... confinement. As was true in most juvenile courts, no transcript was made of this hearing. That's because juveniles had no right to appeal a judge's decision. But Gerald's family took his case to federal court, challenging the entire case as a violation of the juvenile's constitutional rights to due ... right to remain silent, the right to confront accusers, cross-examine witnesses and appeal to a higher court. Adult defendants are "arraigned" before a judge usually within a day or two of being arrested. Adults also are entitled to a probable cause hearing, also called a preliminary exam...

• Word Count: 8199
• Approx Pages: 33
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... terminates the marriage of a same-sex couple married in another jurisdiction, it intrudes into the realm of private marital, family, and intimate relations specifically protected by the Supreme Court" (Oyez). Judge Black's logical explanation of his ruling help set a precedent that other same-sex plaintiffs would use in the coming years in their respective states. Henry vs Wymyslo is the third ... The plaintiffs consisted of four legally married same-sex couples and their children in Kentucky (Perry). The plaintiffs' goal was to have their marriages recognized by the state of Kentucky. J...

• Word Count: 1936
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... to those cases which come before them. Unlike police officers, who can decide when to ticket or arrest and when to look the other way, a judge must act on every matter that comes before him or her. This action, which consists of determining, interpreting, and applying the laws - is not ... investigate that candidate's fitness. There are people who specialize in assessing a person's skills for a job. To assess a person's ability to be a good judge, the party might go to the local Bar Association for assistance in setting criteria and gathering information about candidates" records. Judges...

• Word Count: 965
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... in the civil rights movement and to balance the composition of this important part of the US government. He is now a conservative and controversial judge though initially he had wanted to pursue a religious life having had seminary education stints at the St. John Vianney Minor Seminary and Immaculate ... views that were largely deemed conservative for the highest court of the land while others had the view that he had little experience as a judge of the superior courts. At the confirmation hearings, Thomas decided to remain quiet on a number of issues including rights on abortion and f...

• Word Count: 1716
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... nomination within one's party (similar to the presidential elections). After that, candidate's party is highlighted on the ballot. Merit selection is the most professional and just way of choosing a judge in a state court system. A commission consisted of experienced lawyers as well as other respected citizens is responsible for finding, recruiting and finally selecting the best candidates for judicial vacancies. Once ... and trust-worthy. It also de-emphasizes political credentials and connections what results in judges' greater independence. There are different factors that have an impa...

• Word Count: 1173
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... the judiciary branch is independent from the other branches because regular appointments would allow the executive may appoint judges who share similar views. This would take away from the judge's power to "merely judge " (Federalist 78) because they will be biased in their rulings. Montesquieu explained this phenomenon clearly by stating, "there is no liberty, if the judiciary power be not separated ... legislative and executive. Were it joined with the legislative, the life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control; for the judge would be then the legislator. We...

• Word Count: 1561
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... of the Fourth Amendment, many years existed in which state and federal governments admitted evidence obtained through "unreasonable" search and seizures in criminal trials. The only criteria used by the judge were whether the evidence was incriminating and if it would assist in convicting the defendant. Through the years, the Supreme Court interpretation of the Fourth Amendment has changed due to ... override your privacy concerns and conduct a search of your home, car, business etc., if the police have probable cause to believe they can find evidence that you committed a crime, and a jud...

• Word Count: 1443
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... molestation can be relived by having to visibly see the accused again. For example in the case of Craig vs. Maryland, closed circuit T.V was allowed in the courtroom for, "the judge determined that testimony by the child in the courtroom would result in the child's suffering serious emotional distress such that the child could not reasonably communicate." The witness, prosecutor and ... defense counsel went to another room where the witness gave testimony, while the judge, jury and accused remained in the courtroom, while a video monitor recorded and displayed the witness' testimony to ...

• Word Count: 1115
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... not have complete freedom to decide who may and may not marry, but they raise fundamental issues about equality of political and public standing, in February of 2014, U.S. District Court Judge ruled that laws in Texas prohibiting same-sex marriage are unconstitutional. Many case rulings were also of same-sex couples who married in a different state and moved to states similar ... where the state of Texas had filled a request to merge multiple different marriage lawsuits in Texas. The requests were denied and each case would have to be proceeded independently. U.S. District Judge Martin ...

• Word Count: 854
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... complaint asserted two counts of invasion of privacy (intrusion on seclusion, publicity given to private life), as well as defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. On October 15, 2007, Judge Richard D. Bennett of the Maryland courts granted summary judgment to the defendants on one of the invasion of privacy claims (publicity given to private life) and on the defamation claim ... concern, were not provably false, and were expressed solely through "hyperbolic rhetoric and figurative expression. "The decision was unanimous, although Judge Shedd did differentiate himsel...

• Word Count: 3341
• Approx Pages: 13
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... to have too much power over local communities, so it determined that federal courts would serve primarily as appeals courts for cases already tried in state courts. In other words, a judge in a local community, appealed to a state court, and finally appealed to the federal courts only if necessary, would first hear most cases. The three Circuit Courts, which were also trial ... debts over five hundred dollars. As well as, disputes between citizens of different states and major criminal trials. The Circuit Courts would each seat two Supreme Court justices and a District judge to ensure o...

• Word Count: 1399
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... " (Ostrowski 5). "However in World War cases such as Schenk v. United States and Debs v. United States, what constitutes a "clear and present danger" will differ from judge to judge, often because of the political and philosophical views of the judge" (Ostrowski 5) & (Linder 1). "Judges who are hostile to the often philosophical basis of the right of free speech and to the values that right promotes, could ... ...

