CJ 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 45: Appellate Jurisdiction, Indecent Exposure, Misdemeanor
State Courts
The U.S. court system is complex. Its organization reflects the way the country is governed. Just
as there are federal, state, and local governments, there are federal, state, and local courts.
Governments at all levels pass laws and ordinances that prohibit certain acts, including felonies
and misdemeanors. When a federal criminal law is violated, the case goes to a federal court.
When a state criminal law is violated, the case is tried in a state or local court.
Each state runs its own system of courts; no two are exactly alike. In addition, the
federal government operates the federal courts. A person who lives in Omaha,
Nebraska, and commits a crime in that city can be prosecuted in either a Nebraska
state court or the federal court, or both, depending on which laws he or she broke.
The vast majority of criminal cases begin and end in the state courts. In addition to
criminal matters, these courts handle the bulk of legal business concerning probate of
estates, marital disputes, land dealings, and commercial contracts. The typical state
court system is pyramid shaped.‐
Lower courts
At the bottom, the broadest section of the pyramid, are the lower courts, which are
located throughout a state and in municipal areas. The overwhelming part of the
caseload of the lower courts consists of misdemeanors such as traffic violations and
public intoxication cases. These courts go by various names: justice of the peace
courts, traffic courts, police courts, municipal courts. Many are specialized. For
example, juvenile courts handle matters involving children—those who have not yet
reached the majority age.
Lower courts sometimes are the sites of trials in misdemeanor cases. They can impose
fines and jail sentences. In some states, lower courts handle preliminary matters in
felony cases. They hold arraignments, bail hearings, and preliminary hearings. Felony
cases are transferred to higher courts for motions on pleas, trials, and sentencing
hearings. The quality of justice in the lower courts is uneven. Cases are processed
informally and expeditiously. Municipal courts have especially large caseloads and
dispense assembly line justice in minor cases.‐
Courts of general jurisdiction
The next level of the pyramid is made up of courts of general jurisdiction—the trial
courts of the state systems. These courts hear both civil and criminal cases. They
handle cases of serious crime—not drunkenness or indecent exposure, but murder,
rape, and burglary. There are fewer of these courts, but they operate more
professionally and formally than do the lower courts. No one name is used for these trial
courts. In some states, for example, they are called district courts; in others, circuit
courts. Only a small percentage of the criminal cases that are filed ever go to a full trial
in these courts; over 90 percent are settled out of court through plea bargaining.
Courts of appellate jurisdiction
If there is a trial, the loser can appeal. To appealmeans to take a case to a higher court
—an appellate court, higher up in the pyramid of courts. Suppose, for example,
someone is tried for robbery and the jury finds the defendant guilty. In order to have
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