JUDICIAL ADMIN 6: Analysis of Criminal Courts in the USA

This essay offers a comprehensive analysis of criminal courts within the American judicial system, examining their structure, processes, administration, and overall significance. It begins by outlining the dual-system structure of the U.S. judicial system, encompassing both federal and state court systems, with a focus on the original jurisdiction of trial courts. The essay details the roles of courts in resolving criminal disputes, establishing rules, and determining punishments. The structure of criminal courts, including trial courts, intermediate appellate courts, and the Supreme Court, is then explored. The essay further delves into the processes of criminal courts, emphasizing the adjudication of guilt, interpretation of laws, and judicial review. It discusses the administrative aspects, including the roles of judges and court executives. Finally, the essay highlights the significance of criminal courts in protecting constitutional rights, upholding laws, and ensuring fair judgments. The essay concludes by summarizing the key points and emphasizing the importance of these courts in maintaining justice and upholding the rule of law.

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Introduction
In this essay a comprehensive analysis has been done about the structure, processes,
administration and significance of criminal courts in the American judicial system. The federal
system of the United States is seen to be having one federal government centrally and for each of
the fifty states there are individual governments present. Likewise there is a complete judicial
system centrally and separate judicial systems for each of the 50 states and under every judicial
system there are a number of courts present under the original jurisdiction where the cases are
seen to be tried and filed originally. The jurisdiction of the cases can be based both on subject
matters and geographically. The duty of courts acting as a separate branch of government is the
protection of the constitutional rights of the citizens, providing procedural due process and the
preservation of rule of law. The criminal prosecutions under the jurisdiction of the states can
only be brought to the state courts and the criminal prosecutions under the jurisdiction of the
federal government can be brought only to the federal court.
Criminal Courts in American Judicial system
The federal system of the United States has one federal government present centrally and
for each of the fifty states there are individual governments present. Likewise there is a complete
judicial system centrally and separate judicial systems for each of the 50 states and under every
judicial system there are number of courts present under the original jurisdiction where the cases
are seen to be filed and tried originally (Howard Jr, 2014). The courts under the American
judicial system are seen to be hearing in general two types of disputes. These disputes are either
civil or criminal in nature. For the disputes that are criminal in nature the duties of the courts are

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to be establishing rules and punishments (Neubauer & Fradella, 2018). When a person is found
to be committing any criminal offense that person is charged with a criminal case and brought to
the court. The criminal courts can be described as the courts dealing with the decision of the guilt
of the people who are accused of committing criminal offenses (Lynch, 2014).
Structure of Criminal Courts in American Judicial system
Under the federal judicial system the Supreme Court is described as the highest court in
the United States. Under the Supreme Court district level trial courts 13 appellate courts and 94
are seen to be present. Like any other judicial system the criminal judicial system in America
also has number of courts present under its original jurisdiction where the cases are seen to be
filed and tried originally (Cole, Smith & DeJong, 2018). These trial courts can be seen to have
jurisdictions based both geographically and on subject matter. In the criminal judicial system
intermediate appellate courts of smaller number are also present. In the courts the appeals arising
from the trial courts are heard. An appeal can be described as the claim of the losing party stating
that there has been a mistake of law by the lower court and is being entitled to the losing party
once as a matter of right (Schmalleger et al., 2014). In the criminal court system a supreme court
is also seen to be present in which appeals arising from the appellate courts are heard. These
appeals are discretionary to the Supreme Court and the court has the right to be choosing whether
to hear the appeal or not.
Processes of Criminal Courts in American Judicial system
Under the criminal justice system that constitutes of the federal, state and local public
agencies that are seen to be dealing with problems relating to crime provides for the structure of
the criminal courts. In the trial courts the adjudication of the guilt of the person who has been

