...Running head: COURT OBSERVATION Park Peter Park Sacramento State University Professor Kubicek, Laurie CRJ 121 - Structure and Function of the American Courts 10 November 2015 1 Running head: COURT OBSERVATION Park 2 There is different behavior in which the United States' Criminal Justice System may be knowledgeable about each of its three-prongs of executive, judicial, and legislative parts. In particular, the judicial procedure can be particularly confusing and involve a wide assortment of encounters and sentiments as individuals are pushed through the framework once they are put into it. Customarily, individuals are very nearly in an exacting sense "pushed" through the framework as they regularly turn into an unimportant instrument moving down a transport line in a production line. The encounters of individuals who enter through the legal procedure may be effortlessly seen in the court by any onlooker. While as an onlooker, one is not getting the immediate experience of being a litigant or casualty, it is not hard to understand the emotions that get from court procedures by seeing them. The run of the mill sample of the production line like framework is most unmistakably seen amid arraignments. It is likewise where a lawyer will be formally informing the court that they are speaking to the litigant. While on the books it seems like a generally clear strategy, practically speaking, it is normally experienced to be perceptibly diverse. As...
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...Article III. The start of the first court system came along with Congress passing, The Judiciary Act of 1789. The act established the United States circuit courts which were also known to be United States federal courts and were located in each of the federal judicial districts. The act also established the United States Supreme Court and its justices. It wasn’t until 1912, that the district courts became exercised and became the new federal trial courts replacing the circuit courts as original jurisdiction. Circuit courts became known as federal court of appeals. They no longer have the right to try a case first, which is now the district courts role in the judicial system. With 13 circuit courts and 93 federal judicial districts the two courts make up most of the judicial system in our country. That’s why it is imperative that we know the differences and the similarities between each court. After observing both courts for about 5 or so hours, I really came to understanding how both worked. When you do field research such as court observation, there are so many different factors that come into play when you are observing. Some of the things that you might be observing is the overall atmosphere of the court room, the judge, other court room actors, cases or proceedings, defendants, and legal issues. What I chose to mainly observe was the...
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... C.R. Purves, B.L. Hickford, J. Mills Brief Summary of Trail This trail took place in Courtroom 20 in the B.C. Supreme Court where every visitor was required to pass through a security check. The case involves three homicides done 5 years ago by five members of an alleged Vernon, B.C. drug gang dubbed The Greeks (Organized crime group). The alleged gangsters are being represented by 15 lawyers, 5 more than the Crown prosecution team. Among the 5 accused, Dale Sipes, Les Podolski and Sheldon O'Donnell have been charged with the first-degree murder of Dave Marnuik and none of them have pleaded guilty. Due to the seriousness of the case and lengthy court proceedings, the trail is expected to last until July of 2012. From our observation, the lawyer represented Crown (plaintiff) began direct examination of a girl(witness) who claimed to have seen the defendants return to the apartment that she was living in. Crown’s lawyer asked her if she did truthfully report to the police officer what she saw and accurately draw the diagram of the location. We did not see any of the defendants giving opening statement and been examined. After the direct examination by Crown’s lawyer, the defendants’ lawyer stated the evidence that the witness is not capable of describing the truth since she told...
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...several real cases, but the names, dates and many details are fictitious) COURT WATCH REPORT 1) Student Name: Sally Student 2) CRJ 105 - Prof. Cable – Section # CC1 3) Date Turned In: November 13, 2008 4) Date/Time of Observation: October 2, 2008 from 2:00-4:00 pm. 5) Court: Monroe County Court 6) Case Name: People v. David Defendant 7) Presiding Judge: Hon. Gerald Judge 8) Assistant District Attorney: Pamela Prosecutor 9) Defense Attorney: Larry Litigator 10) Charges: Criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree (two counts) Criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree (four counts) Attempted criminal possession of a weapon third degree (one count) Criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree (two counts) 11) Proceeding Observed: Jury trial CRJ 105-CC1 Sally Student Court Watch Report – p. 2 1) Describe the type of proceedings that you observed. Be as specific as possible. I observed the direct examination and cross examination of the prosecution’s last witness, Investigator Sam Malone of the Rochester Police Department. Investigator Malone testified about his interview of the defendant and the statement that Mr. Defendant gave regarding the offenses in question. I also observed defense counsel’s motion for a trial order of dismissal and a discussion among the judge and the attorneys regarding the instructions to be given to the jury before they deliberated. 2) Describe the courtroom environment. Was it the way you expected it to be?...
