360° virtual tour of the U.S. Supreme court
A free law project from Cornell’s Legal Information Institute (LII), Justia, and Chicago-Kent College of Law—is a multimedia archive devoted to making the Supreme Court of the United States accessible to everyone.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission
A bipartisan, independent agency located in the judicial branch of government, was created by Congress in 1984 to reduce sentencing disparities and promote transparency and proportionality in sentencing.
Includes background and pertinent documents--much of it primary source material--about well-known trials dating back to Socrates. Developed and maintained by Doug Linder, J.D. (University of Missouri-Kansas City, School of Law).
Craig Benzine is going to talk about the structure of the U.S. court system and how exactly it manages to keep things moving smoothly. We’’ll talk about trial courts, district courts, appeals courts, circuit courts, state supreme courts, and of course the one at the top - the U.S. Supreme Court.
Produced in collaboration with PBS Digital Studios
Criminal Courts System
In the criminal courts course students will learn about:
Law and history
Structure of American Courts
Prosecution
Defense
Judges
Juries
Pretrial procedures and trial process
Plea Bargaining
Sentencing goals
Judical sentencing, disparities, and appeals
Juvenile Justice system: rights and cases
Diversion, alternative dispute resolution, and specialty courts
Courts, Media, and Litigation explosion
Federal and State Court Systems
The Federal court system is comprised of 94 district courts, 13 circuit courts, and one Supreme court. The Federal court system has limited jurisdiction therefore they can only hear cases authorized by the United States Constitution or federal statutes. Federal Judges and Supreme Court Justices are selected by the President and confirmed by the Senate and have life terms.
The district courts: are the general trial courts. Each district court has at least one United States District Judge, and serve a life term appointed by the president and approved by the senate.
Magistrate Court: Magistrate judges are appointed by the district court by a majority vote of the judges and serve for a term of eight years if full-time and four years if part-time. Can be reinstated after their term.
There are twelve federal circuit courts that divide the country into different regions. Each circuit court has multiple judges that are appointed for life by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
The supreme court: is the highest court in the American judicial system. It has the power to decide appeals on all cases brought in federal court or those brought in state court but dealing with federal law. There are nine justices on the court: eight associate justices and one chief justice.
Specialized courts: for military and veteran matters, taxes, international trade
The Georgia court system has six categories of trial-level courts: the superior, state, juvenile, probate, magistrate, and municipal courts. There are two appellate-level courts: the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.
Superior Court: They preside over all felony trial and exclusive jurisdiction over divorces and have broad jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases. There are forty-nine superior courts in Georgia. Superior court judges are elected to four-year terms in circuit-wide nonpartisan elections.
State Courts: Limited jurisdiction within one county and hear misdemeanors including traffic violations, issue search and arrest warrants, hold preliminary hearings in criminal cases, and try civil matters not reserved exclusively for the superior courts. State court judges are elected to four-year terms in county-wide nonpartisan elections.
Juvenile Courts: preside over all cases involving juveniles under 18 who are alleged to be delinquent, abused, neglected, or without a parent or guardian, those considered to be children in need of services, and those that commit traffic violations under age of 17.
Probate: Original jurisdiction in the probate of wills and administration of decedents’ estates. Probate courts issue marriage licenses and licenses to carry firearms.
Magistrate: County courts that issue warrants, hear minor criminal offenses and civil claims involving amounts of $15,000 or less.
Municipal: established by the cities of Georgia, municipal courts adjudicate traffic offenses, local ordinance, conduct preliminary criminal hearings, and issue warrants. Municipal court judges are often appointed by the mayor or city council; some are elected.
The Supreme Court of Georgia: The state’s highest court that reviews decisions made by other courts in civil and criminal cases. Rules on cases dealing with constitutionality of state regulations. The Chief Justice and Presiding Justice serve as officers of the court for two-year terms
The Court of Appeals: is the court of first review for many civil and criminal cases decided in the trial courts. The Court of Appeals has fifteen judges who are assigned to one of five panels made up of three judges each.
Original Jurisdiction: the court that hears a case for the first time
Appellate Jurisdiction: Power to review court decisions from lower courts
Exclusive Jurisdiction: Can only hear specific types of cases
A criminal sentence is the formal punishment set for someone who has been convicted of a crime or plead guilty of a crime.
Types of punishments that can be enforced are fines, short-term incarceration, probation, restitution to victim, community service, rehabilitation, death penalty, long-term incarceration, or life in prison. The punishment is based on the severity of the crime and the federal guidelines set by the United States Sentencing Commission.
Sentencing Goals:
Retribution: Offenders receive punishment that is deserved based on the seriousness of their criminal act.
Deterrence: Specific deterrence deters the individual from committing the crime in the future. General deterrence punishes the offender to deter others from committing the crime.
Incapacitation: To remove the offender from society so they cannot commit anymore crimes
Rehabilitation: To reform the offender and make him or her into a productive member of society.
Restoration: Requires the offender to pay financial restitution to victim or do community service to make things right again