Chapter One – The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of Rights

1. Chapter One – The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of Rights Rolando V. del Carmen

2. The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of Rights • Introduction Federal Courts State Courts U.S. Supreme Court State Supreme Court U.S. Court of Appeals Intermediate Appellate Courts U.S. District Courts Trial Courts of General Jurisdiction Magistrate Courts Lower Courts

3. The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of Rights • The Structure of the Court System • The Federal Court System • Original jurisdiction • Rule of Four • The State Court System

4. The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of Rights • The Territorial Effect of Judicial Decisions • Judicial Precedent (Stare Decisis) • Federal versus State Jurisdiction • Dual Sovereignty • No Double Jeopardy • Jurisdiction versus Venue • Frisbie v. Collins (1952)

5. The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of Rights • Court Cases • Case Citations • Internet Sources

6. The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of Rights • How to Brief a Case • Case title • Citation • Year decided • Facts • Main issue • Court decision • Holding

7. The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of Rights • Example of a case briefing: • Case title: Minnesota v. Dickerson • Citation: 508 U.S. 366 • Year decided: 1993

8. The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of Rights • Example of a case briefing (cont.): • Facts: During routine patrol, two police officers spotted Dickerson leaving an apartment building that one of the officers knew was a “crack house.” Dickerson began walking toward the police but, upon making eye contact with them, reversed direction and walked into an alley. Because of his evasive actions, the police became suspicious and decided to investigate. They pulled into the alley and ordered Dickerson to stop and submit to a pat-down search. The search revealed no weapons, but one officer found a small lump in Dickerson’s pocket, which he examined with his fingers and determined, after the examination, that it felt like a lump of cocaine in cellophane. The officer then reached into Dickerson’s pocket and retrieved the lump, which turned out to be a small plastic bag of crack cocaine. Dickerson was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance.

9. The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of Rights • Example of a case briefing (cont.): • Main issue: Was the seizure of the crack cocaine valid under stop and frisk? No.

10. The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of Rights • Example of a case briefing (cont.): • Court decision: The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Minnesota Supreme Court that held the seizure to be invalid.

11. The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of Rights • Example of a case briefing (cont.): • Holding (sometimes also known as the doctrine or the ruling): A frisk that goes beyond that allowed in Terry v. Ohio in stop and frisk cases is not valid. In this case, the search went beyond the pat-down search allowed by Terry because the officer “squeezed, slid, and otherwise manipulated the packet’s content” before knowing it was cocaine. The evidence obtained is not admissible in court.

12. The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of Rights • Sources of Rights • Constitutions • The Federal Constitution • State Constitutions • Statutory Law • Case Law • Court Rules

13. The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of Rights • The Incorporation Controversy: Does the Bill of Rights Apply to the States? • Background • Approaches to Incorporation • Rights Held to Be Fundamental and Incorporated • Rights Not Incorporated • Nationalization of the Bill of Rights

14. The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of Rights • The Judicial Review Doctrine • Marbury v. Madison (1803) • Indianapolis et al. v. Edmond et al. (2002)

15. The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of Rights • The Rule of Law • Adherence • Justice • Supremacy • Obedience • No person is above the law

16. The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of Rights