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...CRJ 105 WK 5 QUIZ 2 CHAPTER 5 TO 8 To purchase this visit here: http://www.activitymode.com/product/crj-105-wk-5-quiz-2-chapter-5-to-8/ Contact us at: SUPPORT@ACTIVITYMODE.COM CRJ 105 WK 5 QUIZ 2 CHAPTER 5 TO 8 CRJ 105 WK 5 Quiz 2 Chapter 5-8 1. "Theory" is best described as: a. Fact b. Providing justifications for criminal behavior c. Useful for making sense of otherwise isolated, seemingly random facts d. Useful in locating the one key that will explain all criminological behavior 2. The view that criminal behavior is ultimately driven by supernatural forces is known as: a. Classicalism b. Demonology c. Marxism d. Victimology 3. "Women accused of witchcraft were tied up and thrown in the water. If they survived, they were innocent." This type of practice is known as: a. Capital punishment b. Neoclassicalism c. Torture d. Trial by ordeal 4. The earliest theories of crime causation were: a. Demonological b. Ecological c. Economic d. Classical 5. Beccaria's work can be summarized as arguing that: a. Crime is the result of forces outside of an individual's control. b. Capitalism is at the root of most crimes. c. The punishment should fit the crime. d. Crime rates are related to geography. 6. Jeremy Bentham advocated for "the greatest happiness shared by the greatest number." The term that refers to this approach is: a. Demonism b. Ecological determinism c. Marxism d. Utilitarianism 7. Which of the following theoretical perspectives is based...
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...My report on court room observation focuses on observations from two courts. The first one was the………………….The second one was the Crown Court …..Street in City Centre for criminal court observations. The Courts are held in order to resolve local disputes and maintain order in the society. Before attending, each court was contacted in order to find out the times and cases that could be attended as some cases such as youth cases are not open to the public. Firstly I attended to the……………….. The entrance of the building was imposing. After some guidance from the people there I attended to court 20 of the fifth floor which there was a civil case about a car incident. The layout of the courtroom was simple there was no raised layers except from the judge's. Also there was not defendant's box and no presence of police. The judge was a middle-aged, middle-class, white male. The public sat on the back of the court room. The case I have heard was about a car incidence, as I mentioned above. This case included a claim from the one party and a counter claim from the other. The claim was made because the defendant did not see the plaintiff car coming and try to evade. The counter claim was made by the defendant for personal injury as the defendant injured his leg and his lower back from the collision with the woman's car. But as I have seen in the court room the two claims examined simultaneously by the judge so as in order to save time. The legal way to examine a claim and a counter claim...
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...Essay Abstract The purpose of this paper is to highlight the different aspect of the Criminal Justice after visiting the criminal justice office(s). The visit is done during the last week of September 2010 and the visiting point was the United States District First Court of Appeal, the court located at 301 S. ML King Blvd. Tallahassee, Florida. In this paper the findings will be discussed that what factors (selected) are involved that affect the process of administration of justice. It will be tried the best to explain the observations and views with comparison and contrast. However, the points will be discussed in narrative format to grab the information precisely. The Criminal Court Visit and the Observations First, have some information about the Criminal Justice. The Criminal Justice is the system or group of system and institutions that have the prime responsibility to mitigate the crime or crime rate and to take necessary actions to cope with the situations that is critical and sensitive in nature to maintain the peaceful environment of the society. It is ideal profession for those who has investigative mind. The President's Commission defined the criminal justice system as the means for society to "enforce the standards of conduct necessary to protect individuals and the community”. (The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society, 1967) The Criminal Justice system has three main parts: Police, Courts and Jails also known as Corrections...
