Chapter 9 (State Judiciary/the Courts)

legal doctrine that precedent set in earlier cases should guide judges' rulings.

stare decisis

highest state court, beyond which there is no appeal except in cases involving federal law.

supreme court

in the Missouri plan, why is the make-up of the panel that submits a list of possible judges to the governor so important? CPJ/ F+D+W

they get to choose potential judges and it should be fair, diverse, and wise

civil wrong that causes harm to another person, such as an auto accident, product liability, or defamation T

tort

trial in which a jury decides the facts and makes a finding of guilty or not guilty. TBJ

trial by jury

a case in which a government agency applies rules to settle a legal dispute AC

administrative case

grants the courts the power to review cases on appeal after they have been tried elsewhere. AJ

appellate jurisdiction

State courts are organized into two tiers: ________ courts and _______ courts. A/T

appellate/trial

trial by a single judge, without a jury. Bt

bench trial

uling asserted that public primary and secondary education in poor communities throughout the state was unconstitutionally substandard

Abbot v Burke

e nonpartisan plan provides for the selection of judges based on merit rather than on political affiliation; MP

Missouri Plan

Abbot dates back to an earlier case in the 1970s-Robinson v Cahill True or False

True

The objective of the merit plan is to _______ the governor some appointive discretion while removing politics from the selection of judges. if it works as intended, election or direct gubernatorial appointment is replaced with careful appraisal of candidates' professional qualifications of objective commission the process is intended to ensure both the basic independence of ________ and their _________ to the people. P/J/A

permit, judges, accountability

negotiation between a prosecutor and a criminal defendant's counsel that results in the defendant pleading guilty to a lesser charge or pleading guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence. PB

plea bargaining

legal principle that previous similar court decisions should be applied to future decisions. p

precedent

gives courts the power to hear certain types of cases first, OJ

original jurisdiction

-Like the other two branches of government, the state judiciary has been ________ significantly. -court systems have been _________+simplified, intermediate appellate courts have been added R/M

reformed, modernized,

Most states today have a two tiered court structure: ________ and ____________ courts. T/A

trial/appellate

school districts in New Jersey that are provided remedies to ensure that their students receive public education in accordance with the state constitution; created by Abbot v Burke

Abbot districts

New Jersey Supreme Court identified failed school districts where the rights of students were being denied and mandated greater funds be spent to transform their students into productive members of society (failed)

Abbot v Burke

decision required the state to equalize spending on regular education between the cities and the rich suburbs, and to provide additional funding for programs to redress the educational disadvantages of poor children in urban districts. A v B

Abbot v Burke

ontinues to shape and reshape education -- especially for New Jersey's poorest kids.

Abbott v. Burke

infant whose legal parentage was in question; custody case that became the first American court ruling on the validity of surrogacy

Baby M

Mary Beth Whitehead gave birth to "Baby M" in 1986 after signing a contract with William and Elizabeth Stern. She had agreed to act as a surrogate mother for the couple in exchange for $10,000, and was artificially inseminated with Mr. Stern's sperm. After the delivery, Mary Beth refused to hand over the child to the Sterns, and fled to Florida for 87 days before being caught by authorities. The courts awarded custody of Baby M to the Sterns. William Stern entered into a surrogacy agreement with Mary Beth Whitehead, whom he and his wife Elizabeth Stern found through a newspaper ad. According to the agreement, Mary Beth Whitehead would be inseminated with William Stern's sperm (making her a traditional, as opposed to gestational, surrogate), bring the pregnancy to term, and relinquish her parental rights in favor of William's wife, Elizabeth. After the birth, however, Mary Beth decided to keep the child. She and her husband kidnapped the infant. William and Elizabeth Stern then sued to be recognized as the child's legal parents. The New Jersey court ruled that the surrogacy contract was invalid according to public policy, recognized Mary Beth Whitehead as the child's legal mother, and ordered the Family Court to determine whether Whitehead, as mother, or Stern, as father, should have legal custody of the infant, using the conventional 'best interests of the child' analysis. Stern was awarded custody, with Whitehead having visitation rights. At birth, Mary Beth Whitehead named Baby M. Sara Elizabeth Whitehead. She was later renamed Melissa Elizabeth Stern, after William Stern was awarded legal custody.

