interaction between it and the environment in which it operates." (Longres, 1999, p. 19)

Change and conflict are always evident in a system. Individuals both influence their environments and are influenced by them. Processes of mutual influence generate change and development." (Longres, 1990, p. 19)

Each person in a family is part of the whole system. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts." (Longres, 1990, p. 266)

These assumptions make us understand that the responsibility for the acts of the 14-year-old rest not with the child himself, but with the relationships and interactions in his family. More than anything else, the real issue is a family boundary problem where the hierarchical subsystem had not had a…

Works Cited

Brother Arrested in Slaying of Girl, 4." Washington Post 20. Sept., 2004: B-1

Longres, John F. Human Behavior in the Social Environment. Itasca, IL F.E. Peacock Publishers, Inc., 1990

Teen Appears in DC Court In Slaying of Sister, 4." Washington Post 21 Sept. 2004: B-3

More importantly, because the system needs to be perceived as fair, employee's opinions must be taken into account. e are not putting this system into place to be punitive, but rather to protect the interests of all of the employees.

It is believed that the system of inquiry will have a strongly positive effect on the organization. Verizon has long had some form of ethical code, but with the new code coming into effect in 2008 and the introduction of a system of inquiry, the firm is demonstrating strong ethical values. These are the values shared by most of the employees already. hat the code and system do within the company is to formalize the values that most employees already have. It improves the perception of fairness and presents a unified view of ethical issues throughout the firm.

This also will have strong impacts outside the organization. In an era…

Works Cited

No author & Seidenberg, Ivan. (2008). Your Code of Conduct. Verizon. Retrieved October 25, 2008 from  https://www22.verizon.com/about/careers/pdfs/CodeOfConduct.pdf 

Liptak, Adam. (2007). Verizon Reverses Itself on Abortion Messages. New York Times. Retrieved October 25, 2008 at  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/27/business/27cnd-verizon.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1224961253-V6iLKJ6NbEBQ/tn2vsTygQ 

Dallas, Lynne. (2003). A Preliminary Inquiry into the Responsibility of Corporations and their Directors and Officers for Corporate Climate: The Psychology of Enron's Demise. Rutgers Law Journal. Retrieved October 25, 2008 at  http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=350341 

Liptak, Adam. (2007). Verizon Reverses Itself on Abortion Messages. New York Times.

More people are currently incarcerated than at any other time.

In fact, prisons are so over crowded that it is now common practice for judges to simply use deferred sentences and probation as a means of sentencing. Further, the costs of housing so many criminals is one that many states simply cannot afford. As a result, much of the prison industry is being outsourced to private corporations.

The net effect of the incarceration boom is two fold. First, there's the lack of meaningful punishment, or justice, due to the fact that there is not enough room in the jails and not enough money in the budgets to build more space. The result: criminals are given less severe sentences and, in many cases, remain a threat to the public. Further, there is no deterrence factor when one knows that the worse they will get for a relatively small crime is a…

Bibliography

Bohm, Robert M., Keith N. Haley. Introduction to Criminal Justice. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005.

Origins of the Federal Judiciary. Maeva Marcus (editor). New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.

Turrow, Scott. Ultimate Punishment: A Lawyer's Reflection on Dealing with the Death Penalty. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2004.

United States Constitution: First Amendment. www.findlaw.com,2007.

legal system in the United States is divided into two distinct systems: federal and state. The state court system in Wisconsin, like most states, has broad jurisdiction so the cases that most ordinary citizens are involved in -- such as robberies, traffic violations, broken contracts, and family disputes -- are usually handled in state courts. The state courts in Wisconsin are not allowed to hear cases where the United States is a defendant or where a matter regarding a federal statute is involved. The jurisdiction of the federal courts is highly limited. For the most part, federal courts may only hear cases where the United States is a party, where there is an alleged violation of the U.S. Constitution or federal statute, cases between citizens of differing states where the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000, and all cases involving bankruptcy, copyright, patent, and most maritime law cases. In a few…

References

Carp, R. (1990). Judicial Process in America. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly.

Conant, J.K. (2006). Wisconsin Politics and Government: America's Laboratory of Democracy. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Mengler, T.M. (1995). The Sad Refrain on Tough on Crime: Some thoughts on saving the Federal Judiciary from the Federalization of State Crime. University of Kansas Law Review, 503-523.

Wisconsin court system

In 1993 there were 155,704 recorded crimes of burglary and of these 20,200 were residential burglaries. Since the mid-1970s the level of recorded burglaries has fluctuated around a level of 130,000 to 150,000 crimes per year although during the three last years, 1991 to 1993, the level has been close to 155,000. The number of recorded car thefts in 1993 was 61,141 and of these 18,300 were attempts. During the 1980s the number of recorded thefts of cars has doubled from 34,301 in 1980 to 69,003 in 1989. However, in the last three years this crime has decreased from roughly 70,000 in 1991 to roughly 61,000 in 1993.

