Article three, section one of the United States Constitution states “The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office (Cornell University Law School, 2014)”. Our court systems have developed over the years based on this fundamental idea.
The State of Florida has four judicial branches. These are County courts, Circuit courts, the District Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court. County courts have limited jurisdiction and will generally dispose misdemeanor and civil cases (up to fifteen thousand dollars) as well as traffic violations. Circuit courts have slightly more jurisdiction than county courts; processing civil cases exceeding fifteen thousand dollars, felonies, probate, cases involving mental health, juvenile delinquency, family law such as divorce, juvenile custody, and injunctions; just to name a few. The circuit courts will also hear appeals from the county court level. “The District court of appeals hears any case that is not directly appealed to the Supreme Court (State of Florida, 2014)”. The Supreme Court will dispose alleged constitutional violations and capital cases. The Judiciary Act of 1789 allowed for the development of circuit and district courts which was done in an effort to provide for increasing populations (Kelly, 2014).
As of 2004 the State of Florida has approximately eight hundred and seventy six judges. Seven of these occupy the Supreme Court bench, si...
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...014, from http://www.judicialselection.us: http://www.judicialselection.us/uploads/documents/Florida_1184079915969.pdf
Cornell University Law School. (2014). Article III. Retrieved May 9, 2014, from http://www.law.cornell.edu: http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleiii
Kelly, M. (2014). Early Development of the United States Court System. Retrieved May 10, 2014, from http://americanhistory.about.com: http://americanhistory.about.com/od/judicialbranch/a/Early-Development-Of-The-United-States-Court-System.htm
State of Florida. (2014). Retrieved May 9, 2014, from http://flcourts.org: http://flcourts.org/core/fileparse.php/240/urlt/Jurisdiction_chart.pdf
State of Florida. (2014). Judicial and Judicial Nominating Commission Information. Retrieved May 10, 2014, from http://www.flgov.com: http://www.flgov.com/judicial-and-judicial-nominating-commission-information/
Pamphlet #15. Pennsylvania: Nelson Thomas Publishers, 1994. Gibbons, Don. Society, Crime, and Criminal Behavior. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc., 1987. Goshgarian, Gary and Kathleen Krueger. Crossfire and Argument. New York: Addision Wesley Longman, 1997. Haines, Herbert. Against Capital Punishment. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Masur, Louis. Rites of Execution. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Streib, Victor. A Capital Punishment Anthology. Cleveland: Anderson Publishing
mother, and his lawyers are in favor of the filming, and all signed waivers saying they would not use the film on appeal or to seek a new trial. Conversely, the prosecution, lead by District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal, appealed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for the banning of the cameras on grounds that the prospect of being filmed could influence the jury’s selection and its deliberation. By custom—not by law—trial jury deliberations traditionally are secret in Texas. The use of cameras in courthouses
Private prisons have a negative effect on states and local governments. Unfortunately, the number of private prisons has been increasing since their inception in 1983 causing further problems. For-profit prisons offer no real benefits and are bad investments for states. Furthermore, private prisons beleaguer communities with high turnover rates that hurt local economies. The demands of these institutions put an excessive burden on the local community’s infrastructure. Similarly, private prisons strain
colonial life under the centralized British monarchy had lasting effect upon their views of what the federal government of their new republic would have the power to do. In the years following the Declaration of Independence, Congress came up with the Articles of Confederation to loosely govern the new republic at the federal level. 1781 found all 13 states ratifying the Articles of the Confederation as well as the conclusion of the War for Independence, with the signing of the Treaty