Justice Administration
Police, Courts, and Corrections Management
EIGHTH EDITION
CHAPTER
7
Court Organization and
Operation
Justice Administration:
Police, Courts, and Corrections Management, 8e
Kenneth J. Peak
Copyright © 2016, 2012, 2010
by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Décor and Decorum
• Décor
 The physical or decorative style of a setting
• Decorum
 Correct or proper behavior indicating respect and
politeness
• Both are intended to convey the sense that the courtroom
is a hallowed place in our society.
• The courts must also appear to provide justice.
• Adversarial system is used:
 The legal system whereby two opposing sides present
their arguments in court.
Justice Administration:
Police, Courts, and Corrections Management, 8e
Kenneth J. Peak
Copyright © 2016, 2012, 2010
by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
A Dual Court System
• An organizational distinction between courts, with
a federal court system and 50 individual state
court systems
Federal Courts:
• The U.S. Supreme Court
 Composed of nine justices
• One chief justice and eight associate justices
• Nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate;
serve for life.
 Uses the writ of certiorari according to the rule of
four.
 The Court hears cases that concern an issue of constitutional
or legal importance, and where the party bringing the case has
standing.
Justice Administration:
Police, Courts, and Corrections Management, 8e
Kenneth J. Peak
Copyright © 2016, 2012, 2010
by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
EXHIBIT 7.1 Traditions: Seating Chart of the Current Supreme Court of the United States
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, “Visitor’s Guide to Oral Arguments,” p. 1,
http://www.supremecourt.gov/visiting/visitorsguidetooralargument.aspx (accessed October 28, 2013).
Justice Administration:
Police, Courts, and Corrections Management, 8e
Kenneth J. Peak
Copyright © 2016, 2012, 2010
by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
U.S. Courts of Appeals
• The courts of appeals are the intermediate courts of
appeals (ICAs) for the federal court system.
• Eleven of the circuits are identified by number, and another
is called the D.C. Circuit.
• The number of judges in each circuit varies, from 6 in the
First Circuit to 28 in the Ninth, depending on the volume
and complexity of the caseload.
• Each circuit has a chief judge, chosen by seniority.
Justice Administration:
Police, Courts, and Corrections Management, 8e
Kenneth J. Peak
Copyright © 2016, 2012, 2010
by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
FIGURE 7-1 Geographic Boundaries of the U.S. Court of Appeals, and U.S. District Courts
Source: United States Courts of Appeals and United States District Courts,
www.uscourts.gov/images/circuitmap.pdf.
Justice Administration:
Police, Courts, and Corrections Management, 8e
Kenneth J. Peak
Copyright © 2016, 2012, 2010
by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
U.S. District Courts
• 94 in number, of which 89 are located within the 50 states.
• There is at least one district court in each state (some
states have more, such as California, New York, and Texas,
all of which have four).
• The president nominates district judges, who must then be
confirmed by the Senate; they serve for life unless
removed for cause.
• The U.S. district courts are the federal trial courts of
original jurisdiction for all major violations of federal
criminal law.
Justice Administration:
Police, Courts, and Corrections Management, 8e
Kenneth J. Peak
Copyright © 2016, 2012, 2010
by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Judicial Conference of the United
States
•
The administrative policymaking organization of the federal
judicial system
•
Its membership consists of the chief justice, the chief judges of
each of the courts of appeals, one district judge from each circuit,
and the chief judge of the Court of International Trade.
•
Administers the judiciary budget and makes recommendations to
Congress concerning the creation of new judgeships, increase in
judicial salaries, revising federal rules of procedure, and budgets
for court operations
•
Plays a major role in the impeachment of federal judges.
Justice Administration:
Police, Courts, and Corrections Management, 8e
Kenneth J. Peak
Copyright © 2016, 2012, 2010
by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
State Courts of Last Resort
and Appeal
• Court of last resort
 That court in a given state that has its highest and final
appellate authority
 Have limited original jurisdiction in dealing with matters such
as disciplining lawyers and judges.
 Policymaking role apparent in deciding death penalty cases—
which, in most states, are automatically appealed to the
state's highest court
 The state supreme courts are also the ultimate review board
for matters involving interpretation of state law.