Drug offenses. In 1993, 40,700 violations of the Narcotic Drugs Act were reported to the police. This figure is 40% higher than in 1990. Due to the method of counting drug offenses and the fact that this is a crime category highly…

Resources

An Introduction to the Sami Culture" (1996) Retrieved, January 28, at  http://boreale.konto.itv.se/samieng.htm 

Criminal Matters" Swedish Government Offices Website Retrieved, January 28, at  http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/2138/a/14884 

Malmstrm, C. "Diversity in the European Context" Retrieved, January 28, at  http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/8660/a/82943 

Reiter, P.L. (2007), Comparative criminal justice systems. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearsons.

Green County Drug Court

The Green County court system has finally decided to implement a "drug court" to bring about some much-needed changes in the current system. The county has authorized a new judge and is debating the merits whether that individual should be elected or appointed. The court is also considering the questions of whether it should operate on a due process model or a crime control model and whether juveniles should be adjudicated.

Green County elects its judges, but in this instance it is recommended that the drug court judge be appointed. The primary reason is expedience. Political campaigns, in addition to being costly in terms of money, are costly in terms of time. Green County needs to address its drug problem immediately and can do so by appointing a judge.

Election campaigns can also take the focus away from an issue. The recent brouhaha over President Obama's…

Reference

Gruenewald, P.J., Johnson, K., Shamblem, S.R., Ogilvie, K.A., and Collins, D. (2009).

Reducing adolescent use of harmful legal products: Intermediate effects of a community prevention intervention. Substance Use & Misuse 44(14), pp. 2080-2098.

Criminals face court every, single day in all fifty states for a variety of crimes. Some are mentally disabled, some suffer from acute or chronic mental illness, and some are of sound body and mind. In order to differentiate which person if fit for trial, the Legal Standards for Competency are used in order to avoid any added difficulties during the trial. The questions however is, are these standards helpful in differentiating between the "fit" and the "unfit"?

"The legal construct of competency to stand trial requires that a defendant has sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding and a rational as well as factual understanding of the legal proceedings" (Jamieson, 2009, p. 67). This quote, derived from Jamieson, explains how competency is determined for criminals on trial. However, there's a lot of room in this definition for error. Some people on…

References

Bartol, C.R., & Bartol, A.M. (2012). Introduction to forensic psychology: research and application (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.

Golding, S.L., Roesch, R., & Schreiber, J. (1984). Assessment and conceptualization of competency to stand trial: Preliminary data on the Interdisciplinary Fitness Interview.. Law and Human Behavior, 8(3-4), 321-334.

Heller, M., Traylor, W., Ehrlich, S., & Lester, D. (1981). Intelligence, Psychosis, and Competency to Stand Trial . Bulletin of the AAPL, 9(4), 267.

Hubbard, K.L., & Zapf, P.A. (2003). The Role of Demographic, Criminal, and Psychiatric Variables in Examiners' Predictions of Restorability to Competency to Stand Trial. International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 2(2), 145-155.

Juvenile Court

Juvenile criminal justice system has enforced laws, which govern the rules for determining whether a juvenile criminal is eligible for a sentence or a counseling period is mandatory to alter the behaviors of such individuals. This system has been effectively placed for children less than the age of 21 who have reportedly committed crimes in various forms such as sex offenders; murderers etc. (Whitehead & Lab, 2012). In this aspect, several crimes have taken place in USA marking the statistics in the country by 32% of the total juvenile crime statistics (Whitehead & Lab, 2012). In this essay, a case study of one of the most fierce juvenile crime acts have been presented which explains a situation where the juvenile criminal was at first ordered to be treated as an adult for the sentence purposes due to committing first degree of the crime. However, later due to his…

References

Bell, S.J. (2011). Young Offenders and Youth Justice: A Century After the Fact. Toronto: Cengage Learning .

Jones, B. (2012, April 13).  http://www.usatoday.com /news. Retrieved from

Criminal Justice System

The civilized society is one that is founded on laws and values where each member of society thereto should abide by and adhere to. Any breach or non-conformance to said statutes and principles will be met with corresponding sanctions and more particularly in cases that are criminal in nature. Thus, the criminal justice system is the law enforcement mechanism that involves the investigation, arrest, prosecution, defense, all the way to sentencing and commitment to the penal institution for those accused of, suspected or charged with criminal offenses. Despite the raison d'etre of the criminal justice system existing to protect the members of society, the system is far from perfect and there are several issues that continually needed to be addressed. These issues vary such as the disparity between the types of defense the rich and the poor accused can avail of where the former can seek the…

Bibliography:

Leipold, A.D. (2010). What's wrong with the criminal justice system and how we can fix it? Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, 7(515): 516-519. Retrieved July 4, 2011 from  http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/osjcl/Articles/Volume7_2/Leipold-FinalPDF.pdf 

West, T. (2009, May 7). Criminal justice system -- A pipeline with many problems. Philadelphia Public Record. Retrieved July 4, 2011 from http://www.dc47afscme.org/local_810/public%20record/90507.htm

role U.S. Constitution U.S. legal system business regulation. Find discuss a recent news story, workplace, demonstrates a Constitutional affects a business legal system ( court system administrative system) respect recognizing / protecting .