Baby M background story

A method of selecting judges in which a governor must appoint someone from a list provided by an independent panel. Judges are then kept in office if they get a majority of "yes" votes in general elections

Missouri (Merit) Plan

merit based judicial selection; non partisan; constitutional system for selecting appellate judges/trial judges; gives people the final say

Missouri Plan

method of selecting judges that originated in the state of Missouri and subsequently was adopted by other U.S. jurisdiction; nvolves the creation of a nominating commission that screens judicial candidates and submits to the appointing authority (such as the governor) a limited number of names of individuals considered to be qualified. The appointing authority chooses from the list, and any one so chosen assumes the judgeship for a probationary period. After this period the judge stands for popular election for a much longer term, not competing against other candidates but basing his candidacy on previous judgments. Under the Missouri Plan, voters decide whether or not to retain the judge in office.

Missouri Plan

A method of selecting judges that combines appointment and election. Under the plan, the state governor or another official selects judges from nominees chosen by a nonpartisan committee. After a year on the bench, the judges face a popular election to determine whether the public wishes them to remain in office. mp

Missouri plan

also known as merit plan or nonpartisan court plan; governor appoints one of several screened judges; voters approve or disapprove in election

Missouri plan

citizens and lawyers, working as a team, serve on nominating commissions to select the best three candidates to fill an open judgeship. The governor then appoints one of those candidates to the position. Then, at the general election following their first 12 months on the bench and at the end of each term, each judge must stand before the voters in a retention election; • The Plan produces appellate courts that are neither Republican nor Democratic. Rather it produces appellate courts that are fair and impartial and not beholden to politicians. • The Plan upholds the public's faith in fair and impartial judges, as it prevents judges from campaigning, accepting campaign contributions and engaging in partisan politics. In fact, our state's merit-selected judges have been devoid of corruption. • The Plan attracts quality applicants because they understand they will be evaluated on merit rather than connections, political contributions or partisan politics. • The commission is balanced by design reducing all likelihood that any one person, party or interest has control. • The Plan staggers the terms of the governor's appointees to the judicial nominating commissions, preventing one politician from having control over a majority of the commissioners in most scenarios. • The commissioners review the candidates' character and experience they bring to the bench and, with the aid of the lawyers and judge, evaluate their professional strengths and legal analysis skills. • Judges, as peers, have the most experience and ability to evaluate a candidate's skills, knowledge and suitability for the bench. • Vacancies are filled in a timely manner no matter when they occur. • Voters have the final say through judicial retention elections that are held at the general election following a judge's first 12 months on the bench and the end of each term. • The Plan is transparent to the public. In fact, the Supreme Court, within its constitutional rule-making authority, has made the process more transparent than Missouri's Sunshine Laws require of any other public position. mp

Missouri plan

controversial judicial interpretation of the New Jersey State Constitution; doctrine requires that municipalities use their zoning powers in an affirmative manner to provide a realistic opportunity for the production of housing affordable to low and moderate income households. case by Southern Burlington County N.A.A.C.P. v. Mount Laurel Township (commonly called Mount Laurel I),

Mount Laurel doctrine

rohibits economic discrimination against the poor by the state and municipalities in the exercise of their land use powers, was the first case of its type in the nation and is widely regarded as one of the most significant civil rights cases in the United States since Brown v. Board of Education MLD

Mt Laurel Doctrine

influenced fair-housing policy across the nation, limited the use of exclusionary zoning as a means of preventing the construction of affordable housing in wealthy communities; esult was to encourage the construction of low- and moderate-income housing in the suburbs, giving less-well-off families access to starter homes, crime-free neighborhoods, good schools and solid jobs that are beyond the reach of people in the inner cities.

