Carp Chapter 3 Notes: State Judicial Systems

1) Historical Development of State Courts

a) Each state can organize its courts in any way it wishes, plus interpret their own
state constitutions
b) The Colonial Period
i) Lowest level consisted of local judges appointed by the governor
ii) Next level were the county courts, the general courts
iii) Appeals from all courts were taken to the highest level, the governor and his
council
iv) Juries were used
c) Early State Courts
i) Deep distrust of the judiciary following the American Revolution
d) Modern State Courts
i) Industrialization and growth cr eated new types of legal disputes. One
response was to create new courts to handle the volume, in addition to
specification of court jurisdiction in terms of geographic area
ii) Overlap in jurisdiction and confusion in regard to procedure and overlap led to
fragmentation in the courts
iii) Some want to unify the courts, but theres a good deal of opposition
iv) Trial lawyers are used to their working conditions, and dont want new courts;
judges and other personnel are also sometimes opposed because of fear of
transfer/they dont want to learn new procedures
2) State Court Organization
a) Some courts are unified, others use a complex system, but most fall somewhere in
the middle
b) California has a pretty straightforward court system, whereas NYs is very
complex
c) Trial Courts of Limited Jurisdiction
i) Constitute 85% of all courts in the US
ii) Limited to minor cases
iii) Criminal matters deal with infractions, misdemeanors, and felonies
iv) Can impose fines and jail sentences
v) When cases at this level are appealed, they go to the trial court of general
jurisdiction
vi) Some trial court judges in NY havent even graduated high school, but can
still set bail and hold preliminary cases for felonies
d) Trial Courts of Federal Jurisdiction
i) Deal with more serious criminal and civil cases
ii) Juvenile criminal offenses, domestic relation cases, and probate cases also fall
under this
iii) Majority have an appellate function: can hear appeals
iv) Divided into judicial districts or circuits
v) Have a variety of names, most common are district or circuit
e) Intermediate Appellate Courts
i) Relatively new courts, now there are 40 in the US

ii) Most states have 1 of these courts with statewide jurisdiction

iii) In many cases, these are the courts of last resort for litigants in the state court
system
f) Courts of Last Resort
i) Highest courts in the state, usually called the states SC
ii) Usually have 5-9 judges, sit en banc
iii) Can generally exercise a lot of discretion in deciding which cases to review
iv) Resemble the U.S. SC
g) Juvenile Courts
i) Some states have established a network of courts specifically to handle
matters involving juveniles
ii) Most common approach is to give one or more of the states limited or general
trial courts jurisdiction to handle situations involving juveniles
h) Norm Enforcement in State Courts
i) State courts deal more with norm enforcement rather than policymaking
ii) Differences in the handling of criminal cases can possibly explained by the
culture of a community shared attitudes and beliefs
(1) Some think this culture influences how its members behave
iii) Values and norms influence court operations in 3 ways:
(1) Help participants distinguish between our court and other courts
(2) Norms tell community members how they should treat one another
(3) Local legal culture helps us understand why different courts handle things
differently, even though the formal rules for criminal procedures are
basically the same
3) The Courtroom Work Group
a) Most visible members are judges, prosecutors, and Das
b) Prosecutors push for convictions of those accused of criminal offenses
c) Judges serve as neutral arbiters to guarantee a free trial
d) The most important goal of the courtroom is to handle cases expeditiously
e) A second goal is to maintain group cohesion (conflict makes work difficult)
f) The court is also interested in reducing or controlling uncertainty
g) Negotiation is the most common way the court achieves these goals, with plea
bargaining being the most heavily publicized subject of negotiation
4) Administrative hearings in the States
a) Theres been a movement to separate agency hearings from their regulation and
enforcement functions (agency shouldnt be its own prosecutor and judge)
b) States vary widely in the number and scope of cases handled by ALJs
c) ALJs may do more than just hold hearing in cases involving citizen disputes with
state agencies; they might also act as trained mediators
5) Policymaking in the State Courts
a) States also engaging in shaping politics in the state
i) Good example is the state high courts get involved in the issue of school
districts and unequal spending on education
ii) Gay and Lesbian rights
iii) Same-sex marriages, civil unions, and domestic partnerships are also highly
contested (California SC knocking down Prop 8)

b) A combination of ideology, judicial role, interpretation, and political pressures

may indicate that state high court judges not venture far from the status quo
6) Innovation in State Courts
a) Tons of new innovation in courts to speed things up and solve problems
i) Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADP)
ii) Less complicated cases may be resolved more quickly due to calendar
improvements
iii) Increase use of technology has replaced paper trails
iv) Problem solving courts focusing on the underlying behavior of criminal
defendants
v) Drug treatment courts
vi) Mental health courts, domestic violence courts, DWI courts, etc.
7) Administrative and Staff Support in the State Judiciary
a) Magistrates
i) Perform some of the work in the early stages of civil and criminal cases
ii) Might hold bond hearings and conduct preliminary investigation
b) Law Clerks
i) If found at all, in the intermediate appellate courts or courts of last resort
ii) Practically unheard of
c) Administrative Office of the Courts
i) Every state has one, performs a variety of administrative tasks for its court
system
ii) Deals with budget preparation, data processing, facility management, judicial
education, public information
d) Court Clerks and Court Administrators
i) Usually handles day-to-day routines, like making courtroom arrangements,
keeping records of case proceedings, preparing orders and judgments,
collecting fines, etc.
ii) Many areas traditional court clerks have been replaced by court administrators
e) State Court Workload
i) Millions of cases a year
ii) Total incoming civil caseloads per 100,000 population up 17% between 20002009
iii) Total incoming criminal caseloads per 100,000 population: down 1% in 20002009
iv) Total incoming cases in state appellate courts: down 6%