The role of the United States Constitution and the U.S. legal system in business regulation

The Constitution of the United States and the national legal system represent the backbone of the American life and culture. They issues and safeguard the rights of all people and they provide regulations for action and behavior for all those in the country.

The Constitution and the legal system as such have immense ramifications, meaning that they come to impact virtually all sectors and domains, including the business scene. One example in this sense is observed at my current employment place, which is a small size company that provides accounting services to small and medium sized firms in the area.

The organization…

References:

2010, Federal regulations prohibiting job description, Environmental Protection Agency,  http://www.epa.gov/ocr/crslawreg.htm  last accessed on June 7, 2012

God's Sacred Calendar, Sacred Calendar, http://www.sacredcalendar.info/Year.htmllast accessed on June 7, 2012

How to file an employment complaint, The Official Website of the State of South Carolina,  http://www.state.sc.us/schac/how_to_file.htm  last accessed on June 7, 2012

Drug Courts: A Program to Reinvent Justice for Addicts

For the past several decades, drug use has had an overwhelming effect upon the American justice system, with drug and drug-related crime being the most common offense in almost every community (Drug Strategies, 1996). eyond the troubling ability of these problems to fill prisons to capacity, the traditional judicial system seemed to have no deterrent effect on these crimes (Drug and Crime Facts, 1994). A disturbing "revolving door" pattern had emerged, with drug offenders moving through the system in a predictable pattern of arrest, prosecution, conviction, incarceration, and release. In a few weeks, sometimes only a few days, the same person was back in the system again, arrested for drug possession or a drug-related crime (National Association of Drug Court Professionals [NADCP], 1997). A particularly difficult problem faced by the system was the growing use of crack cocaine in the 1980s…

Bibliography

Bean, Philip. (1996, October). "America's Drug Courts: A New Development in Criminal Justice." Criminal Law Review. 720-740.

A scholarly review of the American drug court by a British attorney.

Brumbaugh, Alex. (1994) "Why Drug Courts Work." 3 Dec. 2002. http://www.silcom.com/~alexb/drugcrts.htm

Discussion of the various counseling techniques available to drug court clients, with an emphasis on acupuncture.

The mechanisms that have been put forth to handle issues of day amercement are rudimentary to the knowledge of many people in the U.S. For instance, day Fines is subject to the capabilities of the offenders. It is not a subject imposed to all offenders no with no consideration of their financial stabilities. Nonetheless, offenders who are judged to be within the bracket of paying day charge make it an obligation. The U.S. has state and federal strategies on imprisonment of offenders have received an enormous boost with involvement of the day Fines services.

The federal government of the U.S. has found a more equitable and distributive way of punishing offenders with day fines. Traffic offenders are rampant and active most of the day times. Since they are individuals who operate most of their activities during the daytime, the federal state perceives day fines as a more eloquent way of…

References

Alarid, L.F., & Del, C.R.V. (2011). Community-based corrections. Belmont, CA:

Wadsworth.

Born, G. (1996). International civil litigation in United States courts: Commentary and materials. The Hague: Kluwer Law International.

Cole, G.F., & Smith, C.E. (2006). The American system of criminal justice. Belmont, CA:

esearch also showed that offenders tend to be part of or return to communities with high concentrations of offenders. The concentration of offenders in these neighborhoods affects the community negatively by increasing the stigma associated with the community and also saddling the community with additional problems without providing added resources needed for restoring or maintaining order. The ultimate consequence is the that the criminal justice system destabilizes informal networks of social control and increases poor attitudes towards formal social controls, both of which have been shown to contribute to increases in crime and disorder in the communities. Churning results in unnecessary pressure being put on the other residents of the communities who are law-abiding in disadvantaged communities. The removal of men from the community through incarceration has the chilling effect of changing the family's socio-economic structure. The families of incarcerated members, especially men, of the community also face stigma and…

References

Burke, K. And Leben, S. (2007). Procedural Fairness: A key Ingredient in Public Satisfaction.

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association. 44 (1), 4-25.

Davis, A.J. (2008). Racial Fairness in the Criminal Justice System: The Role of the Prosecutor. Colombia Human Rights Law Review. 202 (39), 202-32.

Hurwitz, J and Peffley, M. (2001). Racial Polarization on Criminal Justice Issues:

U.S. Justice System vs. India's Justice System

This paper compares the system of justice in India with the system of justice in the United States. Although they are both democracies -- in fact India is the biggest democratic country in the world -- the two countries are quite different in their approach to formal justice. Moreover, the system of justice in India has been the subject of a great deal of criticism in recent years due to the corruption that has been found in the system.

Comparing the U.S. And Indian Justice Systems

The legal system in India is backed by the Indian Constitution and is a mix of "adversarial and accusatorial," according to the Loyola University in Chicago (LU). There is an attempt to respect both Hindu and Muslim jurisprudence and to "preserve the timeworn tenets of both" (LU). In rural areas of India, an informal system of justice…

Works Cited

Bhushan, Prashant. (2009). 'My Honest And Bonafide Perception.' Outlook India. Retrieved September 15, 2012, from  http://www.outlookindia.com .

