Reflective Essay: The American Court System

For this observation report, I went to the Cobb County Superior Court on October 26, 2016, from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM. I observed Judge Reuben Green because he was one of the judges recommended to observe. I decided to observe a court proceeding because I wanted to become less ignorant about how the court system works. There is not much of drama in my family, or at least the kids (myself included) are kept away from complicated drama. Accordingly, I have never had any real-life exposure to the court system before October 26th. All my knowledge about the court system is what I see on television and small things I learned in school. My favorite show involving the court system is How to Get Away with Murder, which is about law students who were involved in different murders and try to hide the evidence.

The Federal Court System is one of the most essential and significant functions to help settle a matter. Much work is involved in the application of a body of rules and principals of rulings. The path the Federal Courts have to take in order to be heard by the Supreme Court is a lengthy process. Given millions of disputes every year, it becomes impossible for the Federal Courts to be heard by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has jurisdictions that limit the variety of cases that are clearly defined in the Constitution. The Supreme Court has developed specific rules that within the jurisdictions will and will not hear. The Federal Court must show they have extreme and substantial evidence in the outcome of the case. In mootness, the Federal

In the society of the United States, most of our rules, albeit laws or moral beliefs, come from decisions made in the Supreme Court and what exactly they refer to. The direction of momentum in the workforce, schooling, and even the white house have been vastly adjusted by the verdicts that come out of the Court. These directional modifications have been ratified and lead the people to challenge the current views of society and lead to more and more changes that are right and just for the system in order to prevent further wrongdoing in the nation.

The courts play a huge role in the criminal justice system. The dual court system of the United States (U.S.) was established through the U.S. constitution. The court systems have a multiple purposes and elements of court. Federal and state court system is what makes up the dual court system of the U.S. Today the U.S. court system is what it is today because of previous legal codes, common law, and the precedent it played in the past. Making the U.S. court system a vital role in the criminal justice system..

Courts are established social, political, and judicial institutions necessary for the manifestation of justice and the maintenance of law and order. The courts are part of the judicial branch of government, as outlined in Article III of the United States Constitution. Courts are the arenas in which the law is tried and applied. Judges are the presiding officers of the court. The United States Supreme Court is the most fundamental court because has "the authority to decide the constitutionality of federal laws and resolve other disputes over them," (United States Courts, 2012). This is true even though even though the court does not expressly enforce that law; enforcement is the province of the executive branch.

Before proposing a reform to the American criminal justice system, we must first examine the problems that plague the process of justice on all levels. American society plays an important role in shaping the criminal justice system. Their beliefs and values determine the type of deviants and the consequences of the crimes. Often their beliefs contradict each other.

presence of a jury, if the defendant wishes so. Even if a case is too

Many years ago, before courts existed matters was handled in a privately or informally. This often led to violence and unjust treatment of innocent people. During the rise of the Greek City States and the Roman Empire law enforcement became a public affair instead of private. (Siegel, Schmalleger, & Worral, 2011). Along with this movement became formalized courts and other criminal justice institutions. This allowed for law enforcement matters to be handled in a more civilized manner for resolving human conflict.

The story of Brock Turner and Cory Batey days in trial will get you shocked once you hear it. There was no justice in the matter for Cory Batey a black college athlete who raped an unconscious woman at a party while intoxicated during his days in trial the jury and judge found him guilty of his crime and sentenced him 15 to 25 years in jail. When it comes to Brock Turner who had a similar crime; a college athlete who was intoxicated and raped an unconscious woman behind a dumpster but during his trial days the judge and jury sentenced him 6 months, 3 with good behavior. This is a prime example of how your race affects your sentencing in court. During their trial waiting Batey apologizes to his victim while turner’s actions doesn't

The reading I chose to reflect on was chapter three,” Entry into the Court System” from the book “Criminal Justice Case Briefs, Significant Cases in Juvenile Justice” by Craig Hemmens, Benjamin Steiner, and David Mueller.

There are three women on the Supreme Court, one of whom is Latina, and there is one black justice serving on the Supreme Court (Brown, 2016). This is a major issue. The United States, the “melting pot”, has an extreme lack of diversity in their court system. This is an issue that affects several aspects of society. Decisions made by judges will affect the lives of men, women, and their families. The decisions made by judges can also create law. Unlike political officials, the people do not always have the power to vote judges into their positions. Instead, the people hope that their peers with the power to affect the system choose a candidate that will fight for them. Often times, this does not happen.

To Kill a Mockingbird echoes themes of racial injustice and a flawed court system. Tom Robinson’s trial relates to the Scottsboro Case in 1939. Both cases, fiction and reality, show how the process within the court system is truly imperfect. The push of Jim Crow Laws during the 1930s gave people a deep seeded hatred towards African Americans. Many were wrongly convicted due to either the color of their skin or their social status. Many reforms went in place in order to create an equal and fair judicial system however the case of wrongful convictions reigns true today, with a majority of men sent on death row either being discriminated based on race or convicted despite lack of evidence. This issue continues to plague the belief that all men are created equal. Many tried to pour their issues onto African Americans as a scapegoat to avoid society’s everlasting judgment. Many court cases throughout history prove that discrimination is an absolute issue in a place where it shouldn’t be. The theme of racial injustice being a determining factor in the court system is exemplified in The Scottsboro Case, To Kill a Mockingbird, and currently on death row.

After reading about these cases as well as others in the media ,I have significantly changed my notion of justice in our criminal justice system. I have noticed that there seems to be a racial divide in the criminal justice system.

The United States court system is the institution were all the legal disputes in the american society are carryed out and resolved. However, one single court is not enough to resolve every single dispute in society and that is why the court system is made up of two different courts, the federal courts and the state courts. Moreover, the federal and state courts are made up of several divisions made to handle legal disputes differently depending on its seriousness. For example, the state court is made up of trial courts of limited jurisdiction and probate courts were cases and disputes originate and then move up to trial courts of general jurisdiction, intermediate apellate courts, and courts of last resort respectively depending on the case.In contrast, the federal court consists of district courts, territorial coutrs, tax court, court of international trade, claims court, court of veterans appeals, an courts of military review which then move on to courts of appeals respectively and may ultimately end up in the United States supreme court. In addition, cases from state court may also appeal into the federal court system but not the other way around.

The US has a dark past of abusing and oppressing people of color. This case was thrown into question of its validation because of the racist testimony. People are suppose to get punished for wha they did not what they look like. Social Darwinism is to blame for justifying that certain people can simply be born criminals. Darwinsim attempted to justify that other people are biologically superior which is not true. This case shows how many people have stuck with their beliefs that they are better than another. People have been unable to treat everyone as if they are all the