Week 3 Summary WRITER RESPECT ONLY
CHAPTER 7
The Criminal Courts: Structure and Process
History of the American Court System
- Primary role models
- English common law
- English court system
- Early courts simple; judicial personnel were local influential citizens appointed by county governor
The American Revolution and the Creation of State Courts
- During the American Revolution, royal colonial courts closed, reestablished as state courts
- Most were assigned general trial jurisdiction over civil and criminal matters
- Bill of Rights protected citizens from abuses by the federal government
Creation of the Federal Court System
- Judiciary Act of 1789 laid out basic structure of federal court system
- U.S. Constitution, Article III, places ultimate judicial power in a supreme court
- Marbury v. Madison (1803): Court established principle of judicial review
- Fletcher v. Peck (1810): Court extended principle of judicial review to acts by the states
State Court System
- Courts of limited jurisdiction
- Courts of general jurisdiction: general trial courts
- Appellate jurisdiction
- Courts of last resort: state supreme courts
The Federal Court System
- U.S. magistrate judges
- Federal Magistrates Act (1968)
- U.S. District Courts: general trial courts
- U.S. Courts of Appeals
- U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Federal Courts
Court Participants
- Victims: marginal role
- Defendants: must appear at all hearings
- Court staff
- Administrators
- Clerks
- Bailiffs
- Court reporters
Judges
- Responsible for a wide variety of tasks
- Methods of selecting state court judges
- Merit selection
- Direct appointment by governor or election by legislature
- Popular election
- Federal judges nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate
Prosecutors
- Represent the state; presumption is that they will be fair and impartial
- Roles and responsibilities
- Decide which cases are to be prosecuted
- Evaluate evidence
- Determine charges
- Prosecute case
Defense Attorneys
- Role and responsibilities narrowly defined; act as advocate for accused
- Right to counsel
- Powell v. Alabama (1932)
- Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
- Argersinger v. Hamlin (1972)
- Scott v. Illinois (1979)
Representing Indigent Defendants
- Contract system
- Assigned counsel system
- Public defender system
Initial Appearance
- Accused informed of charges and of certain constitutional rights
- Right to counsel
- Right to remain silent
- Right to reasonable bail
- Misdemeanor cases: defendant may plead guilty and face immediate sentencing
- Felony cases: defendants rarely allowed to enter plea
- States and federal systems regulate timing of initial appearance
- 48-hour rule gives system needed flexibility
Pretrial Release
- Release from custody while awaiting trial
- Eighth Amendment prohibits excessive bail but does not guarantee the right to pretrial release
- Majority of arrested individuals eventually released before trial or final adjudication by the court
The Purpose Behind Bail
- Historical belief that providing for pretrial release does less harm to defendant and family
- Bail should be large enough to ensure defendant’s appearance at subsequent hearings
- Bail bondsmen
Bias in Pretrial Release
- Many defendants unable to afford any bail amount
- Poor and minorities disproportionately suffer from loss of freedom before trial
- Race, ethnicity, gender, weak community ties all bias bail decisions
Alternatives to Monetary Bail
- Release on recognizance (ROR) most widely used alternative
- Other measures
- Conditional release
- Unsecured bail
- Property bail
- Court deposit bail
- Bail Reform Act of 1966
- Bail guidelines – effort to reduce bias
Preventive Detention
- Bail Reform Act of 1984 permits temporary preventive detention if
- Defendant is on pretrial release for another offense, probation, or parole
- Judicial officer finds that no conditions will reasonably ensure defendant’s appearance
- Necessary for safety of any other person and the community
- United States v. Salerno (1987) – Court held preventive detention provisions of Act to be constitutional
The Grand Jury
- Body of citizens called by prosecutor to
- Investigate conduct of public officials and agencies and criminal activity in general
- Determine whether probable cause has been shown that a crime has been committed
- Meet in relative secrecy
- Witnesses have fewer rights
- Exclusionary rule does not apply
- Grand jury determines whether there is probable cause to believe person is guilty
The Prosecutor’s Decision to Prosecute
- Prosecutors do not always file identical charges in similar cases
- Do not prosecute all cases brought to them by police
- Differential treatment
Preliminary Hearings
- Purpose is to determine probable cause
- Key actions taken during preliminary hearings
- Review of charges
- Review of bail
- Initial presentation of witnesses
- Cross-examination of witnesses
- Discovery
- Defendant may waive right to preliminary hearing
- Format resembles mini-trial, without involvement of jury
Discovery
- The legal motion that allows the defense to discover the basis for the prosecutor’s case
- Seen as providing level playing field for both parties in adversarial system
- Helps defendant make informed judgment as to which plea to enter
Entering Pleas
- Individual’s response to criminal charge
- Felonies: usually entered at arraignment
- Misdemeanors: may be entered at initial appearance
- Types of pleas
- Guilty plea
- Nolo contendere plea (“no contest”)
- Not guilty plea
- Plea of not guilty by reason of insanity; very rare
Plea Bargaining
- Interactive process: prosecutor and defense attempt to arrive at mutually satisfactory disposition of case without going to trial
- Types of plea bargains
- Reducing the seriousness of the charge
- Reducing the number of charges/counts
- Reducing the sentence
- No recommendation regarding sentence
Who Wins with Bargained Justice?
- Plea bargaining may allow all parties to benefit from a negotiated plea
- Defendants most likely to benefit directly: less time in custody, incur fewer costs, more lenient sentences
- Prosecutors
- Plea bargains offer increased predictability
- Increase confidence that persons they believe are probably guilty will be convicted
- Defense attorneys
- Gain appreciation of clients who receive lighter sentences
- Can spend more time on cases that must go to trial
Who Loses with Bargained Justice?
- Defendants
- Give up certain constitutional due process rights
- Innocent defendants may be enticed or coerced into pleading guilty
- Victims
- Frequently not involved in negotiation process
- Frequently see plea bargains as failing to punish offender appropriately