American Criminal Court System Research Paper

American Criminal Court System
Barbara Hawn
CJA/224
Oct 13, 2014
University of Phoenix
American Criminal Court System In this Essay we are going to look at the American court system. I am going to describe a court and its purpose. We are going to look at the dual court system. I will define the role of the courts in the criminal justice today. We are going to look at the early legal codes, the common law, and precedent played in the development of the courts.

The Court and its Purpose
A court is defined as an agency or unit of the judicial branch of government, authorized by statute or constitution consisting of one or more judicial officers. They have the authority to decide upon cases, controversies in law, and other disputed matters
The system is constitutionally divided between a central body the federal government and a various separate units the states. The United States federal government makes the laws, but gives the states the power to make their own laws. The states can make individual laws that only pertain to their state.

The Role of courts in Criminal Justice
The role of the courts study the criminal justice system for two reasons adjudication and oversight. These functions are both very important to the safety of the public, and smooth operation of the court system. If either one of the functions were not present the court system could not operate effectively. The judges and prosecutors must decide what laws should be applied, how there are applied, and what to do when they find incorrect information or incorrect use of power.

Early Legal Codes
Code of Hammurabi is an early formal written legal code. This code expressed the philosophy an eye for an eye code. Another formal code was the twelve tables codes. These codes were like the Hammurabi code with the retributive of justice if someone wronged you, and they did not try to make it right with
Precedent generally refers to some prior action that guides what is done with the action today. As the judges decisions were recorded and passed around, this lead to more continuity and predictability with verdicts in court by judges. As this took place not every case had to be heard if there was an earlier decision on the issue. They referred back to the earlier decision for the case without hearing the current case.

Conclusion Without the early codes and common law the court system of today may not be as effective or reliable. The Hammurabi’s code and twelve code were the first written formal codes. These codes expressed an eye for an eye concept. If a person wronged you, and they did not try to make admen’s retributive of justice was allowed. As the judges stared to write down their decisions, and pass their verdicts around to one another this became known as common law. Precedent stated with more and more judges writing down the decisions of cases. Now the United States has a dual court system with the federal and state courts that operate separately. The courts purpose is to uphold the law, protect individual rights, resolving disputes, and reinforcing social norms