CJAS6
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Courts
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Federal Court System Structure
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Courts
- Hierarchical
- Trial court (U.S. District Courts) decide upon issues of fact and law (initially)
- Appellate courts decide upon issues of law
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Chapter 10: Courts
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Federal Court Design
- Administrative Office of the United State Courts handles administrative functions of the federal courts
- Federal courts hear different types of cases
- Civil and criminal
- Trial and appellate
- Federal courts are decentralized with each of the federal courts having a great deal of freedom
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Courts
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Chapter 10: Courts
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Federal Court System
- Congress (executive branch) plays a significant role in shaping the federal court system
- Creates federal courts
- Determines jurisdiction (types of cases to be heard)
- Allocates funding
- Decides upon number of judges and their assignment
- Federal judges are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate
- Checks and balances
- Federal courts may declare a law created by Congress unconstitutional if it violates provisions of the U.S. Constitution
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Courts
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Chapter 10: Courts
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Judicially Independent Judges?
- Judicial autonomy is supported through:
- Lifetime appointments for federal judges
- Removal of federal judges through impeachment only
- Judicial autonomy is weakened by:
- Others questioning the judgment of judges
- Critical assessments of credentials of judges seeking appointment to the federal bench
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Courts
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Chapter 10: Courts
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Theories of Judicial Decision-Making
- How do judges exercise their formal powers and informal influence?
- Two theories
- Managerial theory: decisions are based on the volume of workload
- Attitudinal theory: decisions are based on judge’s political preferences
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Courts
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Chapter 10: Courts
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Politicization of the Judiciary Process
- There is a trend of judges settling issues that should be best left to other branches of government such as legislatures
- This problem may be particularly acute for judges (not federal judges) who are subject to election
- One solution would be to afford citizens some input into judicial selection and retention decisions
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Courts
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Chapter 10: Courts
Sometimes referred to as judicial activism.
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State Court Organization
- Very similar in structure to federal courts
- Hierarchical: both trial and appellate courts
- Most states have multiple appellate courts— an intermediate and a supreme court (some only have one)
- Courts are often organized by subject matter
- Types of cases: civil v. criminal
- Seriousness of the offense: misdemeanor v. felony
- Participant: adult v. juvenile
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Courts
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Chapter 10: Courts
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Specialty Courts/Problem-Solving Courts
- Limited jurisdiction courts designed to address specific problems
- Examples:
- Drug courts
- Gun courts
- Domestic violence courts
- Mental health courts
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Courts
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Chapter 10: Courts
Drug court expansion was visible beginning in the 1990s. Other examples include community courts (see Midtown Community Court) and wellness courts.
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Six Elements of Specialty Courts
- Enhanced information to facilitate decision-making
- Staff are well-trained in specific area (e.g., guns)
- Information is available on clients and victims
- Technology is used to provide access to information such as treatment participation
- Community engagement
- Community members help identify, prioritize, and solve problems
- Public trust in justice system is enhanced
- Example: Neighborhoods around the Midtown Community Court (NY) identified community service-type projects used in sentencing offenders
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Courts
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Chapter 10: Courts
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Six Elements of Specialty Courts (cont’d)
- Collaboration
- Justice system leaders coordinate a wide range of service providers
- Examples include treatment officials, job programs, etc.
- Individualized justice
- Link offender to specific services in order to reduce recidivism
- Examples include treatment plans or counseling
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Courts
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Chapter 10: Courts
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Six Elements of Specialty Courts (cont’d)
- Accountability
- All offenders are monitored and there are consequences for noncompliance
- Example: drug offender might be subject to repeated drug testing
- Outcomes
- The success of programs are evaluated
- Information is disseminated to the public
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Courts
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Chapter 10: Courts
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Specialty Court Challenges
- Role of judge is altered
- Judge is no longer neutral; he/she is an advocate for treatment and may push the defendant in this direction
- Increased use of resources/costs
- Cases consume a lot of time. A drug offender in a drug court may return to the court on a bi-weekly basis
- The adversarial process is replaced by a therapeutic one
- The individual rights of the offender may be surrendered
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Courts
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Chapter 10: Courts
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Juvenile Courts
- Emerged in 1899 to alter the practice of trying adults and juveniles the same way
- Juveniles were once housed with adults (early 1800s) but later send to houses of refuge/reformatories
- Indeterminate sentences
- Child removed from home situations
- Focused on education, vocational training, and religion
- Concerns were raised about the treatment of juveniles in reformatories, leading to a separate juvenile system
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Courts
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Chapter 10: Courts
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Juvenile Court Operation
- Cases
- Juveniles who committed delinquent/criminal acts and children in need of care
- Juvenile age defined by statue (varies by state)
- Behaviors
- Crimes: illegal conduct if committed by a juvenile or adult
- Status offenses: only illegal because of the age of the offender (examples include truancy, running away, incorrigibility)
- In some cases, a juvenile can be transferred to adult court via statutory waiver or prosecutorial discretion
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Courts
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Chapter 10: Courts
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Goals of the Juvenile Court
- Juvenile courts are illustrative of the service quality approach
- Individualized justice to offender
- Treat, reform, and rehabilitate the offender
- Rely on others to do what is in the best interests of the child (recognizes the interdependence of agencies)
- Juvenile courts are working with other stakeholders to make the process more effective
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Courts
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Chapter 10: Courts
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Examples of Stakeholder Involvement
- Restorative justice
- The offense harms the individual and the offender needs to make a mends for the harm done
- All parties must be involved in the process (offender, victim, police, etc.)
- Examples
- Pre-adjudication mediation
- Victim-impact statements or panels
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Courts
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Chapter 10: Courts
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Examples of Stakeholder Involvement (cont’d)
- Station adjustments
- An arrested juvenile is dealt with by the police instead of proceeding to the juvenile court
- Offender might be required to fulfill certain conditions (complete community service) under the direction of a police officer
- Failure to complete requirements could result in referral to juvenile court
- Benefits/drawbacks
- Primary benefit: juvenile obtains services and avoids court ordered sanctions and records
- Drawback: many adjustments are informal with no written agreement detailing plans
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Courts
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Chapter 10: Courts
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Measuring the Performance of Criminal Courts
- Customer (victim, witnesses, jurors, employees) perceptions
- Timeliness of case processing
- Fairness
- Outcomes
- Operations measures
- Disposition time
- Percent of cases disposed
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Courts
Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Chapter 10: Courts
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