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| A judge who is said to act as an independent policymaker by creatively interpreting constitutions and statutes. |
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| Cases that involve violations of the law. |
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| Cases that involve disputes between private parties. |
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| The first level of the court system. |
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| A mutual agreement between parties to end a case before going to trail. |
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| An agreement in which the accused admits guilt, usually in exchange for a promise that a particular sentence will be imposed. |
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| A request to have a lower court’s decision in a case reviewed by a higher court. |
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| Intermediate Appeal Court |
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| A court that review court cases to find possible errors in their proceedings. |
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| The highest level of appeals court in a state. |
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| In law, the use of the past to determine current interpretation and decision making. |
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| The court in which a case is introduced and nothing has been determined yet. |
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| Trials in which no jury is present and a judge decides the facts. |
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| General Jurisdiction Trial Courts |
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| Courts that hear any civil or criminal cases that have not been assigned to a special court. |
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| Limited, or special jurisdiction, trials courts |
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| Courts that hear cases that are statutorily limited by either the degree of seriousness or the types of parties involved. |
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| An error that affects the outcome of a case. |
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| Discretionary Jurisdiction |
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| The power to decide whether or not to grant review of a case. |
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| Occurs when a court is required to hear every case presented before it. |
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| Refers to appeals court sessions in which all of the judges hear a case together. |
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| Groups of (usually) three judges who sit to hear cases in state courts of appeal. |
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| Judicial selection systems in which the governor appoints judges alone without a nominating commission. |
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| Judges run uncontested, and voters are asked to vote “yes” if they wish to retain a judge in office for another term or “no” if they do not. |
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A government official who conducts criminal cases on behalf of the people.
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| A government lawyer who provides free legal services to those accused of a crime who cannot afford to hire a lawyer. |
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| Legislative Over-criminalization |
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| The tendency of government to make a crime out of anything the public does not like. |
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| A formal criminal charge. |
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| A group of between 16 and 23 citizens that decides if a case should go to trial; if yes, an indictment is issued. |
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| Occurs when a jury returns a verdict of “Not Guilty” even though jurists believe the defendant is guilty. The jury cancels out a law that it believes is immoral or was wrongly applied to the defendant. |
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| A serious crime, such as murder or arson. |
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| A less serious crime, such as shoplifting. |
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| Private lawyers selected by the courts to handle particular cases and paid from public funds. |
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| Private attorneys who enter into agreements with a state, a country, or a judicial district to work on a fixed-fee basis per case or for a specific length of time. |
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| A legal obligation or responsibility. |
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| The interviewing and examination of potential jurors. |
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| Occurs when a lawyer asks the judge to excuse a potential juror because the individual appears to be biased or unable to be fair. |
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| Used by lawyers to dismiss potential jurors for any reason except race or gender. |
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| The judge sentences an offender to a minimum and a maximum time in prison. A parole board decides how long the offender actually will remain in prison. |
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| The judge sentences an offender to serve a specific amount of time in prison depending on the crime. |
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| Mandatory Minimum Sentences |
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| The shortest sentences that offenders may receive upon conviction for certain offenses. The court has no authority to impose a shorter sentence. |
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| These statutes impose harsher sentences for offenders who previously have been sentenced for crimes. |
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| These laws give parole boards less authority to shorten sentences for good behavior by specifying the proportion of a sentence an offender must serve before becoming eligible for parole. |
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| A return to, or relapse into, criminal behavior. |
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| Alternative dispute resolution |
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| A way to end a disagreement by means other than litigation. It usually involves the appointment of a mediator to preside over a meeting between the parties. |
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| Fast-Track cases that often have limited, specific deadlines for specific court procedures. |
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Local officials or attorneys granted limited judicial powers.
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