• Word Count: 1987
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... not be an issue with the use of Redskins as a team name or logo because they are under the protection of the First Amendment. Furthermore he expresses his opinion that Judge Gerald Bruce Lee has misinterpreted the Constitution when Lee cancels the trademark registrations for the Washington Redskins team. He then wants the readers to be informed of a recent Supreme Court ... understanding and knowledge of the Constitution. He continues by stating that the Supreme Court does not have the right to define "Offensive" speech despite the remarks made by Judge Lee that the term Redskins "'may ...

• Word Count: 881
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... did for the nation. After he passed away, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference helped for Congress to come up with the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act. It consisted of having a judge, before wiretapping, to verify that any special case being investigated like this, met the requirements in order to conduct the surveillance. This Act worked really well for a few decades, but ... is broken is "The Fourth Amendment protects citizens from unreasonable search and seizure. The government may not conduct any searches without a warrant, and such warrants must be issued by a jud...

• Word Count: 1471
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... policies coming from a President with a similar ideology to them. Furthermore, the Supreme Court has famously been described as an "echo chamber" for past Presidents due to the fact that any judge appointed by a President will almost certainly be there long after the President. A great example of this is by President G. W. Bush. President Bush nominated Roberts after Justice Sandra Jay O'Connor announced ... put him forward as Rehnquist's replacement. This highlights Presidential politicization within the Supreme Court as Bush clearly wanted to gain a significant political foothold in t...

• Word Count: 929
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... recruit and evaluate potential judges. (2) The governor will then appoint one of those nominees to the vacant spot for a short term, usually one to three years. (3) Lastly, after the new judge served that term, he or she will face the voters in a retention election. (Donovan, Mooney, Smith). In retention elections, voters must decide whether the ... judge, who just served the probationary term, should be allowed to be retained for another, longer term. Through the process of merit selection, the qualifications of the candidates are more sifted ... ...

• Word Count: 2102
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... to deny marriage for interracial couples. Today in recent topics, same sex marriage is a highly debated topic. With a ban on gay marriage a judge in the state of Texas ruled the ban on same sex marriage to be "unconstitutional ". District Judge Orlando Garcia stated on the topic of unbanning gay marriage, Texas' current marriage laws deny homosexual couples the right to marry, and ... ...

• Word Count: 2392
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... a site based on geographic location of the user. In a reversal of this view, the Supreme Court ruled with a majority of eight to one that COPA's reliance on community standards to judge obscenity harmful to children does not violate the First Amendment. Writing the majority opinion in this case was Justice Clarence Thomas. He defended Congress's attempt to tone down the Communications ... in jail and/or a fine of $50,000. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit barred the enforcement of COPA, since the law's use of "contemporary community standards- to judge Web material made it...

• Word Count: 2266
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... a site based on geographic location of the user. In a reversal of this view, the Supreme Court ruled with a majority of eight to one that COPA's reliance on community standards to judge obscenity harmful to children does not violate the First Amendment. Writing the majority opinion in this case was Justice Clarence Thomas. He defended Congress's attempt to tone down the Communications ... in jail and/or a fine of $50,000. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit barred the enforcement of COPA, since the law's use of "contemporary community standards- to judge Web material made it...

• Word Count: 2266
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... , while affirmative action was introduced to decrease racism. In the spring of 1996, a Federal court handed down a decision that helped to tip the constitutional scales. In Hopwood vs. Texas, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down an affirmative action program adopted by the University of Texas Law School that set lower minimum ... (LSAT) and grade-point averages for blacks and Mexican-American applicants than for other groups (Bresler). The court ordered, under penalty of punitive damages, to adopt a colorblind admissions policy immed...

• Word Count: 2731
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... . Most states have developed their own laws to, more often than not, make doctor-assisted suicide illegal. However, when a case comes to trial it is usually dismissed either by the judge in a pretrial motion or by the jury. For example, in at least three of the assisted suicides which Dr. Kevorkian was involved in, all criminal charges were dismissed. So, the ... between life and death is, to them, a basic human right which the government has no right to legislate. They often compare this choice of euthanasia to the right to abortion. Judge Lynn Compton embodies these views in her opinio...

• Word Count: 1550
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... teaching the language-minority students how to understand English they would better be able to appreciate it and want to learn it more rapidly. Although time is no ones judge maybe it is a judge of language, and who know maybe English has had its time. To me English is stronger than ever before it is the world's communication source. Most countries in ... ...

• Word Count: 826
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... truly guilty, until I can be sure with moral certainty that no innocent man or woman is facing a lethal injection, no one will meet that fate.'' On July 1st, 2002, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff added more fuel to the debate over capital punishment. He cited that because there is a risk that innocent people could be executed, he ruled the federal death penalty ... unconstitutional. Rakoff, a New York Judge, made this decision at a time where DNA testing and other technological advancements flourish in the court of law to help inmates challenge rulings and convictions. It was reported in...

• Word Count: 1346
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... and marriages and the definition by which our society defines marriage. She starts off by telling about a situation where gay adoption was excepted. In her first paragraph she states that, " a judge in New York approved an adoption of a six-year-old by his biological mother's lesbian partner"(410). She then goes on to talk about the negative judgment society imposes on ... 's tenets"(411). Quindlen compares the legalizing of gay marriages today to the struggles of interracial marriages in the past. She focuses on the case of Loving v. Virginia as an example, a judge suspended a year sent...

• Word Count: 451
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... on top of a granite block - in the rotunda of the state building. Opponents of the monument argued that it promoted the judge's conservative Christian faith in violation of the Constitution's ban on government establishment of religion. United States District Judge Myron Thompson agreed in his ruling that the monument installed by the chief justice goes too far in promoting religion and ordered ... ...

• Word Count: 1639
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate