The
Court System in the State of New York
Leslie
K. Penny
Module
8 Course Project Part 2 & Part 3
Chancellor
University
Abstract
The following essay
highlights the court system particularly in the state of New York. Many aspects of New York's Judicial system
will be articulated briefly such as its history, the type of court system New
York uses, what each court is called, how many judgeship's there are and how
they are elected. Lastly, a breakdown of
New York's speedy trial act will be given, stating the time limits, what
happens if time limits lapse or are ignored, what the exceptions for delays
are, if any, and if I believe the time limits are adequate.
The
Court System in the State of New York
Each state court system is unique in many ways such as
their structure and procedure. Each
level in these multi-tiered systems are put in place for all the civil and criminal
needs of each state. The following essay
highlights the court system expressly in the state of New York. Many aspects of the New York's Judicial
system will be expressed briefly such as its history, the type of court system
NY uses, what each court is called, how many justices there are and how they
are elected. Lastly, a breakdown of New
York's speedy trial act will be given, stating the time limits, what happens if
time limits lapse or are ignored, what the exceptions for delays are, if any, and
if I believe the time limits are adequate.
As of today "the New York court system is a big and
complex organization with a large staff, substantial funding and massive
caseload" (Johnstone, 1999) but the system had
to start somewhere. According to
NYCOURTS.GOV website, "the New York State Supreme Court was established in
1691, making it one of the oldest continuing courts of general jurisdiction in
the United States" (A Brief History of the Court, 2012). The site goes onto point out that "pursuant
to legislation adopted by the New York Assembly, the court, originally known as
the Supreme Court of Judicature, was given jurisdiction over criminal and civil
pleas" (A Brief History of the Court,
2012).
Small changes occurred over the years but it wasn't until
1777 that a local appeals system was established and between 1827 and 1829,
"legislature issued the first systematic codification of statute law in
the United States" (A Brief History of the Court, 2012). By the mid 19th century, New York had gone
from a tiny agrarian society to one of experiencing huge economic and social
growth due to expanding population and the industrial revolution (A Brief History of the Court, 2012). In order to keep up with the new realities of
commerce, industry, finance and the growing professions, "the people of
the State determined that a revised and modernized court system was required,
thus, the Constitution of 1846 was approved" (A Brief
History of the Court, 2012).
It is important to point out that the New York Court
system is a unified one, who's mission "is to promote the rule of law and
to serve the public by providing just and timely resolution of all matters
before the courts" (Mission, 2013).
The New York court system does in fact include an Appellate court,
several actually. Civil Court structure
begins in the trial courts, or Courts of Original Instance where trials are
heard in Court of Claims, Family Courts, Surrogate's Courts, County Courts,
Supreme Courts, NYC Civil Courts, District Courts, Village Courts, Town courts
and City Courts leading up to the Intermediate Appellate Courts (Appellate
Terms of the Supreme Court 1st and 2nd Departments and County Courts) lastly,
making their way to the highest court, the Court of Appeals (Structure of the Courts, 2013).
New York's Criminal Court Structure begins with Supreme
Courts, County Courts, District Courts, NYC Criminal Courts, Village Courts,
Town Courts, and City Courts make their up to the Intermediate Appellate courts
which includes the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, Appellate Terms of
the Supreme Court 1st and 2nd Departments and County Courts, ending in Appeals
Court (Structure of the Courts, 2013). The Criminal Court for the City of New York
deals with misdemeanors and those of lesser offense where criminal court judges
conduct arraignments and preliminary hearings for felonies (Pfau, 2010).
New York has four Appellate Divisions that comprise the
Supreme Court with "one in each of the State's four Judicial
Departments" (Appellate Divisions, 2013). There are 7 judgeship's that reside over the
Court of Appeals, 60 judges in the Appellate Divisions, 324 judgeship's in the
Supreme Court and 125 in the County Courts (Methods of Judicial Selection:
New York, 2013). According to the American Judicature Society,
"most of New York's trial court judges are chosen in partisan elections,
with judicial candidates competing in primary elections to determine who will
represent the party in the general election" (Judicial
Selection in the States: New York, 2013). When it comes to candidates for the Supreme
Court, according to statute are "chosen through a party convention system,
in which primary voters elect convention delegates who choose candidates for
the judgeship's" (Judicial Selection in the States:
New York, 2013).
Requirements and qualifications for a judgeship include
earning a law degree, a Juris Doctor, taking and passing the New York Bar Exam
and applying for a clerkship with a judge in New York is a recommended step (Schiele,
2013). The next step is to get "appointed by a
state or local governing commission, or elected in a general election" (Schiele, 2013).
It is also advised that a New York judge needs to maintain his Bar
membership referred to as continuing education credits and report the
completion of the classes to the State Bar of New York (Schiele,
2013).
New York has two specialized courts, Drug Treatment
Courts and IDV courts (Domestic Violence Court) (Larrabee, 2007).
