Texas Courts Essay

The primary functions of lower courts consist of processing minor offenses but these courts will sometimes process felonies as well, without sentencing the defendant. Major trial courts take the processed felony cases and complete them; in major courts the defendants who are charged with felony crimes mainly enter a plea of guilty or not guilty, which then leads to a trial (Neubauer, 2010). The second component of our dual court system consists of appellate courts.

Justice of the peace courts is low-level courts. These courts are found only in Arizona, Delaware, Louisiana, Montana, and Texas. Justice of the peace courts has original jurisdiction over Class C misdemeanors that include: traffic violations, bail jumping, and bail check writing and minor civil matters that issue search and arrest warrants depending on certain situations. Justices are known for keeping the peace. They can arrest criminals or insane people, order the removal of people who behave in a disorderly fashion in a public place and carry out other duties designed to maintain or restore a peaceful community. The cons to Justices of the peace is that they have limited power in criminal and civil cases. Their powers of civil jurisdiction

Texas has been through a lot of changes and constitutions. After constants debates of what the constitution should be, the current Texas constitution was established in 1876 and is the 7th constitution Texas has had. It created 3 branches of government: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. The current constitution has great qualities, but it also contains a lot of weaknesses that shouldn’t be ignored for the sake of pride.

The state of Texas has had six constitutions. The constitution that took effect on February 15, 1876 is the current one still used today. The Texas Constitution is the second longest constitution in the United States, and one of the oldest still in effect. Since the constitution has been adopted it has been

In 1836, the new Texas Constitution was written during the war for independence which had a separation of governmental powers, a bill of rights, a bicameral legislature. This had many adopted aspects from the Spanish and Mexican laws. In 1845, was modeled after other southern states and therefore referred to as the Statehood Constitution (Newell, 44). It embraced democratic principles and was influenced by Jacksonian democracy. In 1861, the Constitution was modified when Texas joined the Confederate States of America, this was called The Civil War Constitution. This is when Texas seceded to join the confederacy. In 1866, was on the losing side of the war and Texas was ordered by Andrew Jackson to revise the document. This new document abolished slavery and declared secession illegal. In 1869, reconstruction of the Constitution happened yet again because radical reconstructionists in Washington wanted southern states to write new constitutions with tougher standards. The present constitution the document was careful about what government could do and couldn’t do. This document has changed a bit and has had over 467 revisions but it is still the document that is used present day.

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

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.

Texas v. Johnson (No. 88-155). Argued: March 21, 1989. Decided: June 21, 1989 In 1984 the Republican National Convention was held in Dallas, Texas. While there, a group of protesters, opposed to President Reagan's reelection, burned an American flag. Specifically, Greg Johnson was seen dousing the flag with kerosene and lighting it on fire. Johnson was arrested under a Texas flag desecration law. He was convicted and sentenced to one year in jail and fined $2000. The State Court of Appeals affirmed but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the decision.

There has been seven Texas Constitutions since 1827 including our current Constitution, which was established on 1876. Our current constitution has been amended hundreds of times because of its tight restrictions. The Legislative department is the dominant branch of the Texas Constitution it is subject to check and balances in the tripartite system. The Executive department limits the government’s power, and the judicial powers is divided into smaller courts. These three branches of the Texas are examples of how restricted and limited our constitution is.

There are 94 different federal trial courts call District Courts. The role of these district courts are to hear civil and criminal cases. Those district courts are broken down into 12 different regional circuits, each of the 12 regional circuits have their own court of appeals. These court of appeals deals with appeals within their circuit. Those appeals are then heard and their fate is then decided based on the record that was given before the District Court. All the cases that involve juvenile issues, child custody and Dupree cases, inheritance/probate cases, real estate, as well as most cases that involve criminal prosecution, personal injury cases, disputes and contracts, as well as public health cases. Each state handle local laws, has its own police, and court system. Each court system has its own Supreme Court which is known as the court of last resort. Local crimes in cases go before their local courts and from there it's it is decided whether or not the case goes before the state, supreme, or federal court.

.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

In the typical state court system has several levels on complexity. The trials that take place in this setting are typically limited jurisdiction. This court system is the state’s highest court system. All court-associated cases within the state are leveled into the state court system. All state courts have varying jurisdiction. In these minimal crime cases, the judge, rarely a jury, does the ruling on these trials. Preliminary beginnings, such as arraignments, bail hearings, and preliminary hearings, happen in state courts as well. There are problem-solving courts that help to resolve the case before it is taken to trial. Some examples of these courts would be, drugs, guns, juvenile, domestic, and mental health courts. The states highest