Introduction
The court system in the United States of America is charged with responsibility of application and interpretation of the law. The United States operates a dual court system which has two lines of courts. They are the federal courts and the state courts. The federal courts take care of broader cases while the state courts handles only what goes on within the boundaries of the states. The federal courts and the state courts operate independently. The dual court system of the United States came out as a result of the delegates Constitutional Convention in 1787. During the convention, a compromise was reached and the states had to surrender some of their powers and authority to the new centralized government. This compromise gave rise to the two independent court systems in the US.
The federal government of United States of America has three branches which are coequal. They include: the Legislature, the judiciary and the Executive. The United States courts makes up the Judiciary Branch of the US government. It is structured under the constitution and laws of the federal government of the United States of America (Okray, 2010).
History of the dual court system
The delegates’ conference in 1787 reached a compromise and some of the powers of the state government were transferred to the federal government. The sharing out of authority that occurred during this time necessitated the formation of for two autonomous court systems which could handle cases involving the states and federal governments separately. The nature of cases that were to be handled prompted the establishments of the two court systems. Article III for instance gave the federal government the authority to handle cases related to bankruptcy but did not give it the authority to handle cases related to family matters. This resulted into the establishment of the state courts which could handle cases not handled by the federal courts.
The federal court system
The federal court system is composed of the following courts:
i. United States District courts – they are also known as the general trial courts. These are the general federal trial courts.
ii. United States courts of appeal – these are courts which are geographically based and solve cases within their jurisdiction. They are 11 in number. These are the federal intermediate appellate courts. These courts operate under a system of compulsory review whereby they have to hear all the appeals of rights from lower courts.
iii. Supreme Court of the United States – they are also known as the courts of last resort. In this court there is usually no right of appeal and it chooses on which cases to hear.
Other specialized courts in the US include:
i. United States bankruptcy courts
ii. United States tax courts
iii. United States court of Private Land Claims
iv. United States court of Federal Claims
v. United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
vi. United States Alien Terrorist Removal Court
vii. United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
viii. United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
ix. United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
x. United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review
The Federal Courts are created by the United States Congress. These courts are Independent of the Congress, the President and the political process in the country.
Historical development of the Supreme Court and the probation Act of the United States Courts
The Supreme Court of the United States is headed by a Chief Justice. It is the only court in the US which was specifically established by the Constitution soon after independence. It was first implemented in 1789 and had its first sitting on February 2, 1790.
State Courts in the United States of America
Each state in the United States has state courts which handle matters that occur within its boundaries. The structure of the state court system is similar to that of the federal court system. They also have trial courts, intermediary appellate courts and the court of last resort which some states refer to as the Supreme Court.
The two court systems (State and Federal courts) are considered to operate independently however; there are some situations whereby a case from a state court can be taken to a federal court especially if the case involves a federal constitutional issue (Linda & Bahr, 2008). Both court systems in the United States are autonomous and are not influenced by the executive and the legislative branches of the government. The dual court system is a birthright of the colonial period. The two systems of court have developed side by side and have come to implement exclusive jurisdiction in some areas and overlying or concomitant jurisdiction in other areas (Linda & Bahr, 2008).
Brief historical developments of the United States Court system
Article III, section 1 of the American Constitution in 1787 mandated the formation of Judiciary. The Judiciary Act which was passed in 1789 established the Supreme Court and a federal court system. The Act also stated the responsibilities and powers that were vested in this branch of government. The implementation was however left to Congress. The congress which was mandated to implement the Act, divided the country into three judicial circuits. The circuits were the Eastern, Middle and Southern circuits (Linda & Bahr, 2008). These circuits were further divided into 13 districts. The judges handled cases in a circulatory manner whereby they made rounds to each of the 13 circuits twice a year. The number of rounds made per year by the judges and the chief justices were reduced to one per year in 1793 after Chief Justice John Jay threatened to resign due to the cumbersome work. This practiced continued until the late 19th century when Progressivism swept through the middle and upper areas of the United States. Due to the manifestation spirit of Progressivism; probation, parole and the juvenile court systems were introduced (Linda & Bahr, 2008).
Probation
Many states had passed probation laws but the probation was not established at the federal level. In 1916, the Supreme Court held that the federal courts did not have the powers to suspend sentences and therefore suggested probation legislation as a remedy. The first bills for probation was introduced in Congress in 1909 but in became law in 1925 after being passed by Congress. The Probation Act of 1925 was signed by President Calvin Coolidge and gave the courts the power to suspend the imposition or execution of sentences. In the early years, the administration of federal probation was the responsibility of the Attorney General. In 1940, the general oversight of the probation system was transferred from the Federal Bureau of Prisons to the Administrative Office of the US Courts (Linda & Bahr, 2008).
In 1974, the speedy Trial Act was enacted by Congress. This Act gave the Director of the Administrative Office of the US Courts powers to establish pretrial services agencies in 10 judicial courts. It was aimed at reducing unnecessary pretrial detention and also reduces crimes committed by people released to the community pending trials (Linda & Bahr, 2008).
In 1982, President Ronald Regan signed the pretrial Act of 1982 which authorized the expansion of pretrial services from the ten demonstration districts to every federal district except the District of Columbia. Each court was allowed to choose the form of pretrial services organization that they felt was appropriate. This expansion led to the current institution of ‘federal probation and pretrial services system” (Linda & Bahr, 2008). Under this system, the officers were involved in the criminal integrity procedure from the time a person was under arrest on a federal accusation to the time he/she completes community supervision.
Parole
Probation stressed on the individualized treatment of the offender by professionals. The criminals were also seen as people who had some rights that they were supposed to be granted. In 1877, the New York’s Elmira started to admit youthful offenders. The main aim here was to rehabilitate the offenders. After about ten years in 1889, some other states also started to enact the intermediate-sentence or parole legislation (Linda & Bahr, 2008).
Juvenile Court
The Progressivism was a child centered movement and the children’s rights were the main focus here. In 1899, a law was enacted that created a juvenile court for Chicago. This was later emulated by other states so that the children’s rights could be taken into consideration. By the year, 1920 all the other states except three states in the United States of America had created the juvenile courts (Linda & Bahr, 2008).
References
Okray, John (2010) U.S. Federal Courts: Attorney Admission Requirements: Fort Worth, TX:
Lawyer-up Press
Linda H. Wade-Bahr. (2008) United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
Public Services Department (2010) INTRODUCTION TO THE COURT SYSTEM: Syracuse
University College of Law.
American Bar Association (2004). How the Legal System Works: The Structure of the Court
System, State and Federal Courts. In ABA Family Legal Guide.