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charged with criminal offences are made, in the appellate courts the law is being interpreted
according to the principles of the constitution. The review for the legislative decisions are made
by both the state and federal appellate courts for deciding whether the same would be falling
under the provisions of the state, federal law and ultimately the United States Constitution. The
power for the evaluation of the legislative acts is given to the courts by the judicial review for the
terms of whether there has been any conformation to the Constitution. A law can be stricken
down by the appellate court if it is found to be conflicting with the Constitution (Schmalleger,
2017). The criminal courts in the American justice system are seen to be run by the judges. The
roles of these judges are to make sure that the law has been followed for the decisions taken for
the judgment of the cases. The judges are further seen to be in charge of the decisions of whether
the offenders should be released before the trial has happened. Further the functions of the judges
are seen to be accepting or rejecting the agreements of plea, sentencing the offenders that are
being convicted and overseeing the trial procedures (Pound, 2018).
Administration of Criminal Courts in American Judicial system
Each court under the American Judicial system is responsible for its day-to-day
administration. Supervision of the spending, appointment of the support staffs and management
of the court records are done by the courts by the way of administrative practices and statutes.
The day-to-day administrations of the court are overseen by the chief judge whereas the
important decisions regarding the policies are decided by the judges that work together in the
court (Feeley, 2017).. For carrying out the administrative functions of the court an executive is
hired by the court. The executive is known as the clerk and is seen to be managing the non-
judicial functions of the court according to the policies that have been set by the court’s policies
and is further seen to be reporting to the court directly by way of the chief judge.

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Significance of Criminal Courts in American Judicial system
The courts in America are seen to be protecting the constitutional rights of a person for
equality in protection and due process under law. The criminal courts under the judicial system
in America are seen to be upholding laws and the sentence and punishment of different crimes.
In the criminal courts the parties are provided with opportunities to have the cases heard by
judges or juries who are neutral for maintenance of just and consistent manner of judgment
(Maguire & Duffee, 2015). The functions of the criminal courts in American judicial system are
seen to be the adjudication of the criminal offenses committed by people and to be carrying out
justice according to the rules of law. For resolving the criminal issues the evidence that are being
presented before the courts by the parties are heard by the courts to make decisions based on the
facts proven and the laws that are applicable (Terrill, 2013). The criminal courts in the American
justice system are seen to be run by the judges. The roles of these judges are to make sure that
the law has been followed for the decisions taken for the judgment of the cases.
Conclusion
In this essay a detailed analysis has been done about The criminal courts under the
judicial system in America. In the essay the structure, processes, administration and the
significance of The criminal courts under the judicial system in America have been discussed in
details. In the United States a single judicial system is present centrally and separate judicial
systems for each of the 50 states and under each judicial system there are a number of courts
present under the original jurisdiction where the cases are seen to be filed and tried originally.
The courts under the American judicial system hear in general two types of disputes that are
either civil or criminal in nature. The structure followed by the American judicial system is that

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Supreme Court is seen to be the highest court and under it 94 district level trial courts and 13
appellate courts are seen to be present. The day-to-day administration of the criminal courts are
supervised by the by the chief judge whereas the important decisions regarding the policies are
decided by the judges that work together in the court. The courts in America protect the
constitutional rights of a person for the equality and due process in protection under the law. The
criminal courts under the judicial system in America uphold laws and sentence and punish for
different crimes. In the criminal courts the parties are provided with opportunities to have the
cases heard by judges or juries who are neutral for maintenance of just and consistent manner of
judgment.

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Reference
Cole, G. F., Smith, C. E., & DeJong, C. (2018). The American system of criminal justice.
Cengage Learning.
Feeley, M. (2017). Two models of the criminal justice system: An organizational perspective.
In Crime, Law and Society (pp. 119-137). Routledge.
Howard Jr, J. W. (2014). Courts of appeals in the federal judicial system: A study of the second,
fifth, and District of Columbia circuits (Vol. 647). Princeton University Press.
Lynch, G. E. (2014). Our administrative system of criminal justice. Fordham L. Rev., 83, 1673.
Maguire, E. R., & Duffee, D. E. (Eds.). (2015). Criminal justice theory: Explaining the nature
and behavior of criminal justice. Routledge.
Neubauer, D. W., & Fradella, H. F. (2018). America's courts and the criminal justice system.
Cengage Learning.
Pound, R. (2018). Criminal justice in America. Routledge.
Schmalleger, F. (2017). Criminal justice. Pearson.
Schmalleger, F., Donaldson, S., Kashiwahara, K., Koppal, T., Chase, S., Brown, A., ... &
Marash, D. (2014). Criminal justice today. Prentice Hall.
Terrill, R. J. (2013). World criminal justice systems. Anderson Publishing, Limited.

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