Mt Laurel v NAACAP

declared that municipal land use regulations that prevent affordable housing opportunities for the poor are unconstitutional and ordered all New Jersey municipalities to plan, zone for, and take affirmative actions to provide realistic opportunities for their "fair share" of the region's need for affordable housing for low and moderate-income people.

NAACP v Mt Laurel

plaintiffs challenged the zoning ordinance of Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey, on the grounds that it operated to exclude low and moderate income persons from obtaining housing in the municipality. -have affordable housing

NAACP v Mt Laurel

court's order for sufficient funding led the Legislature to enact New Jersey's first income tax to help fund the state's poorest schools R V C

Robinson v. Cahill

TRUE OR FALSE three steps commonly referred to as the Missouri plan, the basic merit plan involves three steps 1. judicial nominating commission meets/recommends three or more names of prospective judges to the governor . Members of this bipartisan commission usually include a sitting judge (often the chief justice), repre- sentatives chosen by the state bar association, and laypersons appointed by the governor. The nominating commission solicits names of candi- dates, investigates their records, chooses those it believes to be the best- qualified individuals, and then forwards three or more names and their files to the governor. 2. governor appoints the preferred candidate to the vacant judgeship 3. A retention election is held, usually after one or two years, in which the newly appointed judge's name is placed before the voters on a nonpartisan, noncompetitive ticket. The voters decide whether the judge should be retained in office. If she is rejected by a majority vote, the judicial nominating commission begins its work anew. Subsequent retention elections are held every eight or twelve years, depending on the merit plan's provision

True

True of False: Trial courts comprise of the lower tier

True

case that concerns a dispute involving individuals or organizations. cc

civil case

what is the advantage of using the Missouri plan to select judges?

combines the best qualities of the appointment and election methods

unwritten law based on tradition, custom, or court decisions. CL

common law

What has been accompanied by increased judicial activism? CM, R

court modernization, reform

case brought by the state against persons accused of violating a law.

criminal case

What led to the popularity of the merit plan? DWOMFSJ

dissatisfaction with other methods for selecting judges

Effort to reform state courts include ________ improvements, better caseload _________ and improved ________ for judges. F/M/C

financial, management, compensation

What is judicial federalism related to? IC/JA

increased capability/judicial activism (in many state courts)

Factors that influence judicial decision making include: _____________ arrangements, legal __________, case precedent, caseload pressures; access to the legal _______ and the personal values/attitudes/characteristics of judges I, P, S

institutional, procedures, system

state appellate court that relieves the case burden on the supreme court by hearing certain types of appeals. IAC

intermediate appellate court

making of judicial public policy through decisions that overturn existing law or effectively make new laws JA

judicial activism

state constitutional and statutory laws are consulted and applied before federal law. JF

judicial federalism

When it comes to trial courts, each tier or level has a different _________ or range of authority

jurisdiction

The five methods for selecting judges are __________ election, partisan election/non partisan election, _______ plan and gubernatorial appointment. -each selection plan has certain advantages/disadvantages L, M

legislative, merit

courts with original jurisdiction over specialized cases such as juvenile offenses or traffic violations LJTC

limited jurisdiction trial courts

What are the two types of trial courts? LJ/MTC

limited jurisdiction/major trial courts

court of general jurisdiction that handles major criminal and civil cases. MTC

major trial courts

incorporated elements of gubernatorial app't+ elective systems; attempts to provide a mechanism for appointing qualified candidates to the bench while permitting the public to evaluate a judge's performance through the ballot bo MP

merit plan

strongly supported today by almost the entire legal community; as been adopted by nearly all of the states that have changed their selection systems Missouri became the initial adopter in 1940. Another twenty states have adopted the merit plan, and others are considering it. MS

merit system

Trial courts, which comprise the lower tier include ______ courts of limited jurisdiction and _______ trial courts of general jurisdiction. M/M

minor, major