American Criminal Courts : Legal Process and Social Context.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND DEDICATIONS -- PREFACE -- ONLINE INSTRUCTOR AND STUDENT RESOURCES -- CHAPTER 1 Principles and Decision-Making in U.S. Criminal Courts -- The Rule of Law -- Importance of Studying Criminal Courts -- Overview of the Criminal Justice System -- Theme 1: Steady Principles and Contextualized Changes -- Legal Principles as a Source of Stability -- Changes in the Courts -- Theme 2: State Power and Individual Rights -- Crime Control: The Exertion of State Power -- Due Process: Individual Rights and Constraint of Arbitrary State Power -- Due Process and the Three Branches of Government -- Procedural Laws and Codes of Criminal Procedure -- Balancing Crime Control and Individual Rights -- Theme 3: Motivations, Decisions, and Actions of the Courtroom Workers -- Patterns and Variance -- Legal Frame: Principles, Duties of the Court, Procedure, and Reasoning -- Internal Ecology: Organization, Processes, and Relationships Within a Court -- External Ecology: Characteristics of Community -- Legal Reality -- Summary -- References -- Part 1 Formal Social Control -- CHAPTER 2 Social Control, Comparative Courts, and the Development of the U.S. Judicial System -- Social Order and Social Control -- Social Order in Simple Societies -- Transitional History: Empires and the Birth of Law and Courts -- The Modern Nation-State and the Expansion of Courts -- Comparative Legal and Court Systems -- The Creation and Adaptation of U.S. Courts -- The Federal Constitution -- A National Judiciary -- The Federalist System -- Dialectics of Due Process and Crime Control -- Modern Changes in the Criminal Courts -- Industrial Revolution, Immigration, and Urbanization -- Bureaucracies and Professional Training -- Public Policy and Social Engineering -- Professional Organizations -- Due-Process Revolution -- Summary.

References -- CHAPTER 3 The Structure of Federal and State Courts -- The Role of Criminal Courts: Limitations and Duties -- Different Courts for Different Disputes -- Issues Common to Federal and State Courts -- Jurisdiction -- Civil Courts -- Original Jurisdiction: Criminal Trial Courts -- Appellate Jurisdiction: Intermediate Appellate Courts -- The High Court -- Jurisdiction and Structure of Federal Constitutional Courts -- U.S. Magistrate Courts -- U.S. District Courts -- U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals -- U.S. Supreme Court -- State Courts -- State Court Caseload and Jurisdiction -- Structure of State Courts: Original and Appellate Jurisdiction -- Budgets and Unification of State Courts -- Specialized State Courts -- Summary -- References -- CHAPTER 4 Criminal Law, Crime, and the Criminal Court Process -- Law as the Foundation of State Power and Individual Rights -- Definition of Law -- Types and Sources of Law -- Constitutional Law -- Statutory Law: Private and Public -- Judicial Law -- Substantive Criminal Laws: Criminal Justice System Powers and Boundaries -- Procedural Laws: Rules for Enforcing Rules -- The Definition of Crime: Legal Reality and the Criminal Justice System Boundary -- Elements of a Crime -- Actus Reus, Corpus Delicti, Harm, and Causation -- Mens Rea and Levels of Intent -- Concurrence -- Types of Criminal Offenses and Offenders -- Introduction to the Court Process -- Legal Reasoning: Due Process and the Assessment of Cases -- Misdemeanor Court Process -- Felony Pretrial Stages -- Trial Procedure -- Appeal -- Discussion of the Criminal Court Process -- Summary -- References -- Part 2 Negotiating Discretion, Making Decisions -- CHAPTER 5 The Reality of Legal Action: Principles, Organizations, and Public Pressure -- Legal Action: Motivations, Decisions, and Actions of the Courtroom Workers -- Patterns and Limited Variance.

Negotiated Order -- Legal Frame: Principles that Constrain and Guide Legal Action Within U.S. Criminal Courts -- Legal Principles and the U.S. System of Law -- Principles and the Duties of Courts -- Principles and Legal Reasoning -- The Stages of Legal Reasoning -- Legal Reasoning in Appellate Cases Versus Trials -- Principles and Procedures -- Ecological Perspective -- Internal Ecology of U.S. Criminal Courts -- Formal Organizational Frame: Bureaucratic Structure, Jurisdiction, and Size -- Indigent Defense Systems and Special Prosecutor Units -- Management, Coordination, and Oversight of Court Offices -- Assistants and Experts -- Official Procedures for Handling Cases -- "It's Our Job": Division of Labor, Specialization, and Scripted Behaviors -- Crimes and Cases -- Physical Environment of a Court: Buildings and Technology -- The Local Legal Culture of Courtroom Workgroups -- External Ecology: The World Outside the Courts -- Courts and Society -- Election, Appointment, and Post-Government Employment of Judges, Prosecutors, and Defense Attorneys -- Legislature: Statutes, Jurisdiction, Funding, and Oversight -- Executive Branch: Appointments, Enforcement of Laws, Detention, and Punishment of the Convicted -- Research, Science, and Pseudoscience -- Media, Citizen Groups, and Industry Pressures -- Judicial Apparatuses: Law School, the Bar, and Other Professional Associations -- The Social Selection of Discrimination: Race and the Courts -- Summary -- References -- CHAPTER 6 Case Assessment, Case Attrition, and Decision to Charge -- Filtering Cases: Tempering State Power with Due Process -- Case Assessment for Prosecutors and Defense -- Legal Reasoning and Case Assessment -- Precedent and Case Assessment -- Extralegal Influences on Case Assessment -- Strategies of Case Assessment -- Evidence and Interpretation of Statutes -- Case Theory.