Country Listing. (1995). India: The Criminal Justice System. Center for Children's Law and Policy. Retrieved September 14, 2012, from http://www.country-data.com.

Global Corruption Report 2007: Corruption in Judicial Systems. (2007). New York: Cambridge

Loyola Library. (2010). Criminal Justice System in India. Retrieved September 14, 2012,

Federal and State Court Authority

The federal court system was founded by the United States Constitution and derives its authority from that document. The establishment of the federal court system is specifically derived from Article II which created the institution of the Supreme Court, the highest law in the land, and also permitted Congress to establish a system of lower courts. At present, there are 94 district level trial courts and 13 courts of appeal (“Court Role,” 2018). The state courts derive their power from the state constitutions directly, although state authority does not supersede that of federal authority. This was a major sticking-point between federalists and antifederalists and remained a point of contention during the early days of the republic.

State courts possess what is referred to as general jurisdiction, which means that all cases not within the scope of the federal courts are within the jurisdiction of the…

Having open court procedures would also lead to more liability and more community engagement that would in turn lead to better outcomes for children and families who may get caught up in the criminal justice system (Ashley, 2007).

There has been a recent increase in the number of violent crimes that are being committed by juveniles. This has caused a shift in thinking from rehabilitation to that of retribution and deterrence. Many states have begun to open juvenile proceedings to the public when a minor is charged with a violent crime that may provoke community outrage because of the nature of the crime (1990's: Juvenile The Courts Proceedings and ecords Continue to Be More Accessible to the Public, 1999).

There has been a lot of evidence presented as to why juvenile court proceeding should be open to the public. Everything has been presented from not violating the First Amendment of…

References

1990's: Juvenile the Courts Proceedings and Records Continue to Be More Accessible

to the Public. (1999). Retrieved April 17, 2009, Access to Juvenile Courts Web

site:  http://www.rcfp.org/juvcts/index.html 

Ashley, B. (2007). Difference Between Open vs. Closed Juvenile Court Proceedings.

b. Civil -- Civil cases involve disputes between two parties. In these cases the person or entity who files the suit (the plaintiff) claims that the other person or entity (the defendant) has failed to fulfill a legal obligation to the plaintiff. The plaintiff may request the court to require the defendant to either fulfill the obligation or make monetary restitution.

III. Federal Court System

a. Jurisdiction -- The jurisdiction of federal courts is limited to what is provided in the Constitution. Typically, these are cases involving:

i. Cases in which the United States is a party

ii. Cases involving violation of the U.S. Constitution or Federal Laws iii. Cases between citizens of two different states if the amount is greater than $75,000

iv. Bankruptcy, copyright, patent, and maritime law cases.

b. Organization of Federal Court System -- There are three basic levels of the federal court system. These are…

International Court of Justice

The action of international states as actors has precipitated the need to have measures that can function beyond the limits of a single country. The action of states in their relationships with other states at times requires external intervention for the resolution of problems. Laws and treaties that govern the relationship between states as it relates to maritime sovereignty and other issues may be breached and a mechanism is required to address this breech without military action. This scenario requires that an international body that can function as a neutral arbiter between states. The International Court of Justice provides such a facility to the international community.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is also known as the world court. It is the main judicial arm of the United Nations. The ICJ was not the first world court as it replaced the Permanent Court of International Justice.…

References

Germain's International Court of Justice Research Guide. (2010). Retrieved from http://library.lawschool.cornell.edu/WhatWeDo/ResearchGuides/ICJ.cfm

Posner, E.A. & de Figueiredo, M.F.P. (2005) Is the International Court of Justice

Biased? The Journal of Legal Studies 34(2): 599-630.

The international court of justice. (2010) Retrieved from http://www.icj-

Appeals

If the defendant is acquitted by the jury or by the judge in a bench trial, the 5th Amendment government prohibits the government from trying the defendant for the same crime.

Although there are is no constitutional right to appeal convictions, every state has passed its own laws which allow a convicted defendant to appeal a conviction after trial.

The defendant may appeal to an appellate court below the state supreme court or, if there is none, directly to the state supreme court.

If the appellant is unsuccessful at this level, he/she can bring the appeal to a higher court.

If the appellant's complaint is based on a Constitutional issue, she may bring her case to federal court which has jurisdiction over that particular state.

However, if the appellant's complaint involves a right provided by the state's laws, he/she cannot bring this issue before a federal court.

If the…

References

Crime and Justice Volume II: The Criminal in the Arms of the Law, Edited by Sir Leon Radzinowicz and Marvin E. Wolfgang (1977). Basic Books Publishing.

Joshua Dressler and Alan C. Michaels, Understanding Criminal Procedure Vol. 2: Adjudication (4th Edition)(2006). Lexis-Nexis.

Larry J. Siegel, Introduction to Criminal Justice (12th Edition) (2010) Cengage Learning.

Bryan a. Garner, Black's Law Dictionary (8th Edition) (2004). Thomson West.