Justice Administration:
Police, Courts, and Corrections Management, 8e
Kenneth J. Peak
Copyright © 2016, 2012, 2010
by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Intermediate Courts of Appeals
• ICAs exist in both the federal and state court systems that
hear appeals, organizationally situated between the trial
courts and the court of last resort
• In most states, they hear both civil and criminal appeals.
• Like their federal counterparts, state ICAs can use rotating
three-judge panels.
• ICAs engage primarily in error corrections; they review
trials to make sure that the law was followed.
Justice Administration:
Police, Courts, and Corrections Management, 8e
Kenneth J. Peak
Copyright © 2016, 2012, 2010
by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Trial Courts
• Courts of original jurisdiction (or "first instance") where
evidence and testimony are first introduced and findings of
fact and law are made
• There are an estimated 2,000 major trial courts in the 50
states and Washington, D.C., staffed with more than
11,500 general-jurisdiction judges.
• The most common names for these courts are district,
circuit, and superior.
• Each court has its own support staff consisting of a clerk of
court, a sheriff, and others.
• In most states, the trial courts of general jurisdiction are
also grouped into judicial districts or circuits.
Justice Administration:
Police, Courts, and Corrections Management, 8e
Kenneth J. Peak
Copyright © 2016, 2012, 2010
by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
FIGURE 7-3
Org. Structure for a County District Court Serving a Pop. of 300,000
Justice Administration:
Police, Courts, and Corrections Management, 8e
Kenneth J. Peak
Copyright © 2016, 2012, 2010
by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Limited Jurisdiction: Lower Courts
• Inferior courts
 The lowest level of state courts, normally trial courts of
limited jurisdiction
• There are more than 13,500 trial courts of limited
jurisdiction, with about 18,000 judicial officers. They
constitute 85 percent of all judicial bodies in the United
States.
• Variously called district, justice, justice of the peace, city,
magistrate, or municipal courts, the lower courts decide a
restricted range of cases.
• These courts are created and maintained by city or county
governments.
• The workload of the lower courts can be divided into felony
criminal cases, non-felony criminal cases, and civil cases.
Justice Administration:
Police, Courts, and Corrections Management, 8e
Kenneth J. Peak
Copyright © 2016, 2012, 2010
by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Unification, Consolidation, Reform
• Court unification
 Reorganizing a trial court's structure, procedures,
funding, and administration so streamline operations,
better deploy personnel, and improve trial and appellate
processes
• To be truly centralized or consolidated, a state's court
system should have at a minimum:
1. Consolidation into a single-tier trial court
2. Rule-making authority
3. Centralization of administration
• Unification includes a centralized budgeting by the state
judicial administrator
Justice Administration:
Police, Courts, and Corrections Management, 8e
Kenneth J. Peak
Copyright © 2016, 2012, 2010
by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
FIGURE 7-4
Illinois and New York Court Structures
Justice Administration:
Police, Courts, and Corrections Management, 8e
Kenneth J. Peak
Copyright © 2016, 2012, 2010
by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
The Influence of Courts
in Policymaking
• Policymaking
 Establishing rules, principles, or guidelines to govern
actions by ordinary citizens and persons in positions of
authority
 The U.S. Supreme Court has dramatically changed race
relations, overhauled juvenile courts, increased the
rights of the accused, prohibited prayer and segregation
in public schools, legalized abortion, and allowed for
desecration of the U.S. flag.
 The nation's courts have had major impact in the prisons—
from which nearly 60,000 prisoner petitions are filed each year
in the U.S. district courts.
Justice Administration:
Police, Courts, and Corrections Management, 8e
Kenneth J. Peak
Copyright © 2016, 2012, 2010
by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
The Influence of Courts
in Policymaking
• While it may appear that the courts are
too broad in their review of issues, judges
"cannot impose their views until someone
brings a case to court."
• Thus it is said that the judiciary is the
"least dangerous branch," having no
enforcement powers.
Justice Administration:
Police, Courts, and Corrections Management, 8e
Kenneth J. Peak
Copyright © 2016, 2012, 2010
by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved