Judicial Branch

The third branch of the government is the judicial branch, which is headed by the Supreme Court. Under the Supreme Court, there are many state and federal courts. An important function of the judicial branch is to determine whether laws of Congress or actions of the president violate the Constitution.

For all ordinary law and order each state has responsibility in its own territory. The federal courts – and hence the Federal Bureau of Investigation, federal police and prison – are involved only in matters outside the individual states’ jurisdiction (such as federal income tax) and incases arising under the US Constitution:

If a person convicted by a state court system can produce evidence that the rights guaranteed by the US Constitution were infringed by some aspect of his/her arrest, questioning or trial, a federal court can review that evidence and either uphold the sentence or overturn it.

Nearly all cases involving disputes about property or divorce, or murder, theft, assault or traffic offences great and small, are dealt with by the relevant state’s hierarchy of city, county and state courts, police and prisons, in accordance with state law. Each state has a supreme court of appeal, but otherwise the system vary.

The legal system is based on Common Law, brought across from England, and on the laws and ordinances passed by state legislatures and by other bodies to which state power has been delegated. Anglo-American Common Law is based on the supposed reasonable person’s view of what is right and fair. Each decision creates a precedent, and for any particular case a court must, as far as practicable, follow a precedent set by a higher court’s previous decision.

Most, but not all, of the law in force is statute law, and the legislators have tried to ensure that the meaning of the statutes is quite clear. However, there is plenty of argument in court about the application of statute or Common Law to particular cases, and an army of lawyers earn high fees for doing this work.

In some states judges are publicly elected, in others they are appointed, by state governor or by special bodies such as judicial councils. Some judges hold office for fixed periods, but others are installed for life or up to the retiring age; or their may be provisions for ‘recall’. Under this arrangement a group of people dissatisfied with a judge may collect signature on a ‘recall’ petition, and of the signatures reach a required number the people of the state (or county) vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the question whether the impugned judge should be confirmed in office.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20