They must also determine what types of delinquent behavior and youth violence are causing the greatest concern in the community. (Medaris, 1996, para.# 5)

As can be seen from the above statement of the first step in implementing the SHOCAP program in any community, first look at statistics on juvenile crime and second ask the community what it is most afraid of with regard to juvenile crime. This intention seriously contradicts the intention of the juvenile justice system to demonstrate focus on individual cases of each juvenile offender and give it adequate time for understanding of all mitigating circumstances, rather than seeking to understand outside fear of crime. Many factors contribute to public opinion of crime and not all of those factors are realistically and truly connected to real crime occurrences and/or statistics. The "mitigating" factors of public crime fear are in dire need of reevaluation, starting with unrealistic and…

Resources

Cothern, L. (November 2000) "Juveniles and the Death Penalty," Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Accessed July, 10, 2008

 http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/184748.pdf 

Medaris, M (August 1996) "Serious Habitual Offender Comprehensive Action Program. (SHOCAP)" Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Factsheet Accessed July, 10, 2008,  http://www.ncjrs.gov/txtfiles/shocap.txt

Australian Criminal Justice System

Formal mechanisms are required to make certain there is no bias or discrimination against the people. With informal mechanisms there was unfair treatment of the accused even to the point of receiving unjust sentencing. Those who had the power within the informal mechanisms often received the property or other goods once held by the accused, withhold evidence for personal benefit, or acted as vigilantes exacting their own justice (Lincoln and obinson, 2010).

Social control is best managed by those that have been elected to oversee the management of the changing formats of punishment for criminal behavior. The formal mechanisms work best when connected with matters of state within society (oach Anleu, 1998). One theory that demonstrates the interconnected relations is the Behaviorists Concept. This theory asserts that social control lies within governmental administration of what is considered a normal lifestyle through

Legislation, legal action and negotiation…

References

Australian Government Department of Foreign Investment and Trade (2011). Legal System. Retrieved December 15, 2011 from  http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/legal_system.html 

Indehmar, D and Roberts, L. (2009). Confidence in the criminal justice system. Retrieved December 15, 2011 from http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/D/6/8/%7BD68CD7EA-536A-4025-A8C0-A5BADF59A6AC%7Dtandi387.pdf

Lincoln, R. And Robinson, S. (2010). Crime over Time. Cambridge Scholars Publishing: Newcastle Tyne.

Roach Anleu, S.L. (1998). The role of civil sanctions of in social control: a social legal examination December 15, 2011 from  http://www.popcenter.org/library/crimeprevention/volume_09/Role_ofCivilSanctions.pdf

Reform from within the EU does not seem possible, either. It is so structured as to prevent changes in member states' minority status and other modifications from becoming attainable. Attempts by any government to amend the Community laws are considered doomed to failure, because Parliament has almost no part in European law-making (Andrews).

Conclusion

Common and civil law systems are inherently opposed, although their shared goal is to conduct a just, speedy and most inexpensive settling of conflicts (Messitte 1999). American courts have increasingly acknowledged the need to continuously evaluate and modify their processes and altogether improve the quality of justice. Efforts cover many other aspects of court activity, ranging from dispute resolution mechanisms, such as arbitration and mediation, to procedures, such as default and summary judgment used I the early stage of a trial without needing to proceed to a formal trial (Messitte).

Jury trial has disappeared in the…

Bibliography

Adams, James, ed. The Jury Enigma. Court Management Observer, 2003.  http://www.cmobs.com/editorial403.htm 

Andrews, D. Freedom in Jeopardy. Freedom Central, 2004. http://www.freedom.central.net/euandbritain.html

Kotz, Hein. Civil Justice Systems in Europe and the United States. Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law, Special Issue, 2003.  http://www.law.duke.edu/shell/cite.pl?13+Duke+j.+Comp+8+Int 'l+L.061

Massitte, Peter J. Common Law vs. Civil Law Systems. United States Information Systems, 1999. http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itdhr/0999/ijdc/messitte.htm

Criminal Justice System

Corrections, Civil Court proceedings

The role of the victim in the criminal justice system

To the victim, the processes of the criminal justice system can seem frightening and confusing. It is important for the victim to understand that the justice system unfolds in an orderly, sequential process, and while it may be frustrating at times, the multi-step nature of the justice system is also necessary. With most crimes, the first stage is the initial report. "Law enforcement officers receive the crime report from victims, witnesses, or other parties (or witness the crime themselves and make a report)" (The criminal justice system, 2013, National Center for Victims of Crime). After the initial report, then law enforcement conducts an investigation to see if a crime has been committed; who the perpetrator may be; and then they try to arrest the suspect after gathering evidence. "If they find a suspect…

References

The criminal justice system. (2013). National Center for Victims of Crime. Retrieved:

 http://www.victimsofcrime.org/help-for-crime-victims/get-help-bulletins-for-crime-victims/the-criminal-justice-system 

What are the differences between the civil and criminal justice system? (2013). National

Crime Victim Law Institute. Retrieved:

United tates Jury ystem

In United tates courts, the jury is a system by which, in theory, defendants are given a trial that is fair and unbiased. The ideal is that twelve persons from the same peer group as the defendant will be able to deliberate without prejudice the position of the defense, and the outcome of the trial. In reality however it is often the case that jury members are unable to arrive at a logical and fair conclusion due to several factors beyond their control, including interference from court systems and the law.

