American Court System
Eva McGill
CJA /224
5/21/13
Danielle Diaz
The United States courts and history and its purpose has been a strong order of justice in the nation since the first time it was established. The system was designed to allow the citizens of the United States to receive a fair criminal trial regardless of social status, gender, race, and ethnic background.
The Court
.A court is an institution that the government sets up to settle disputes through a legal process. Courts decide what really happened and what should be done about it. They decide whether a person committed a crime and what the punishment should be. They also provide a peaceful way to decide private disputes that people can’t resolve themselves. Courts use the adversary process to help them reach a decision. Through this process, each side presents its most persuasive arguments to the fact finder (judge or jury) and emphasizes the facts that support its case. Each side also draws attention to any flaws in its opponent’s arguments. The fact finder then decides the case. American judicial tradition holds that the truth will be reached most effectively through this adversary process ( Federal Judicial Center P1).
Two Types of Courts
Different courts handle different issue. There are two kinds of courts in the federal court system: the trial court and the appellate court. The trial court's basic function is to resolve disputes by determining the facts and applying legal principles to decide who is right. The appellate court's task is to determine whether the law was applied correctly in the trial court ( Federal Judicial Center P2).
Dual Court Systems The Dual Court System is a court system that has a separate state court system and a federal court system. Federal Courts hear criminal and civil cases related to the federal constitution while the state court system deals with state criminal and civil cases. Dual court systems can promote complication and confusion. A primary factor to maintaining the dual-court system is the sheer cost and amount of time it would take for the U.S. Supreme Court or one governing body to hear and sentence every offence no matter how large or small.
Role of Early Legal Codes, and Common Law The early legal codes are important because they signaled the emergence of formalized law (Siegel, Schmalleger, & Worrall, p. 8, 2011). As time progressed and new conquests where made, it was time to set certain laws in stone. Common law was written and established by England from past customs, traditions, and precedent. Precedent set the standards of judges where aloud to go back to a previous decision from an earlier case to help them render a verdict of their current case. Common law and precedent are still practiced today in England and the United States. The roles of the courts are important to the study of criminal justice for two key reasons: adjudication and oversight (Siegel, Schmalleger, & Worrall, p.
