One of the differences that I noticed in circuit court was the fact that they held probation violation cases. During many observations in district court, I never once noticed a probation violation hearing compared to circuit court. A similarity that I noticed in both courthouses is the fact that the judge has an elevated bench and sits higher than anyone else in the courtroom. I also noticed that circuit court held more cases at a more frequent pace than the district court. The circuit courthouse had four courtrooms compared to the district courthouse that had one. The other observation that I noticed between the two courthouses was that both conducted trials in the same fashion. The first concept that I want to address from my observations …show more content…
Without roles and hierarchy, there would be no way to prosecute the guilty and there would be no courts in the United States. Now I wish to talk about Discretion. Discretion is a huge part of the legal system used by almost all of its agents. Discretion refers to the decision making freedom legal officials have. It is important to remember that discretion can occur between more than one official. Discretion can take all shapes and sizes in the court room whether it being the judge striking an objection, or a judge giving a lighter sentence to a women that has the same charges as a man. Discretion also has no limits as to the role of the agent using it. Prosecutors have been found to use discretion in negotiating plea bargains based solely on the defendant’s appearance and demeanor instead of the details of the crime. I observed a lot of discretion in the courtroom when attorneys were questioning witnesses. Every time an attorney would stand up and state that they objected to the question the other attorney asked the witness the judge would almost always say “I’ll” allow it. The mere fact that the judge is saying that they will allow it means that a different judge may of answered that objection differently. The …show more content…
The prosecutor corrected the judge and told him that he was in the judge’s courtroom a year prior. The judge looked puzzled until the prosecutor worked him through their previous case. Even though this is a small mistake by the judge, it represents how the cases blend in the machine like mentality. The other conclusion that I want to make from observing courts is that they work slowly. For all of my observations I arrived at the courthouse at nine in the morning, and every time the trial started late. Once the trials began, the first witness would usually be called and between each witness, there would be a recess of anywhere between fifteen to thirty
Bang! “All rise!” the clerk shouted. All twelve of them shuffled through the door, creating a muffled sound that broke the eerie silence of the courtroom located at 1127 Tower Lane. They solemnly walked down the hallway to the jury room. Unlike previous breaks in the trial where they laughed and conversed about their families and jobs, they were silent except for the occasional cough or sneeze. All of the jurors sensed the magnitude of the situation and felt the hallway stretching in length, a never-ending path between where they heard the arguments and where they would decide the verdict.
Ever since the start of using courts, the main goal of it was to deliver a fair environment where the accused could defend themselves and show the jurors that he/ she did not commit the crime that they were accused of. Sometimes this system fails us and they sentence an innocent man to jail for something they didn’t commit. The activity that I observed in the field of criminal justice was I went to the boulder court house and watched one of the cases that’s was happening that day. As I sat there watching I saw the defendant’s lawyer trying to convince the jurors that his client was innocent, I thought to myself: how can we improve the court room. Sometimes we see some cases where the criminal can be let go because of not a lot of evidence like Casey Anthony. We also might see that the case might be unfair to person being convicted of a crime that they didn’t do. An example of this is the jurors have some past experience with a person of that race and they don’t like them or they already come with a decision before they even hear the evidence found. We might also see a case where the jurors decide that the accuser is innocent even though there’s evidence that proves otherwise. The main point is how we can make
Judicial Activism- judges should interpret and apply the law in the light of ongoing changes in conditions and values
Now, the district court system is the beginning step of the judicial system. A good amount of the case handled by the district court system is either criminal or civil trial cases. 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
Discretion is usually described as a choice of options or actions one can take in a situation. People exercise discretion everyday. Discretion is like when you want to watch a movie and you are contemplating whether you want to watch a scary movie or a comedy movie. Discretion involves making a judgment and a decision. Although everyone experiences discretion, not everyone makes the same choices or decisions when it comes to discretion.
Justice is a vital part of the American Court System and influenced and continues to influence since the beginning of American history. Structure and organization is an important factor that creates our outstanding court systems. The State and U.S Constitutions are not the only foundation of the court systems, but also that people that work hard to thrive for justice. Today, justice and equality causes the court systems to change and adapt to continue protecting the rights of the people.
