Principles and Procedures of
the Justice System
Spring 2009
Week 1
American Criminal Justice
System
• Operated by and through government
– police
– courts
– corrections
– all government agencies
Criminal Justice System
• Substantive Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
Criminal Law v. Criminal
Procedure*
• Criminal Law:
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Murder
Burglary
Arson
Drug Offenses
Etc.
• Criminal Procedure
– Investigative rules, I.e
search and seizure
– Questioning
– Court Process
Introduction—Basic Concepts
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•
•
•
•
Court System and Judicial Branch
Case Law
Federalism
Separation of Powers
Civil Law vs. Criminal Law
U.S. Courts*
U.S. Supreme Court
9 Justices
Primarily Court of Appellate Jurisdiction
U.S. Courts of Appeal
12 geographical circuits
1 general court
courts of appellate jurisdiction
U.S. District Courts
Trial Court
(Calif. has 4 districts)
Special Trial Courts
Claims Courts
Tax Court
CALIFORNIA COURT
SYSTEM
(www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/
California Supreme Court
7 Justices
Primarily Court of Appellate Jurisdiction
California Court of Appeals
Six Districts
Primarily Court of Appellate Jurisdiction
(appeals and writs of mandate)
Trial Courts
Superior Courts—General Jurisdiction
(One for each county)
Trial Courts
Superior Court—Limited Jurisdiction
Sources of Criminal Laws*
• FEDERAL
– U.S. Constitution
– Federal Cases
– United States Codes
– Administrative Regs
• STATE
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–
–
–
State Constitution
State Case Law
State Codes
U.S. Constitution and
cases interpreting it
– Administrative Regs
– Ordinances
– Initiative
Common Law/Case Law*
• Common Law--Originally old English court
decisisions
• Precedent--Stare Decisis
• “No common law crimes” today
Case Law--Today*
• Published decisions from appellate courts
related to actual cases that have been
tried and have been appealed
• Stare Decicis (Precedent)--Once a factual
dispute and legal question have been
decided, similar cases must be decided in
the same way
Statutory Law (Codes)
• U.S. Codes: Laws enacted by U.S.
Congress and signed by President
• California Codes: Laws enacted by state
legislature or by voter initiative
Case Law
• CALIFORNIA CASE LAW
– California Reports
– Calif. Appellate Rep.
– California Reporter
Cal. Or C.
Cal.App.
Cal. Rptr
• CITATION
– People v. House (1970) 12 Cal.App.3d 756
WRITE THE CITATION TO AN
OPINION OF THE CALIFORNIA
SUPREME COURT ISSUED IN
1969, IN A PROSECUTION
AGAINST A DEFENDANT
NAMED “BRADLEY, BEGINNING
ON PAGE 80 OF VOLUME 1 OF
THE THIRD SERIES OF
CALIFORNIA REPORTS
People v. Bradley (1969) 1 Cal.3d 80
United States Supreme Court Case
Law
• U.S. United States Reports
• S.Ct. Supreme Court Reporter
• L.Ed. Lawyers Edition
Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S.
Ct. 792, 9 L. Ed. 2d 799 (1963)
Reading Cases
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•
•
•
•
Note the deciding court
Note the year
Pay attention to subject headings
What was the nature of the dispute? (the “facts”)
How did the court resolve the dispute? (the
holding)
• Why did the court resolve the dispute the way it
did? (the rationale)
Federalism
• As Americans we are subject to rule of two
separate governments:
– State and
– Federal
• Each government operates a criminal
justice system
Federal Criminal Justice System
• Federal Crimes
• examples
• Federal police
• Federal Courts
• Federal prisons
State Criminal Justice system
• Unity of State and Local Governments
– I.e. Drunk driving case
• Police: city, county, state
• Courts: state and county
• Corrections: County and state