1. Judicial Review is the power of a court to review actions and decisions made by other agencies of government. By using judicial review, the court decides what laws and lower-court decisions keep with the intent of the U.S. Constitution pg. 289 2. Public defender is an attorney employed by a government agency or sub agency, or by a private organization under contract to a government body, for the purpose of providing defense services to indigents, or an attorney who has volunteered such service. A state employed lawyer, a public defender program relies on full time salaried staff. Public defender programs have become popular in 49 states and DC; however, Maine is the only state that does not have a publicly funded public defender office pg. …show more content…
Whether there is jurisdiction over the subject matter c. Whether there is jurisdiction to render the articular judgement sought (Staff, 2007a) 4. Prosecutorial discretion is the decision making power of prosecutors, based on the wide range of choices available to them, in the handling of criminal defendants, the scheduling of cases for trial, and the acceptance of negotiated pleas and so on. The most important form of prosecutorial discretion lies in the power to charge, or not to charge, a person with an offense pg. 296 A prosecutor has the ability to accept a plea bargain, and dismiss the case entirely, studies have shown 1/3-1/2 of all felony cases to be dismissed before a plea or trial begins. (Schmalleger, 2016) 5. Subpoena is a written order issued by a judicial officer or grand jury requiring an individual to appear in court and to give testimony or to bring material to be used as evidence. Some subpoenas can mandate that books, papers, and other items be surrendered to the court pg. 306 Generally served by an officer of the court or a police officer, but it can also go through the mail. Witnesses may be subpoenaed in a criminal case, by either side, and if they fail to appear, may face contempt-of-court charges. (Schmalleger, …show more content…
Release on Recognizance which involves no cash bond, and requires only the guarantee in writing to return for trial b. Property bonds substitute other items of value on place of cash: land, houses, automobiles, stocks and so on. c. Deposit bail is an alternate form of cash bond. It allows the defendant to post a percentage of the full bail with the court. d. Conditional release imposes requirements on the defendant, such as participating in a drug program, staying away from a certain person and holding down a regular job. e. Third party custody is a bail bond alternative that assigns custody of an individual to an individual, promising to return for court f. Unsecured bonds are based on a court determined dollar amount of bail, like credit. g. Signature bonds allow release based on the defendants written promise to appear, and involve no assessment of the offender’s dangerousness or likelihood to return. • Grand Jury is used by the Federal government and about half of the states • Preliminary Hearing are used by states that do not use a grand jury • Arraignment and Plea happens once the indictment has been returned or an information has been
The specifics of the system will be discussed, and finally, its limitations and suggested further research or development. The Nature of Plea Bargaining Plea bargaining describes a deal between the prosecutor and the defense attorney, who represents the defendant, that they negotiate a deal for either a lesser conviction or a lesser sentencing in exchange for the defendant to waive his/her sixth amendment rights. The defendant needs to plead guilty without contest, and forfeit his/her right to jury trial, therefore this can be considered a plea for a bargain of a better deal. Back in 1791, when the United States established the Bill of Rights, the 6th Amendment protects people’s rights to legal counsel, freedom from self-incrimination, and a fair, speedy, public trial.... ...
The Constitution confers judicial power on the Supreme Court and on inferior courts as created by Congress (Hames & Ekern, 2013). Judicial review is the power of the court to interpret the Constitution and invalidate conflicting laws.
3. The court stated: "We conclude that when the ground for asserting privilege as to subpoenaed materials sought for use in criminal trial is based only on the generalized interest in confidentiality, it cannot prevail over the fundamental demands of due process of law in the fair administration of justice. The generalized assertion of privilege must yield to the demonstrated, specific need for evidence in a pending criminal trial.
In chapter twelve, Joel Samaha has discussed various court proceedings before trial. Samaha begins to elaborate the importance of the prosecutor’s decision in determining whether there is a concrete case against the alleged defendant. The evidence at hand ultimately dictates the proceeding of events in court. Along with evidence, the lack of resources might add to the difficulty in charging an individual. Prosecutors are faced with an overload of cases; ultimately prosecutors are forced to prioritize their cases based on their resources and the evidence provided. The cases that are regarded are then considered for suspect detainment. Probable cause to detain suspects is undergone so that the case may proceed to trial. Typically an arraignment
2. The judicial branch is known as the evaluators or interpreters. They interpret the meaning of laws and apply them to individual cases; they are the final decision if a law violates the U.S. Constitution (“Branches of Government”).
The Judiciary Branch offers checks and balances to the other branches of government. To both the Legislative and Executive branches, the Judicial Branch holds the power of judicial review. The Judicial branch can also declare existing laws as unconstitutional.
The Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution states, "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to be confronted with the witnesses against him.”
Next, comes prosecution of the defendant by the state attorney, then incitement, the filing of information by prosecution to decide whether to proceed to trial. Followed by arraignment, which is the plea of guilty or not guilty, pretrial detention, plea bargaining, trial, and sentencing (Process of Criminal Justice). For O. J. Simpson, this process started with the investigation of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The same day the bodies were discovered, Simpson flew back from Chicago to Los Angeles. Upon his arrival, authorities took him into custody and began their questioning.
One contradiction in the job of the prosecutor is that they have nearly limitless direction in critical matters; however, prosecutors’ are also held to a very high ethical standard. Prosecutors must screen cases to determine which ones need to be prosecuted; nevertheless, this is the source of controversy with most people. “What makes charging decisions more intriguing and controversial is the fact that in making this decision, the prosecutor has nearly limitless discretion” (Hemmens, Brody, & Spohn, 2013). This means the prosecutor’s charging decisions are beyond any judicial review, so it must be apparent that a prosecutor
A plea bargain can be defined as, “a negotiation between the defendant and his attorney on one side and the prosecutor on the other, in which the defendant agrees to plead “guilty” or “no contest” to some crimes, in return for reduction of the severity of the charges, dismissal of some of the charges, the prosecutor’s willingness to recommend a particular sentence or some other benefit to the defendant. Sometimes one element of the bargain is that the defendant reveal information such as location of stolen goods, names of others participating in the crime or admission of other crimes. The judge must agree to the result of the plea bargain before accepting the plea. If he does not, then the bargain is cancelled.”
Richey, W. (2003). Can a Defendant Be Denied the Right To Confront Witnesses? Christian Science Monitor , 2.
One of the Judicial Branch’s many powers is the power of judicial review. Judicial review allows the Supreme Court to decide whether or not the other branches of governments’ actions are constitutional or not. This power is very important because it is usually the last hope of justice for many cases. This also allows the court to overturn lower courts’ rulings. Cases like Miranda v. Arizona gave Miranda justice for having his rules as a citizen violated. The court evalutes whether any law was broken then makes their ruling. Also, the Weeks v. United States case had to be reviewed by the court because unlawful searches and siezures were conducted by officers. One of the most famous cases involving judicial review was the Plessey v. Ferguson
Lastly, the defendant should be confronted with witness. There should be witnesses called by the prosecution to testify against the defendant. The limitation here is that this right is only applicable to criminal proceedings.
2. He whose witness has failed to appear may summon him by loud calls before his house every third day.
Judicial review seeks to enforce and uphold constitutional doctrines which govern the UK’s uncodified constitution by scrutinising administrative action. One constitutional function of judicial review is to enforce the rule of law. It can be argued, in defining the rule of law as “negative value...designed to minimised the harm to freedom and dignity which the law may cause in its pursuit of its goals” Joseph Raz characterised judicial review. The principle of which states the executive is to be ruled by the law and subject to it.