The judicial process is a core aspect to the criminal justice system. There are some differences amongst courts by state and level. Interestingly enough, all courts are fairly similar and contain important procedures that serve as the core to American justice. These values and procedures successfully serve as the foundation of our system. This assignment is to write a paper over ones personal experience after observing an official court hearing in Georgia. This paper will cover personal experience recorded at the Dalton, Ga municipal court on April 7th, 2016. The paper will cover the type of court, the actors in court and the final verdict.
In this case, the type of court I attended is a municipal court. The court is ran by the chief judge
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The defense on the other hand seem to only carry his immigration information with him which quite frankly, did not contribute much to the actual case. He did bring a witness with him. The defense did not file motions. Although the defendant repeatedly asked for physical evidence of the laser detection speed he did so in an informal and indirect way. The judge is the one who directed as to who's turn it is to speak. There was not much reference to evidence in the case. As for plea bargaining, the defendant asked the judge to grant him leniency and if he could be given an alternate to paying the fine. There was no direct mistakes made neither was their publicity. There was no jury present either. The judge allowed everyone to know that both cases were rested and nothing more could be said. The judge called the defendant to the podium and announced he was guilty on both accounts of speeding and driving without a taxi permit. The judge decided that instead of paying the fines he could do roughly 37 hours of community service within 6 days. The judge also informed him as soon as he finishes those hours he is no longer subject to the penalties and the tickets will not show up on his record. This in turn should not affect his immigration status although he does not guarantee …show more content…
The fact that the judge allowed him to serve his fine through community service actually is a sign that the judge chose more of a lenient sentencing. The judge kept in mind the defendants pleas. The defendant might have had a stronger chance if he was more familiar with our court systems. There was times the defendant jumped around a lot because he was not fully understanding of how the laws worked in this country rather than in his own. He stated previously that he served as a sworn officer in his country. Yet, there are some things that get lost in translation. Overall, the experience in the courtroom is one that assured me of wanting to be apart of the criminal justice system. The judge and officers treated us with high respect. It was pretty nice being recognized in court by the judge. One of the main officers was very helpful and explained to us the process in great detail. They are great people and told us they hope we get a good paper out of the
Returning to the judicial world of the Bronx Family Court as a judge, after years of working in administration, Judge Richard Ross is astonished to find a distinctly more disjointed situation than the one he left. As he attempts to live out his life as “both the fact finder and arbiter of the law” it is clear the current judicial system does not serve him well (xv). Judge Ross conveys to the reader the fundamental issues of the Family Court system through his day to day happenings which range from endless caseloads to death threats. The use of personal experience is effective in adding credibility to more clearly convey his point that not only the Judges, but the case workers, 18-B attorneys, and various legal aides are overworked to a point
“Corruption is like a ball of snow, once it’s set a rolling it must increase (Charles Caleb Colton).” Colton describes that once corruption has begun, it is difficult to stop. Corruption has existed in this country, let alone this very planet, since the beginning of time. With corruption involves: money, power, and favoritism. Many people argue today that racism is still a major problem to overcome in today’s legal system. American author (and local Chicago resident) Steve Bogira jumps into the center of the United States justice system and tells the story of what happens in a typical year for the Cook Country Criminal Courthouse, which has been noted as one of the most hectic and busiest felony courthouses in the entire country. After getting permission from one of the courthouse judges’ (Judge Locallo) he was allowed to venture in and get eyewitness accounts of what the American Legal System is and how it operates. Not only did he get access to the courtroom but: Locallo’s chambers, staff, even his own home. In this book we get to read first hand account of how America handles issues like: how money and power play in the court, the favoritism towards certain ethnic groups, and the façade that has to be put on by both the defendants and Cook County Workers,
As one of the seven jury deliberations documented and recorded in the ABC News television series In the Jury Room the discussions of the jurors were able to be seen throughout the United States. A transcript was also created by ABC News for the public as well. The emotions and interactions of the jurors were now capable of being portrayed to anyone interested in the interworkings of jury deliberations. The first task,...
Holten, N. G. & Lamar, L. L. (1991). The Criminal Courts Structures, Personnel, and Processes. Florida: McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Municipal courts have limited jurisdiction over violations of city ordinances, the issuance of criminal warrants, and traffic violations within city limits. Municipal courts also conduct preliminary hearings. There are 370 municipal courts that are funded by the city or town in which they preside. 350 judges oversee the courts and they are either appointed or elected.
Civilrights.org. (2002, April 13). Justice on trial. Washington, DC: Leadership Conference on Civil Rights/Leadership Conference on Civil RightsEducation Fund. Retrieved April 12, 2005, from Civilrights.org Web site: http://www.civilrights.org/publications/reports/cj/
6. Neubauer, D.W. (2002). America’s Courts and the Criminal Justice System. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth: Thomson Learning.
Judiciary.gov.uk. 2014. Judges, Tribunals and Magistrates | Introduction to the justice system | Traditions of the courts. [online] Available at: http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/about-the-judiciary/introduction-to-justice-system/court-traditions [Accessed: 2 Apr 2014].
According to Roger Miller, “trial courts that have general jurisdiction as to the subject matter may be called county, district, superior, or circuit courts.” The majority of their cases are to be handled in-county first before proceeding further through the court system. Just as businesses and organizations have a chain-of-command or protocol system, the government has the same. Then, there are the circuit courts coming in as the middle step of the judicial system.
U.S. Department of Justice. 2002. “What is the Sequence of Events in the Criminal Justice System?”
The criminal trial process is able to reflect the moral and ethical standards of society to a great extent. For the law to be effective, the criminal trial process must reflect what is accepted by society to be a breach of moral and ethical conduct and the extent to which protections are granted to the victims, the offenders and the community. For these reasons, the criminal trial process is effectively able to achieve this in the areas of the adversary system, the system of appeals, legal aid and the jury system.
The American Court System is an important part of American history and one of the many assets that makes America stand out from other countries. It thrives for justice through its structured and organized court systems. The structures and organizations are widely influenced by both the State and U.S Constitution. The courts have important characters that used their knowledge and roles to aim for equality and justice. These court systems have been influenced since the beginning of the United State of America. Today, these systems and law continue to change and adapt in order to keep and protect the peoples’ rights.
...ire justice system (Reece, 2014). That includes juries, witnesses, prosecutors, and defence lawyers. In the Provincial Superior Court there's courts of appeals (Reece, 2014). Their role in the system is to go over the statutes and cases to make sure no errors were present in terms of fairness (Reece, 2014). The provincial appeal courts always contains 3-5 judges, no juries, and has private deliberations (Reece, 2014).
trial has been turned into an entertainment special. There are certain moments in American life that have certain dignity" (38). The judicial system is a very complex system and deserves the respect and dignity that is required. It needs to be taken seriously. The public has no right to make it into a game. This is a serious process of bringing criminals to justice.
The judge was a middle-aged male who looked intimidating and seemed to be well respected. To my surprise, we did not have to stand up when he entered the room. After the judge came out I assumed the jury would follow quickly after. However I quickly learned that there would be no jury for this particular trial. After a few minutes, the handcuffed defendant entered the room wearing an orange prison jumpsuit. He was a middle-aged, African-American male who was involved in a narcotic conspiracy case. In addition to the defendant a probation officer, the prosecutor and the defendant’s lawyer were also present. Aside from me, my classmate and a student from Georgetown the defendant’s wife and sister were in the