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...PAGE OF THE ASSIGNMENT AND SECTION NUMBERS FOR EACH GROUP MEMBER. LATE ASSIGNMENTS ARE NOT ACCEPTED. Attend the trial of your choice (civil or criminal) at the B.C. Supreme Court at the Law Courts at 800 Smithe Street, Vancouver for at least one hour and then answer the following questions in approximately 1,200 words. . DO NOT go to Chambers Hearings, Bail Hearings, Sentencing Hearings, Small Claims Court and cases that are being heard by the Court of Appeal. 1. Where possible, state the following regarding the trial you watched (this part may be answered in point form) * The name of the case (x v. y) * The date(s) you attended * The name of the Judge hearing the case * The names of the lawyers for each party * A brief summary of what was going on in the trial while you were watching. 2. From your observations and from what you have learned in class about trials, would you say that trials are more co-operative or adversarial in nature? 3. From your observations and from what you have learned in class would you say that the processes and procedures used by the courts are a good way to arrive at the “truth”? Explain, with reference to specific examples, from the trial you watched. If you don’t think the process is a good way to arrive at the “truth”, please provide possible alternatives. (Please remember that the trial will begin with an opening statement given by the plaintiff, then the plaintiff will begin direct examination of...
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...443 | Forensic Pathology and Miscarriages of Justice: a Journal Article Analysis The article chosen for analysis is titled “Forensic Pathology and the Miscarriage of Justice” written by Michael S. Pollanen of the Centre of Forensic Science and Medicine, University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada. The article was published in Forensic, Science, Medicine, and Pathology in 2012. The main purpose of the article was to present the fact that in order for the criminal justice system to operate in a safe and fair manner, any evidence presented in the duration of a prosecution must be accurate and objective—especially medical evidence. If either the accuracy or objectivity of evidence presented is compromised, there lies the possibility of unsafe prosecution which can lead to wrongful convictions or other forms of miscarriages of justice. Main Purpose There has been an increased awareness in the number of cases that have experienced a miscarriage of justice due to compromised medical evidence being presented during trial. Although there are legal tools available to regulate the types of evidence admissible in court as well as the “experts” allowed to present said evidence [such as Daubert hearings], these tools are only partially effective because forensic pathology is a discipline that grows and develops over time. The accepted view in pathology [or any field of science, for that matter] is always subject to change—by new discoveries or revision of theories, which can cause flawed...
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...| Anthony Farell V R | Criminal | Appeal | C1 | | | Mohammed Ali V South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service | Civil | Trial | C2 | | | Gerard Michael Mcguirk V UNSW | Civil | Trial | C3 | District | 27/03/09 | R V Liam Paul Irwin | Criminal | Appeal (severity) | C4 | | | R V Warren James Ure | Criminal | Trial (adjourned for sentence – part heard) | C5 | Court Report Note: Refer to appendix for the case denoted by C1-5] The court is the medium in which judges and magistrates interpret the constitution as it applies today to administer justice; their judgements ultimately contribute to the doctrine of precedents. Australia has mainly adopted an adversarial system within a hierarchical court system in which the courts have specific jurisdictions. Two such examples witnessed are the District and the Supreme Courts – proceedings may be similar but their severity may differ but both seek to serve justice. At the district court cases C4 and C5 were seen first-hand with the former being a criminal appeal and the latter a criminal trial. In C4 the defendant had become a nuisance and acted violently. Subsequently he was placed under a bond, this was breached which led to the magistrate sentencing an imprisonment term but was appealed successfully against. Additionally, in C5 the defendant was prosecuted for carrying illicit drugs but argument focused on whether he was a courier or the principal. During the period of observation at the Supreme Court case...
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...that aim to bring justice. Magistrates court have to power to charge minor cases, whereas Crown courts deal with more serious criminal cases, less than 3% all criminal cases go to the Crown, this percentage alone tells you that only the serious and complex cases will be heard, your trial here will be dealt with by both a Judge and Jury. I observed the Crown Court for this report; I decided this would be the best court to observe because all kinds of Criminal functions are heard here. The Judge will decide on matters of law and will manage your trial ensuring that it is run correctly and fairly, the jury then decides on matters of fact, (e.g. are you guilty?). The CJS is made up of many different agencies that work together to collectively respond to ‘crime’, each agencies ‘output’ is another’s ‘input’, a key agency being the Police, who are required to investigate and prevent crimes and are responsible for arresting and detaining suspects. The cases heard at crown courts are ranked in order of seriousness; the most serious heard by High Court judges, the majority of other less serious cases dealt with by either circuit judges or recorders. The judges in the Crown Courts have no limit to what they can sentence; they can impose a fine of any amount and can impose a sentence of custody for life. During the day I witnessed the beginning of two trials. The first case I witnessed was an act of fraud, a couple had managed to collectively steal almost one hundred thousand pound...
