1. Chapter 7:
Courts and Adjudication
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2. Agenda
• Exam results & review
• Strategies for moving forward
• Chapter 7 lecture and activities
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3. Learning Objectives
• Structure of the court system
• Qualities desired in judges
• Judge selection
• Roles of prosecuting attorneys
• Criminal charge filing process & prosecutor discretion and
decision-making
• Criminal defense work & cost
• The courtroom workgroup
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4. The Functions & Structure of Courts
• U.S. = dual court system
•federal
•state
• Other countries - single national court system
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5. • Adversary Process -
•In the United States, both state
and federal courts use the
adversary process
• vs.
• Inquisitorial Process -
•Other countries
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6. Jurisdiction:
• The geographic territory or legal boundaries within
which control may be exercised; the range of a
court’s authority.
•Example: Native Americans have tribal courts,
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7. Functions of Courts
• Enforcing the norms of
society
• Processing disputes within
society
• Making policy
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8. Federal Court State Court
System System
Appellate court of last
Supreme Court of the resort:
United States state supreme court
Intermediate Court of
Circuit Court of Appeals Appeals
Trial Courts of General
Jurisdiction: district, superior
District Courts
or circuit courts
Trial Courts of Limited
Jurisdiction: circuit, municipal,
justice, district or magistrate
courts

9. Federal Courts
• The federal system has no trial courts of limited
jurisdiction
• U.S. district courts = federal trial courts of general
jurisdiction
• U.S. circuit courts of appeals = intermediate
appellate courts
• U.S. Supreme Court is the court of last resort
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10. Criminal Courts
• Decentralized
• Local political influences & community values
affect the courts
• Very few small states have a statewide court
system
• Most criminal courts operate under state penal
code but staffed, managed, & $$ by county or city
governments
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11. CHeck!
Take out a sheet of
paper:
In your own words:
What are the major
differences between
federal and state
courts?
What is the
muddiest point for
you so far?
hang on to your sheet
of paper!

12. Functions of the Judge
• Defendants see a judge whenever decisions about
their future are being made:
• when bail is set,
• pretrial motions are made,
• guilty pleas are accepted,
• a trial is conducted,
• a sentence is pronounced,
• and appeals are filed
• Judges also perform administrative tasks outside of
the courtroom
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13. Judges have three major roles:
• Adjudicator
• Negotiator
• Administrator
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14. Adjudicator
• Judges must:
•assume a neutral stance,
•apply the law to uphold rights of the
accused,
•use a certain amount of discretion—only
according to the law,
•avoid any conduct that could appear
biased
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15. Negotiator
• Many decisions take place in the judge’s
private chambers
• Decisions = negotiations between prosecutors
& defense attorneys
• The judge may act as a referee = keep both
sides on track with the law
• Judge may take a more active part in the
negotiations
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16. Administrator
• Managing the courthouse
• In rural areas: judges’ may do more
management
• Deal with political actors
• Chief judges may also use
administrative powers gain other
judge’s cooperation
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17. Six methods are used to select state trial court
judges:
• Gubernatorial appointment
• Legislative selection
• Merit selection
• Nonpartisan election
• Partisan election
• A mixture of methods
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18. CHeck!
Take out a sheet of
paper:
In your own words:
Describe the three
roles of adjudicator,
negotiator, and
administrator for
judges.
What is the
muddiest point for
you so far?
hang on to your sheet
of paper!

19. The Prosecutorial System
• Prosecuting attorneys: A legal representative of the state with
sole responsibility for bringing criminal charges.
• make discretionary decisions about whether to pursue criminal
charges
•which charges to make, and
• what sentence to recommend
• Government representatives
• Federal cases are prosecuted by United States attorneys
• Each state has an elected state attorney general, who usually has
the power to bring prosecutions in certain cases
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20. The Prosecutor’s Roles
• Trial counsel for the police
• House counsel for the police
• Representative of the court
• Elected official
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21. Discretion of the Prosecutor
• Broad discretion ➔ prosecutors
shaping their decisions to fit different
interests
• By filing as many charges as possible,
the prosecutor strengthens his or her
position in plea negotiations
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22. Discretion of the Prosecutor
• Count - Each separate offense of which a person is
accused in an indictment or an information
• Discovery - A prosecutor’s pretrial disclosure to the
defense of facts and evidence to be introduced at trial
• nolle prosequi - An entry, made by a prosecutor on the
record of a case and announced in court, indicating that
the charges specified will not be prosecuted. In effect,
the charges are thereby dismissed.
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23. Key Relationships of the Prosecutor
• Police
• Victims and witnesses
• Judges and courts
• The community
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24. Accusatory Process
• The series of events from the arrest of a
suspect to the filing of a formal charge (through an
indictment or information) with the court
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25. CHeck!
Take out a sheet of
paper:
In your own words:
Explain the role of
the prosecutor and
how discretion is
used.
What is the
muddiest point for
you so far?

26. Defense Attorney
• Represents accused & convicted offenders
• Advises defendant & protects their constitutional
rights
•Advises defendant during questioning by the
police
•Represents them at each arraignment & hearing,
•Serves as advocate during the appeal process
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27. Counsel for Indigents
• Indigent defendants = too poor to afford their own
lawyers
• The Supreme Court ➜ interpreted “right to counsel”
in the 6th Amendment as requiring government
provide attorneys for indigent defendants
• ⬆ indigent defendants in the past 3 decades
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28. Ways of Providing Indigents
with Counsel
• Assigned counsel = private practice attorney assigned to
represent an indigent. Fee paid by jurisdiction of the case
• Contract counsel private practice attorney who contracts
with the government to represent all indigent defendants in
a county during a set period of time and for a specified
dollar amount.
• Public defender An attorney employed on a full-time,
salaried basis by a public or private non-profit organization
to represent indigents.
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29. Public Defenders
• Government-salaried attorneys who handle
criminal cases indigent defendants
• Focus exclusively on criminal cases
• ⬆ caseloads = less time/case
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30. Workgroup
• A collection of individuals who interact in the
workplace on a continuing basis, share goals,
develop norms regarding how activities should be
carried out, and eventually establish a network of
roles that differentiates the group from others and
that facilitates cooperation.
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