GENDER VS. THE COURT SYSTEM
Is there gender bias in our Court System? The United States of America is acclaimed for having one of the most sophisticated judicial systems in the world. Almost every day thousands of people, including law enforcement officers, lawyers, judges, government officials and even accused criminals, take part in this system, hoping to settle disputes and work for justice. A court is place to settle arguments and impose penalties for those who disobey the laws of society. An overview of the Court System in the United States would be basically two separate levels of courts, which is state and federal. The type of court that a case is tried in depends on the law that …show more content…
Where as each state is free to arrange its own court system (that meaning its within certain constitutionally defined boundaries). Most states justice systems have several things in common. The lowest level court in trials where the state law is alleged to have been violated is the trial court, which is also known as the Superior Court or Supreme Court Trial Division. This is the only court with the power to determine the actual facts involved in a case usually however done by a jury.
If a party that is involved in the case feels that the trial judge made an error in one of his rulings, for example whether they either included or excluded a certain piece of evidence, making a bad call on an important objection, they can call for a appeal, or bring the case to a Court of Appeals (or Supreme Court Appellate Divison in some states). The Supreme Court Justices have the option of whether or not they wish to hear the case. Four Justices must vote to hear it in order to have it brought before the Court. Believe it or not out of the approximately 5,000 cases each year appealed to the United States Supreme Court, it actually hears between 100-125 of them. The method at this level is similar to that at the appeals court; each attorney addresses the panel of Justices, which can interrupt at almost any time with questions. The ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court is final, though a future Court may …show more content…
Cases can be appealed from there to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which there are 13 throughout the country. Rulings of this court can again be appealed to the Supreme Court. As one might imagine, this entire process is not free and it can be absolutely pricey. One of the primary reasons that parties in a case might appeal their case to the Supreme Court is because they feel that the law, which they violated, was unconstitutional. The United States Supreme Court alone has the power to strike down Federal or state laws that it finds to be contrary to the United States Constitution. In that sense, the judicial system is the guardian of civil liberties in