Prosecutorial Case Assessment -- Prosecutorial Options on Case Disposition -- Influences and Strategies on Prosecutorial Assessment -- Prosecutor's Assessment of Evidence -- Decision to Charge and Case Attrition: Predicting Outcomes -- Defense Attorney Assessment -- Defense and Preliminary Hearing -- Defense and Trial Preparation -- Summary -- References -- Part 3 Decision-Making in the Pretrial and Trial Process -- CHAPTER 7 The Pretrial Process -- Arrest -- Bail -- The History of Bail -- Who Gets Bail? -- Bail-Bonds as a Business -- Bail Reform -- Release-on-Recognizance -- Diversion -- Plea Bargaining -- Types of Plea Bargaining -- Plea Bargaining and Discretion -- Preliminary Hearing -- Grand Jury and Indictment -- Arraignment -- Pretrial Motions -- Motions to Suppress Evidence -- Search and Seizure -- Confessions and Admissions -- The McNabb-Mallory Rule -- The Voluntariness Standard -- The Miranda Doctrine -- Summary -- References -- CHAPTER 8 The Prosecutor and the Exertion of State Power -- The State as Victim -- Jurisdictions of Prosecutors -- Prosecution at the Federal Level -- Prosecution at the State Level -- Prosecution at the County or City Level -- Duties of the Prosecutor -- Representing the State -- The Charging Decision as Social Control -- Plea Bargaining -- Establishing the Defendant's Guilt -- The Expert Witness -- Working with the Courtroom Workgroup -- Funneling Cases -- Discovery -- Voir Dire -- Burden of Proof -- The Burden of Producing Evidence -- The Burden of Persuasion -- Preliminary Hearing -- Grand Jury -- Trial -- Opening Statements and Closing Arguments -- The Prosecution's Case-In-Chief -- Types of Evidence -- Rules of Evidence -- Examinations -- Summary -- References -- CHAPTER 9 The Defense and Constraint on State Power -- The Price of Independence -- Duties of the Defense -- Becoming a Defense Attorney.

Check on Arbitrary or Excessive State Power -- Monitoring of Procedural Law -- Burden of Rebuttal -- The Right to Counsel -- Privately Retained Attorney -- Public Defenders -- Types of Indigent Defense Attorneys -- Public Defender's Office -- Contract Systems -- Assigned Counsel Programs -- Pro Bono Publico -- Which is Better? Private Attorney or Public Defender -- Working Within the Courtroom Workgroup -- Discovery -- Plea Negotiations -- Voir Dire -- Case Strategy and Preparation -- Summary -- References -- CHAPTER 10 The Criminal Trial Process: Judges, Bench Trials, Jury Deliberation, and Sentencing -- Types of Trials -- The Role of the Judge -- Pretrial Duties -- Presiding at Trial -- As Finder of Fact -- As Finder of Law -- Enforcing Procedural Law -- Instructing the Jury -- Ruling with Impartiality and Adhering to Precedent -- Maintaining Decorum in the Courtroom -- Issuing Verdicts in Bench Trials -- Sentencing -- Presiding over the Jury Trial -- The Role of the Jury -- Jury Selection -- The Master Jury List -- Venire -- Voir Dire -- Jury Deliberations -- Verdicts -- Critique of the Jury System -- Sentencing -- Deterrence -- Retribution -- Incapacitation -- Rehabilitation -- Judicial Discretion -- Indeterminate Sentences -- Mandatory Sentences -- Presumptive Sentencing -- Summary -- References -- Part 4 Specialized Courts -- CHAPTER 11 The Right to Appeal and the Appellate Process -- Situating Appeals Courts Within the Court System -- Role of Appellate Courts -- Appellate Jurisdiction -- Summary of Appellate Process -- Initiating and Preparing for an Appeal -- Standing and the Right to Appeal -- Defense Duties: Preserving for Appeal -- Parties in an Appeal: Appellant and Respondent -- Types of Appeals -- Mandatory and Discretionary Appeals: Appeal by Right, Interlocutory Appeal, and Writ of Certiorari -- Habeas Corpus Appeal.

Getting an Appeal Started: Filing a Petition to Appeal.

American Criminal Courts: Legal Process and Social Context is an introductory-level text that offers a comprehensive study of the legal processes that guide criminal courts and the social contexts that introduce variations in the activities of actors inside and outside the court.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.