Notes on Historical Development and Organization of State Courts (Ch. 3)

Page 1: Historical Development and Organization of State Courts (Ch. 3)

Historical Development of state courts: Before U.S Constitution was written in 1987, the American colonies were their own sovereign entities with written constitutions that provided for judicial oversight. The organization of state courts can therefore be traced back to that period.
States can adopt any organizational scheme they choose. Therefore, no two state courts are the same and the organization of trial courts does not fit the neat 3-tiered system we find at the federal level: District/trial courts, circuit courts, supreme Court. At the state level, some trial courts are called supreme court, some are called circuit court, others are called superior court.
In New York, the trial court is called supreme court. The highest court in NY state is called the NY Court of Appeals. In most other states, the highest court is called the supreme court.
State courts are very important because: 1) They receive and decide significantly more cases than federal courts. 2) They interpret the state laws and the constitution (which can grant more rights than the federal constitution). 3) Since statutory law is more extensive in the states, state court decisions touch every aspect of life within the state.

Page 2: Historical Development of State Courts Continued

Examples of categories of cases state courts handle are:
- Criminal cases including misdemeanors and felonies; state regulation of business and professions; private economic disputes such as business contracts and real estate; wills, trusts, and estates; divorce, child custody, and child support; torts or personal injury suits involving automobile accidents, medical malpractice, job-related injuries, etc.
4) Whereas state courts have always been important in citizens’ lives, they have become even more important in the later part of the 20th century due to a development known as the New Judicial Federalism:
The principle that state courts should rely more on state declarations of rights in civil liberties cases above and beyond rights enumerated in the U.S. Constitution. This principle makes items 1-3 even more important for citizens.

Page 3: Colonial Period (1789-1850)

In colonial period, legal cases were adjudicated by local judges called justices of the peace (or magistrates) and were appointed by the governor.
Appeal of these cases go to county courts (which are the general trial courts for the colonies). These courts were at the heart of colonial government. Grand and petit juries were introduced at this level in the colonial period.
Appeal from county courts are taken to the highest judicial level, which is the governor and his counsel.
American law borrowed heavily from English common law. Many formalities we see in our courtrooms today (i.e., use of juries, judicial uniform such as robes) are from England. Another example: Ohio and Pennsylvania still call their trial courts, the court of common pleas, which can be traced to the colonial period and England.

Page 4: Early State Courts

Following the American revolution and the creation of federal courts, the power of state/colonial governments was drastically reduced.
The colonies felt weakened and were distrustful of state courts and especially the lawyers who work in these courts. Afterall, most of the individuals who wrote the Federal Constitution were lawyers. The colonists’ mistrust of the Constitution led to a mistrust of lawyers generally.
This distrust grew when courts started to overturn legislative enactments based on judicial review.
Most conflicts were about commerce, particularly involving rural agrarian productions.
Politicians and judges exhibited different policy interests. There were several conflicts between legislatures (who tended to favor debtors, commoners) and courts (who tended to favor creditors and propertied interests). Why?
Out of these conflicts, courts emerged as independent political institutions.

Page 5: Modern State Courts

Modern state courts began at the aftermath of the industrial revolution, which resulted in rapid growth of urban areas in the early 20th century.
Growth in population led to new and more complex types of legal disputes.
State courts experienced caseload increases as agrarian cases are combined with complex litigation from urban centers. Response?
More state courts were created • Clarification of jurisdiction based on geography • Creation of specialized courts to handle specific subject matters
Expansion of courts was not well planned and led to fragmentation (i.e., a multiplicity of many trial courts, often with overlapping jurisdiction, which can create tremendous confusion in citizens’ minds).
Court costs, delays, procedures, and reputation of the judge affect forum choice for litigating a case. Prevalence of bribes for judges.
Roscoe Pound and call for court unification/reforms and its opposition (due to fear, job security, possibility of being transferred to an unfamiliar environment; need to learn new procedures).

Page 6: Organization of State Courts

Some states (e.g., California) have taken steps to unify their court systems, making them less complex and easy to understand with only 3 or four levels. Others still maintain a highly complex model with overlapping jurisdictions (e.g., New York). See Fig 3.1 & 3.2.
In general, state courts are divided into 4 general levels (from lowest to highest):
- (1) Trial Courts of limited jurisdiction
- (2) Trial Courts of general jurisdiction
- (3) Intermediate appellate courts
- (4) Courts of last resort.