The jury system originated in England on June15, 1215 (Arnet). The jury system at this time took the form of a Magna Carta signed by King John. The liberties and rights of the population of England were thus established, among which was the rights pertaining to a jury trial. Individuals were granted to such a…

Sources

Abramson, Jeffrey. We, The Jury: The Jury System and the Ideal of Democracy. New York: Basic Books, 1994.

American Bar Association. "Frequently Asked Questions About the Grand Jury System." November 30, 2003.  http://www.abanet.org/media/faqjury.html 

Arnet, Gary. "The informed juror: How an informed jury helps safeguard liberty." In Backwoods Home Magazine, July-August 2003. Article Database: Looksmart Find Articles (www.findarticles.com)

Holmquist, Micah. "Stereotypes Defied in Second Tolliver Trial." In The Chicago Reporter, July 2001. Community Renewal Society, 2001. Article Database: Looksmart Find Articles (www.findarticles.com

Criminal Justice Courts System

I visited Monroe County Family Court that is located in 106 South Court Street in Lewisburg West Virginia on December 1, 2016. During this visit, the judge, Judge David M. Sanders, was presiding over a domestic violence case. I was really impressed by Judge Sanders because he had everything under control and ensured that the proceedings moved forward seamlessly and efficiently. Judge Sander ensured that everything was under control through speaking clearly and distinctly in a manner that could be heard by everyone in the courtroom. This made it easy for me and other people in the courtroom to follow the proceedings and understanding the issues before the court.

I was really impressed with the courtroom as I walked in since it reflected what I thought it was going to look like. Having watched television shows and legal drama movies, I knew what to expect in…

The United Kingdom and Ireland have both enjoyed geographic separation from the continent of Europe, enabling both to develop unique political cultures and institutions. Ireland has been even more removed from the fray, having never been part of the Roman Empire, and systematically resistant to the same invasions that affected England throughout much of their respective histories. However, the proximity between Ireland and England—and later the United Kingdom—has caused the two countries to be “intertwined politically, economically, and culturally for over 800 years,” (The Republic and Politics of the Republic of Ireland 5). British hegemony has generally meant that Irish identity has been largely oppositional in nature. Divergent trends have emerged in the political cultures and institutions of the United Kingdom and Ireland, especially with regards to the relatively power of the Church. Ireland’s political structures, institutions, and cultures have been inevitably influenced by the British system, but the Catholic…

open and closed system models in criminal justice. Specifically it will define open and closed system models of organizations and explain why it is important that the criminal justice professional should know the differences between these models. It will also provide a specific organizational example of each type of organization, one for open systems and one for closed systems, and describe how these organizations meet the criteria of either the open or closed system perspective. There are vast differences in management and outcome between open and closed system models in organizations, and these differences are especially important to the criminal justice system. An open system allows for change and growth, while a closed system is less flexible and far more bureaucratic.

The open and closed ideas of system models in organizations were originated by organizational experts obert L. Kahn and Daniel Katz in the 1960s. There are three basic system…

References

Ciarkowski, Arthur A. "8 Influencing Structure: From Hierarchy to Chaos." How Public Organizations Work: Learning from Experience. Ed. Bellavita, Christopher. New York: Praeger, 1990. 111-122.

Hartmann, Francis and Charles Wellford. "Panel III Changing Nature of Criminal Justice System Responses and Its Professions." U.S. Department of Justice. 1998. 10 June 2005.

<  http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/reports/98Guides/lblf/panel3d.htm 

Roeckelein, Jon E. Dictionary of Theories, Laws, and Concepts in Psychology. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998.

The later stages focuses on dealing with the problems related to the drug use withdrawal like the withdrawal syndromes, the tendency to relapse. The later stages also focus on restoring the self dignity and also impacting the participant with the prerequisites to self-manage the drug abuse issue once the probation and treatment duration ends (Tara, 2007).

The drug courts are also said to be significant to the economy of the U.S. The drug courts save the taxpayer money for each participant in the treatment as compared to the same individual or one with a similar problem but going through the criminal court system. This is realized by the reduced recidivism cases among the graduates from the treatment facilities recommended by the drug court systems (Daniel, 2003).

