Us Courts

The United States courts and history and its purpose has been a strong order of justice in the nation since the first time it was established. The system was designed to allow the citizens of the United States to receive a fair criminal trial regardless of social status, gender, race, and ethnic background.   The system is composed by several different elements and processes that are at times very complicated. The best way to understand how the system works is to examine the structure and function of the different courts in America. This paper will describe a court and its purpose, define the dual court system and describe the role that early legal codes, the common law, and precedent played in the development of courts. In addition it will also identify the role of courts in criminal justice today.

Over time, the court systems have established a sense of regularity or systematic procedures. The court system in the United States has a federal system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and smaller local units of government. The system has a dual system of federal and state courts that are independent of one another. Each state has its own system; the authority of a court to decide a case is called its jurisdiction. The Courts have jurisdiction only within geographical boundaries. This limits a particular city court to try cases that arise outside the city limits, on the same token, courts in one state rarely have jurisdiction over events happening or people living in other states. Once courts makes a decision to trial a case, the parties present evidence and ask a judge or jury for a decision or verdict. This decision is not final and it can be challenged in an appellate court. The appellate courts hear appeals that they review the lower court’s decision to see whether a legal error was made. These courts have a specific historical era that is known as “Old English” is set up by several major events. One of the events was the early...