Page 7: Trial Courts of Limited Jurisdiction

Handle the bulk of litigation in the states and constitute 85% of courts in the United States. $85\%$
Known by various names: Justice of the peace; magistrate courts, municipal courts, city courts, county courts, juvenile courts, domestic relations courts metropolitan courts, etc., etc.
Jurisdiction is limited to minor cases and they are not the trial court of record in many instances.
In criminal cases, they are limited to infractions and some misdemeanors with possible jail of up to one year. In civil cases, fines are limited to around $3000 (small claims).
Appeals go to trial court of general jurisdiction (for trial de novo).
Funded locally. Judges are not required to have law degree; proceedings are not recorded.
Travesty. Some of these courts are a joke. Anyone can be a judges: truck drivers, plumbers can become judges with only 6 days of training and a refresher course once a year thereafter; in some cases, witnesses are not sworn to tell the truth.
Perform important functions: preside over misdemeanor cases and infraction cases, they set bail, hold preliminary hearings in felony cases.

Page 8: Trial Courts of General Jurisdiction

Handle more serious civil and criminal cases at trial.
Hear cases appealed from trial courts of limited jurisdiction.
Geographic jurisdiction is divided by judicial district
In rural districts, Judges can travel from their city to another city to hold court. In larger urban districts, judges hold court in the same city and judges might also be divided into specialties: probate, family, criminal etc.
Most courts are this level are called: district, superior, or circuit Ohio and Pennsylvania still calls them “court of common pleas.” In NY, the are supreme court.
Judges are required to be learned in the law (i.e., have law degree).
These courts exhibit a degree of professionalism since they are a court of record.

Page 9: Intermediate Appellate Courts

Relatively new in the state judicial scene. In $1911$ , only 13 existed. Now one can find them in $42$ states.
Exist to relieve the workload of state courts of last resort.
In most states, they have statewide jurisdiction. OH, CA, TX have created regional appellate courts to handle specialized cases. AL &TN have separate intermediate appellate courts for civil and criminal cases.
Number of judges in these courts vary. Some have only $3$ judges (AK); one (CA) has $105$ judges in its intermediate appellate court.
No gate keeping powers like state courts of last resort. Must take every case that arrives at courthouse gate.

Page 10: State Courts of Last Resort

In most states, this is the state supreme court (e.g., North Carolina) and every state has at least one. $TX$ and $OK$ have two courts of last resort (one for civil and one for criminal cases).
Exercise gate keeping authority (have a choice as to which cases to take) in states that operate intermediate appellate courts. Otherwise, mandatory review is required because every trial case is guaranteed at least one review for purposes of error correction.
$5-9$ judges are used in these courts.
They are final arbiters of all cases dealing with state law and constitution.
In most, procedure mirrors that of U.S. Supreme Court. Opposing parties must submit written briefs and present oral argument.
Amici are permitted and often are filed by interest groups.
Justices issue written opinions after reaching a decision.

Page 11: Therapeutic Jurisprudence

One of the most exciting development in the judiciary is the creation of specialty courts to address/solve problems of specific groups of law breakers. These courts are often described as problem-solving courts.
They are characterized by:
- All stakeholders working cooperatively including defendants, victim groups, lawyers, judges, social workers to find the best solution to assist defendants and their victims to achieve rehabilitation or behavioral change.
- Minimize prison admissions (and this contributes to reduction in mass incarceration). Punishment is not the goal, rather it is therapy.
Examples are drug courts, domestic relations courts, and juvenile courts.
Juveniles are treated differently in the court system because of their immaturity and impressionability. State develop requirements about prosecution and jurisdiction over such cases. In AL, they are handled in trial courts of general jurisdiction. In VA they are in trial courts of limited jurisdiction.
NOTE: Juvies can sometimes face serious punishment in adult courts. States set the age and types of crimes for which juveniles can be charged as adults. First degree murder, aggravated sexual assault, armed robbery are crimes where a 17-year old can be tried as adult (IL) or even a 15-year old (AL). Can a 15-year old be executed?

Page 12: Courtroom Work Group

Courts are notorious for developing local legal culture propagated by the judge, prosecutor, defense attorneys. This is the court room work group.
They develop a community, a permanent “organization” whose primary objective is to handle cases expeditiously.
Each member has a role to play:
- Prosecutors push for conviction of those accused of crimes against the state.
- Defense attorneys seek acquittals
- Judges serve as neutral arbiters to guarantee a fair trial
Function of the court room work group:
- Maintaining group cohesion (and so they strive to avoid uncertainty of trials through negotiation and plea bargaining). Most criminal cases in the U.S. are plea bargained.
- Conduct a trial for Truth discovery (if the above fails).