In general, the drug use is very addictive and a problem that dealing with it in the U.S. society is very difficult. This is…

References

Amanda B.C., & Michael R., (2005). The State of Drug Court Research. Retrieved may 30, 2010

from www.courtinnovation.org/_.../state%20of%20dc%20research.pdf

Belenko, S. (2001). Research on drug courts: A critical review 2001 update. National Drug Court

Institute Review, 4, 1 -- 60 www.20.drugpolicy.org/docUploads/2001drugcourts.pdf

The actual court proceedings in a juvenile court consist of the arrest procedure, search and seizure, and custodial interrogation (Calderon 2006). The concept has been that the delinquent is a child rather than a criminal. Hence, rehabilitation rather than punishment is the court and the system's goal. ut the major aspects of the juvenile justice system continue to hound its supporters. One is the cause of serious juvenile crime. Another is that young offenders need to be rehabilitated under a surrogate entity of the parens patriae concept. Another is a recent redefinition of young violent offenders as adults and their transfer to adult courts and the criminal or adult justice system. There has been increasing belief that they pose a serious and genuine threat to the safety of other young people and the community as a whole. An increase in serious juvenile crimes warrants more severe punishment. ut moving them…

Bibliography

Calderon, M (2006). A reflective comparison of the juvenile criminal justice system vs. The adult criminal justice system. 23 web pages. Anai Rhoads. Retrieved on April 29, 2008 at  http://www.anairhoads.org/calderon/juvadult.shtml 

Colquitt, J. (2002). American Criminal Justice System. Retrieved on April 30, 2008 from  http://www.law.ua.edu/conquitt/crimmain/crimmisc/crime.htm 

Hopson, R. K and Obidah, J.E. (2002). When getting tough means getting tougher.

21 pages. The Journal of Negro Education: Howard University

During the 70's and 80's some of these opportunities were eliminated by the actions of the Burger and Rehnquist courts but habeas corpus actions remain a major problem for both systems and our a source of much acrimony. In 1996, Congress amended the federal habeas corpus statute in order to provide some clarification as to how habeas corpus was to be applied and interpreted nationwide.

XI. The Eleventh Amendment and State Sovereign Immunity

Litigation occurring under the 11th Amendment attempts to reconcile two competing ideas: 1) state sovereign immunity which assumes that a state is immune from suit unless it consents to be sued, and 2) the power of the federal government that assumes that the states are subsidiary sovereigns to the federal system. Interpretations of the 11th Amendment have varied throughout the history of decisions on said issue but, presently, are a bar to unconsented suits by private citizens…

Criminal Justice Agency

The American legal system is very systematic and works amazingly well. It's complicated given its intricacy as its framework is argumentative. The Supreme Court sometimes changes the law as it holds that authority. The Supreme Court decides which laws are to be upheld and which are to be altered. Learning the court system can be a tough ask but not an impossible one. In this research paper, the aim is to break down the American law into layman language. It will start from legal system of U.S. And shift to court systems. Then different kinds of courts will be examined whilst examining their separate duties.

Prelude

The constitution is responsible for the entire American legal system. The American constitution is the ultimate law on American soil. The public is bound by this American constitution as it shapes their actions accordingly. The American public is answerable under the…

References

Barak, A. (2008). The Judge in Democracy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Baum, L. (2013). American Courts: Process and Policy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2013.

Bonfield, L. (2006). American law and the American Legal System in a Nutshell. Publisher St. Paul, MN: Thomson/West.

Carp, R et al. (2007). Judicial Process in America. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.

Juvenile drug courts are among the most recent innovations in the treatment of substance-involved adolescents in the justice system. Their emergence in the 1990s was driven by the rising rates of substance abuse among adolescents -- a 2000 report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, for instance, showed that substance usage among high school students had risen substantially in the 1990s, with almost 9.5% being cocaine users; a third being binge drinkers, and 14.6% being inhalant users (Office of Justice Programs, 2003). In line with these statistics, the rate of juvenile crime rose by a massive 145% during this period compared to the rate reported in the last decade (Office of Justice Programs, 2003). Juvenile drug courts were established after it became apparent that the traditional juvenile court system did not deal effectively with substance abuse, mental illness and other related problems owing to its lack of specialization…

References

Chassin, L. (2008). Juvenile Justice and Substance Use. The Future of Children, 18(2), 165-183.

Cooper, C.S. (2001). Juvenile Drug Court Programs. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Retrieved August 10, 2015 from  https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/184744.pdf 

Office of Justice Programs. (2003). Juvenile Drug Courts: Strategies in Practice. Office of Justice Programs. Retrieved August 10, 2015 from  https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/bja/197866.pdf 

United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. (2015). BRIDGE Program: Mission Statement and Policies. United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. Retrieved August 10, 2015 from  http://www.scp.uscourts.gov/Downloads/BRIDGEProgramMissionPolicies.pdf

Nonetheless, people who received some level of ACRP intervention had a lower rate of criminal recidivism than people who received no intervention at all.

System Flow

The study found that the case flow through the ACRP was a little slow. The amount of time between the Initial Opt-In Hearing and the Formal Opt-In Hearing averaged 74 days. While there are no hard and fast rules governing how long this process should take, the study found that that "the ACRP is performing rather well on the front-end of the admissions process (up to the initial opt-in stage) but that more could be done to work on the back end (time between the Initial Opt-In Hearing and the Formal Opt-In Hearing)."

Status Hearings

The study found that the incentives and sanctions used by ACRP judges to promote compliance at status hearings, though standardized, were not tailored to correspond to participant progress.

