Texas Court System Research Paper

Texas has a controversial way of electing its judges. When Texas became a state in 1845, judges were appointed by the governor with Senate consent, but since 1876, judges at all levels of courts have been elected by the people in partisan elections. The main problem with this system is partisan elections lead to more campaign contributions and increased partisanship among judge which hinders fair and independent judiciary system.

The main function of the judicial branch in Texas is the same as the federal judicial branch: to interpret the laws. By doing this the Texas judicial branch settles disputes, determines whether those who have been charged with violating the law are guilty or innocent, and settles the

One example of these courts is the Commissioner's Court. The commissioner's court is defined as, "the legislative body that governs a Texas county." (The State of Texas, Government, Politics, and Policy, page 178) Despite the name, the commissioner's court is not a court system. It is actually a legislative body. Another important part of the judiciary branch of Texas government is the Sheriff. The county sheriff, in many cities, is the head of the police department and controls the county jail. This position is very important for these reasons and more. More examples include the district and county attorney, the county tax assessor/collector, the county and district clerk, the county treasurer, and the county

They also need to be registered to vote in the district they are running in. It’s mandatory to be thirty-five years of age and been practicing law or been a judge for ten years. The period for the term is six years. The United States only has one court, the supreme court. Congress is able to form and decide on the structure of the courts. Congress can also set the amount of justices there are. The Supreme Court judges have no restrictions on terms and do not need to meet any requirements. The justices leave their duty of the court to either retire, are impeached, or pass away (“Judicial Branch Facts”). The judges are selected by the President to serve and then authorized by the Senate. The Supreme Court of the United States has jurisdiction over the Texas court.

When Texas became a state in 1845, judges were appointed by the governor with state consent, but in but since 1876, judges at all levels of courts have been elected by the

In my analysis of the Texas Constitution I will assess the three branches of our State Government, the Legislative Branch, Executive Branch and finally the Judicial Branch. Our State Government resembles our National Government in various ways but also in very different ways which we will review in this essay. I will identify a handful of criticisms and problems associated with the provisions in each of these branches of our State Government and identify suggested reforms that many feel are needed.

The Texas judicial system has been called one of the most complex in the United States, if not the world. It features five layers of courts, several instances of overlapping jurisdiction, and a bifurcated appellate system at the top level. The structure of the system is laid out in Article 5 of the Texas Constitution.

In 1822, Stephen F. Austin established one of the first courts in Texas and appointed a provisional justice of peace. Since Texas was a part of Mexico at the time, the Mexican governor replaced the justice of peace with three elected officials. (Utexas) Soon after Independence, the republic of Texas under the 1836 Constitution, established a supreme court and allowed Congress to create inferior courts. Judges in such courts were to be elected by Congress. Counties, at the time, had County and Justice of Peace courts, whose judges were popularly elected. With the entrance of Texas into the Union and the adoption of numerous constitutions during the period, Texas retained a similar judicial structure. The current 1876 Constitution created a

One unique feature about Texas’s system is the bifurcated appellate system. This means that there are two separate courts at the highest level, both of which have specific requirements to hear certain types of cases. The only other state that follows this type of structure for their judiciary system is Oklahoma. The following information about the structure and description of each level of the judiciary system is taken from the Texas Courts government sponsored website. Starting from the very top breaking down the structure level by level, the Texas Supreme Court, one of the two Texas Supreme courts, deals with civil issues and juvenile criminal cases. The other court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, hears cases that only deal with criminal activity not involving juveniles. In addition to these highest level courts, the Texas Judiciary has several levels that lead up to these two courts. The level right below the two Supreme Courts consists of fourteen Texas courts of appeals that have been created one by one since the creation of the judiciary system in 1836. Each of these

First with their supreme courts. In Texas, its supreme court is one court with nine justices. It is civil and juvenile cases only (Champange 292). For Virginia, their supreme court is a chief justice and six other justices. However, Texas and Virginia’s supreme courts differ because Virginia’s supreme court is not directly linked with the civil and juvenile cases, that it part of the circuit courts (“Introduction to Virginia’s Judicial System” 1).

Each state within the United States of America (USA) has its own unique judicial selection process within its court system. The judicial processes vary from court to court depending on a particular state. This paper analyses these processes, the qualifications for selecting the judges and the steps for removing judges from office, as it applies in the USA states of New York and Texas.

A Texas court will likely find that Adam tortuously interfered with Blake’s contract with WP. Under Texas Law, the elements of tortious interference with an existing contract are: “(1) an existing contract subject to interference, (2) a willful and intentional act of interference with the contract, (3) that proximately caused the plaintiff 's injury, and (4) caused actual damages or loss.” Prudential Ins. Co. of Am. v. Fin. Review Servs., Inc., 29 S.W.3d 74, 77 (Tex. 2000). If the other associate can prove proximate causation and actual damages, then Blake’s tortious interference case will likely prevail in a Texas court since Blake’s contract was an existing contract subject to interference and that Adam’s interference had been willful and intentional.

Upon first observation of this cartoon, the topic of racial discrimination was imminent; due to how well the characters depicted this topic. For instance, one can see that the African American man that is strapped down to the table is a representation of the mass executions of black offenders; according to The Death Penalty Information Center, there have been over 100 executions of black inmates since 1976. Also, the official standing over him symbolizes the white majority in the Texas Justice System. Many would say that this image is trying to bring light to the issue of when a black man is in the system, the fairness of his sentencing is taken away due to the color of his skin. Due to the lack of education and other resources that many black men have, this is like being silenced. The official’s smirk shows that he knows that he will get away with this unfair treatment and there is nothing that the immobilized man can do.

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.

.tx.us/AboutCourt.htm). It is not allowed to hear criminal cases. These cases are the responsibility of the Court of Criminal Appeals is the highest state jurisdiction for criminal appeals. All cases in which the death penalty has been sentenced, the case is automatically sent to the Court of Criminal Appeals (cca.courts.state.tx.us/). Also, the Court may choose on its own to hear a case. It consists of nine members, a Presiding Judge and eight associate Justices. The judges who serve on appeals courts are collectively known as appellate justices. The Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court is Thomas Phillips (supreme.courts.state.tx.us/justices.htm). The court is comprised of five white males, three white females, and one African-American male (http://www.supreme.courts.state.tx.us/AboutCourt.htm). In addition to the