Criminal Justice: Chapter 7

state courts of limited jurisdiction

Courts that have jurisdiction on over misdemeanors and conduct preliminary investigations of felony charges

courts of general jurisdiction

State or federal courts that have jurisdiction over felony offenses and more serious civil cases (i.e., cases involving more than a dollar amount set by the legislature)

appellate court

A court that reconsiders a case that has already been tried in order to determine whether the measures used complied with accepted rules of criminal procedure and were in accordance with constitutional doctrines

court of last resort

A court that handles the final appeal on a matter. The US Supreme Court is the official court of last resort for criminal matters

writ of certiorari

An order of a superior court requesting that the record of an inferior court (or administrative body) be brought forward for review or inspection

landmark decision

A decision handed down by the US Supreme Court that becomes the law of the land and serves as a precedent for resolving similar legal issues

jury trial

The process of deciding a case by a group of persons selected and sworn in to serve as jurors at a criminal trial, often as a 6- or 12-person jury

US magistrate judge

A federal trial judge who is appointed by a district court judge and who presides over various civil cases with the consent of the par es and over certain misdemeanor cases

Missouri Plan

A method of picking judges through nonpartisan elections as a way to ensure that judges adhere to high standards of judicial performance

Prosecutor

Representative of the state (executive branch) in criminal proceedings; advocate for the state’s case—the charge— in the adversary trial. Examples include the attorney general of the United States, US attorneys, the attorneys general of the states, district attorneys, and police prosecutors

Public Defender

An attorney usually employed (at no cost to the accused) by the government to represent poor persons accused of a crime

adversarial procedure

The process of publicly pitting the prosecution and the defense against one another in pursuit of the truth

Sixth Amendment

The US constitutional amendment containing various criminal trial rights, such as the right to public trial, right to trial by jury, and the right to confrontation of witnesses

Gideon v. Wainwright

The 1963 US Supreme Court case that granted counsel to indigent defendants in felony prosecutions

assigned counsel

A lawyer appointed by the court to represent a defendant in a criminal case because the person is too poor to hire counsel

contract system (attorney)

Providing counsel to indigent offenders by having attorneys under contract to the county handle all (or some) such cases