Also,…

Bibliography

Outcomes from the Last Frontier: An Evaluation of the Anchorage Mental Health Court (Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, Ferguson-Hornby-Zeller, 2008).

Improving Responses to People with Mental Illnesses: The Essential Elements of a Mental Health Court (Thompson, Osher, Tomasini-Joshi, 2008).

Mental Health Courts: Decriminalizing the Mentally Ill. (Irwin Law, Schneider-Hyman-Bloom, 2007).

Mental Health Courts. (Wiley Encyclopedia of Forensic Science, Schneider, 2009).

Courts of California

Organization and Structure

California courts system is the biggest in the country, serving a total population of 38 million people, which represents 12% of the total population of the U.S. Many cases here begin at one of the 58 superior courts or a trial court which is found n every of the 58 counties in this state. There are over 500 court buildings in this state. The functions of these courts are to hear criminal and civil cases together with the family cases, mental health cases, probate cases, traffic cases and juvenile cases, among others. The next level of the judicial authority is found at the Courts of Appeal (McGovern & Greenberg 2014). The cases that come to this court are a review of the superior court decisions. Here, the legislature subdivided the geography of the state into six appellate districts. The third and the highest of…

References

Maerowitz, M. A., & Mauet, T. A. (2008). Fundamentals of California Litigation for Paralegals. Austin: Wolters Kluwer/Aspen Publishers.

McGovern, G., & Greenberg, M. D. (2014). Who Pays for Justice? Perspectives on State Court System Financing and Governance. Santa Monica: RAND Corporation.

Juveniles in Court as Adults

Summary of Policy

Many states in the U.S. allowed the prosecution of juveniles in adult courts, in transfer laws, in an expansion program that ran through the 80s and 90s (Griffin, Addie, Adams & Firestine, 2011). Transfer laws for juveniles outline the direction for trying underage defendants as adults in criminal cases. Earlier on, the criminal justice system sought to separate adults from underage offenders. However, the laws were reviewed to allow such youthful suspects to be transferred and be tried in adult courts. The law review was triggered by the notable serious escalation of violent crime by youthful offenders (Burgess-Proctor, Holtrop & Villarruel, 2008). Many attempts were made between 1979 and 2003 to modify the transfer laws in many states. Some of the efforts were geared towards eliminating the minimum age for trial in a criminal court. There were attempts to also expand the…

References

Burgess-Proctor, A., Holtrop, K., & Villarruel, F. A. (2008). Youth transferred to adult court: Racial disparities. Washington, DC, Campaign for Youth Justice.

Champion, D. J. (2001). The juvenile justice system: Delinquency, processing, and the law. Prentice Hall.

Fagan, J. (1996). The Comparative Advantage of Juvenile vs. Criminal Court Sanctions on Recidivism among Adolescent Felony Offenders. Law and Policy 18:77-112.

Forst, M., Fagan, J., & Vivona, T. S. (1989). Youth in Prisons and Training Schools: Perceptions and Consequences of the Treatment-Custody Dichotomy. Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 40(1), 1-14.

In light of the three different appellate courts decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court elected to hear the case against President Obama's healthcare legislation. hile the most recent decision found in favor of the constitutionality of the law, "the Supreme Court agreed to hear appeals from just one decision, from the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, the only one so far striking down the mandate" (Liptak 2011).

Although the U.S. Supreme Court is the final court of appeal, the fact that it has only recently stepped in to rule upon the healthcare legislation shows the breadth of authority that lies in the hands of federal appellate courts. The U.S. Supreme Court, depending on its composition, has specifically selected certain kinds and types of federal court decisions to review to shape the law of the land -- during the New Deal, its focus was upon economic…

Works Cited

"Courts of Appeals." U.S. Courts. [16 Nov 2011]

 http://www.uscourts.gov /FederalCourts/UnderstandingtheFederalCourts/CourtofAppeals.aspx

"Judicial review." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics. Oxford University Press, 1996,

2003. Answers.com 16 Nov. 2011.  http://www.answers.com/topic/judicial-review

Supreme Court's recent decision to ban the execution of mentally challenged individuals raises important ethical issues. Judges must be able to determine if a person is indeed mentally challenged. hile the legal system and psychology have made important insights into this issue, there is still some inconsistency in the definition and application of mental retardation in the judicial system. Accordingly, an analysis of the ethical principles underlying the issue is useful. Ultimately, a combination of both deontological and teleological approaches may provide the best ethical guidelines for such a complex issue.

The ethical factors involved in handing down any death sentence are complex. This is especially true when the accused is a mentally challenged individual. In the American criminal justice system, the court must be assured that an accused individual is fully responsible for their actions in order to hold responsible for their crime. In other words, in order to…

Works Cited

American Association on Mental Retardation. Fact Sheet: THE DEATH PENALTY. 11 October 2002.  http://www.aamr.org/Policies/faq_death_penalty.shtml 

Aristotle. Nicomachean ethics: edited with a commentary by G. Ramsauer. New York: Garland, 1987.

Blackburn, Simon. Title: Think: a compelling introduction to philosophy.

Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.