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...Criminal Justice System Crime is defined as an act or omission that is in violation of the criminal laws of the state, the federal government, or local jurisdiction, for which there is no legally acceptable justification or excuse (Mutchnick, 2010). Every year the U.S. Congress and state legislatures create new laws and abolish old ones. Criminal law consists of substantive and procedural law. Substantive law identifies what behavior is considered harmful to society, therefore making those acts or omissions a crime, and specifies a punishment. Procedural law identifies how crimes are to be investigated and prosecuted. This is the foundation of the criminal justice system. The criminal justice system enforces criminal laws by punishing the guilty and protecting the innocent. The police, courts, and corrections are the three components of the system. The police maintain public order and ensure community safety by enforcing the law. It is their responsibility to investigate crimes and apprehend offenders. The police have more interaction with society than other components as they are out in the community every day. Often times, they provide services to community functions and are involved in different fund raising events. The courts uphold the law by deciding criminal cases, conducting fair and impartial trials that determine the guilt or innocence of an individual and imposing sentence on the guilty. It is the courts responsibility to protect the rights and freedoms...
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...OBSERVATION REPORT (Observe – to pay attention to, to perceive or notice, to watch, to recognize or note occurrences, to draw inferences, to remark or comment) The Observation Report is to be the result of an in-person observation made for the purpose of partially fulfilling the requirements of this course, and must include a complete and comprehensive report on any 2.5 hours of observation from the list of choices below, exclusive of breaks and recesses. The observation report shall include the type of observation, the name of the presiding officer, the physical location of the observation, the parties involved, the issues, any decisions made and your personal comments regarding how you “see” the proceedings. Please place emphasis on your personal comments, clearly including what you “bring to the table” (your personal background and why you selected your observation). NOTE: Dr. Flower is the only person who will read your reports. You should, prior to the observation, make notes on your preconceived notions, ideas, and perceptions on what you expect to observe. Your pre-work should then be contrasted or compared with your actual observations. Your “gut” reactions to issues, personalities, competencies and results will most likely be very accurate and should serve as the backbone of your report. DO NOT wait until the last minute to attend the observation since it is common for students to discover the scheduled or planned observation does not take place when the...
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...Bond Hearings and a Plea Entrance; A Day’s Observation in the Circuit Court. Political Science 210 December 2, 2010 Political Science 210 December 2, 2010 Bond Hearings and a Plea Entrance; A Day’s Observation in the Circuit Court. On November 24, 2010, I was given the opportunity to observe a session of the Fairfax County Circuit Court. While observing the session I was able to view five bond hearings and one plea entrance, which allowed for a partial understanding of the typical daily court docket. Because many cases are settled outside of court, the daily proceedings within the courtroom are often shorter and without much argument. Fairfax County Virginia is located in the northeastern portion of Virginia nearby the District of Columbia. The county is the largest by population in the state, and also the densest county at 1,037,605 people within the county’s 407 square miles. Home to several intelligence agencies, and half of the metropolitan area’s Fortune 500 companies, Fairfax county has one of the highest median incomes in the country for a county of its size, second only to neighboring Loudoun County. The county was the first in the nation to reach a six figure median income and is known as one of the most populous areas in the Greater Washington Metropolitan Areas. The Fairfax County Circuit court, located in Fairfax City, is used to serve the residents of both the county and the city itself. The court is in the 19th Judicial...
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...Sentencing. Sentencing May 20th , 2012 Sentencing is a major issue in our criminal justice system today. Here in the U.S, our courts have always struggled to maintain goals and balance our policies when it comes to criminal sentencing. Although the Eighth Amendment guarantees proportionality in noncapital criminal sentencing, federal and state courts have struggled when deciding individual cases, and the Supreme Court has failed to articulate legal rules that could promote the development of a coherent jurisprudence ( Lippman, 2007). Working within the governing law and building on the work already done by scholars who have focused on this problem. There are three principles: transparency, limited deference, and a "felt sense of justice," that could guide the process of proportionality review and contribute to defining a retributivist touchstone for proportionality judgments (Lippman, 2007). The Death Penalty. The death penalty in the United States is used almost exclusively for the crime of murder. Although state and federal statutes contain various capital crimes other than those involving the death of the victim, only two people were on death row for a non-murder offense (Victor L. Streib, 2004). No one has been executed for such a crime since the death penalty was re-instated in 1976. In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court in Coker v. Georgia, 433 U.S. 584, held that the death penalty for the rape of an adult was "grossly disproportionate"...
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