One of the many elements that have changed is the amount of discretion that is allowed pertaining to certain actors in our criminal justice system. It used to be that judges were allowed a great deal of discretion when it came to sentencing an individual and they could hand out sentences based on a more individual case by case basis. It seems that today the discretion has been mostly removed so there is no longer a real sense of individual justice, it now seems like the sentences are more of an equation of sorts where the offenses and aggravating or mitigating circumstances are put into a formula and the sentence range is spit out for the judge to interpret. With this setup there is minimal discretion offered to judges to sentence someone unfairly. It seems as though the prosecutors of current times have been given less discretion as well, they to fall into the equation phenomenon and the only real discretion they are given is when offering plea deals. With the majority of these changes being more current I will present an example of how discretion was used by a judge in my own case in 2005. I received a speeding citation for going 173 mph in a 65 mph zone on the US-1 highway between Sanford and Raleigh, NC. After receiving this citation I had a court
“Witness for the Prosecution” superbly demonstrated a realist view of the operating procedures in a courtroom. The actors within the courtroom were easy to identify, and the steps transitioned smoothly from the arrest to the reading of the verdict. The murder trial of Leonard Vole provided realistic insight into how laws on the books are used in courtroom proceedings. With the inferior elements noted, the superior element of the court system in “Witness for the Prosecution” was the use of the adversary system. Both sides of the adversary system were flawlessly protrayed when the prosecution and defense squared off in the courtroom.
Overall, I think that this experience was a great way to see how law and society interact with one another in order to bring order and conformity to the community. I was interesting to see how in the post-arraignment the threat of a more severe punishment as a deterrent is used to keep individuals from getting into further trouble with the court. It’s apparent that the use of the justice system will always be needed in order to keep order in a continuously changing society and spending just a couple of hours at the courthouse is a great way to learn about what behaviors society finds to be unjust and in need of reprimand.
First off, the Supreme Court of Canada, although not as interesting as the Elgin St. Courthouse, was very interesting nonetheless. When we had arrived at approximately 9:30 in the morning, I did not know what to expect, what I was going to see. And, as we entered the courthouse—in a single file—I could not help but chuckle at the extreme security measures, and why they were put into place. Ten minutes later, after the tour guide had finished speaking, he had asked for volunteers to be involved in the mock trial. I was hesitant at first, but I decided to play the part of the lawyer at the end. As a result, I was to defend a victim of a shoe robbery, and put my acting skills to the test. At first, I read the script word for word, but soon afterwards, I became so comfortable with the hypothetical case that, by the end, I was capable of making my own closing statement without the script. In doing so, I felt like I was in a law show, fighting off crooks and giving them their deserved punishment. As a matter of fact, at the end, the defendant and I had one the case. On the whole, the Supreme Court of Canada and the mock trial in particular enhanced my field trip courthouse experience.
In conclusion, I have provided the similarities and differences between federal and California judicial system, in which I have compared all three different types of court systems, jurisdiction and the differences between state law and federal constitution. I am blessed to have this opportunity to research on this topic because I was not aware nor acknowledge these similarities and differences. Because of this assignment, I have expanded my knowledge on this subject and I believe this will greatly help me in the
Some people say that by watching the court system in action, what once was very unknown and unfamiliar, has now become familiar and useful in helping people become more knowledgeable of what happens inside courtrooms. Most people have not been in a courtrooms and only have the perspective that T.V. gives to them. Now they are able to see what really goes on and now can better understand and relate.
The courtroom is a place where cases are heard and deliberated as evidence is produced to prove whether the accused person is innocent or guilty. Different courtroom varies depending on the hierarchy and the type of cases, they deliberate upon in the courtroom. In the United States, the courts are closely interlinked through a hierarchical system at either the state or the federal level. Therefore, the court must have jurisdiction before it takes upon a case, deliberate, and come up with a judgment on it. The criminal case is different from the civil cases, especially when it comes to the court layout. In this essay, I will explain how I experienced a courtroom visit and the important issues are learnt from the visit.
For the first mock trial held in class, the case of the stolen lunch, I did not have a large role. I chose to be a part of the jury, which I feel gave me an immense feeling of responsibility and really allowed me to deeply analyze the case as it was being presented. Within this case, Mary Ovechkin, the plaintiff, had claimed that her lunch had been stolen and ate by the defendant, Sammy Crosby. My first expectation of this case, before it had actually started, was that the defense and prosecution would each have time to present their cases. I expected both sides to question those who were involved, such as the witnesses, defendant, and plaintiff. Then I expected to have to come up with my own verdict to share with the rest of the jury based on the evidence presented. Based on my role, I expected to learn how the jury reaches their decisions.
Throughout the semester, I had the opportunity to interview people from all three components. As previously mentioned, a very important component in the Criminal Justice system is the courts. There are many different types of courts such as the Supreme court, local courts,