Drug Treatment Courts came about in the early 1990's due to the growing
drug epidemic, "the basic concept behind drug courts involves a dramatic
intervention by the court in cooperation with an entire team including the
defense, prosecution, treatment, education, and law enforcement" (Larrabee,
2007). The Domestic Violence Court was put into
place to help with the overwhelming problem of domestic violence by hoping to
eliminate domestic violence victims and their families having to appear in
different courts and suffer through multiple judges (Larrabee,
2007).
I believe two additional specialized courts could be
introduced to see if they could possibly help alleviate the case loads of the
other courts such as Mental Health Court and Community Court. Many individuals with mental health issues
express deviant behavior, not always criminal behavior. If they are no threat to the community then
they would be better off in the hands of mental health and social services, not
in prison, where they can come to harm from inmates or harm themselves (Larrabee,
2007). I believe Community Court would be beneficial
since it deals with quality of life crimes in neighborhoods such as
prostitution, vandalism and low-level drug offenses (Larrabee,
2007). Community courts encompass creative
partnerships and problem solving that would be better equipped with linking
social service agencies to offenders in need (Larrabee, 2007).
As we continue on with New York's Judicial system, it is
important to emphasize one particular aspect of the courts, and that is the Speedy
Trial Act (Criminal Procedure Law Section 30.30) (Donahue, 2012). As many of us in the Criminal Justice field
are aware of, the 6th Amendment of the United States Constitution provides
criminal defendants with the right to a speedy trial but does not specify how
long is too long (Donahue, 2012). Which is where CPL 30.30 statute comes into
play by giving the defendant the right to a speedy trial within a specific time
period. "The general rule
designates the allowable time that a prosecutor has to be ready for trial from
the time of arraignment, as follows: (a) six months for a Felony; (b) ninety
days for a Class A Misdemeanor; (c) sixty days for a Class B Misdemeanor; and
(d) thirty days for a violation (Donahue, 2012).
If the time limits lapse, are ignored or the prosecution
fails to be ready within the time limit, then the case may be dismissed (Donahue,
2012). Sometimes the prosecutor will dismiss the
charges in court, excepting the fact that their time has run out, or the
defendants attorney may have to bring a motion to dismiss in which the
prosecutor can oppose so that the judge will have to decide the motion (Donahue,
2012). Exceptions to CPL 30.30 include the
prosecution arguing their time was excludable where "a certain number of
days should not have been counted against the prosecutor's time limit" (Donahue,
2012). Other exceptions include police officer not
being available as witnesses for medical leave or military service as well as
the "unavailability of a criminal defendant because he or she has been
detained on a federal charge or in a federal facility, etc" (Donahue,
2012).
I do believe that the time limits in New York are
adequate with the exception of the last one.
I violation charge should not take 30 days to handle unless case load is
just so inexcusably backed up. I cannot
justify someone sitting in jail for 30 days while waiting for their hearing on
a simple violation charge. Putting aside
that that person's life is in limbo for a month, what about all the fee's it
costs to house that individual for that long.
It sounds like that particular time limit could be pushed up by a couple
of weeks at least.
To conclude, the New York Judicial System is one of many
responsibilities covering all walks of criminal and civil life. The history of this particular court system
is one of the oldest continuing courts of general jurisdiction in the United
States which I find fascinating.
Apparently it is one with a strong foundation to have maintained its
roots for so long. One with a unified
court system made up of trial and appellate courts in all of New York
State. Everything flows smoothly and in
a timely manner thanks to the CPL 30.30, the Speedy Trial Statute.
Works Cited
A Brief History of the Court. (2012, 11). Retrieved 06 28, 2013, from NY Courts:
http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/1jd/supctmanh/A_Brief_history_of_the_Court.shtml
Appellate Divisions. (2013, 03 15). Retrieved 06 28, 2013, from NY
Courts: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/appellatedivisions.shtml
Donahue, C. (2012). Speedy
Trial in New York State. Retrieved 06 28, 2013, from AVVo:
http://www.avvo.com/legal-guides/ugc/speedy-trial-in-new-york-state
Johnstone, Q. (1999,
06 28). New York State Courts: Their Structure, Administration and Reform
Possibilities. Retrieved 06 28, 2013, from Yale Law School Legal
Scholarship Repository:
http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2913&context=fss_papers
Judicial Selection
in the States: New York. (2013).
Retrieved 06 28, 2013, from American Judicature Society:
http://www.judicialselection.com/judicial_selection/index.cfm?state=NY
Larrabee, A. K. (2007,
11 06). The New York Court System. Retrieved 06 28, 2013, from Yahoo
Voices: http://voices.yahoo.com/the-york-court-system-639670.html?cat=17
Methods of Judicial
Selection: New York. (2013).
Retrieved 06 28, 2013, from American Judicature Society:
http://www.judicialselection.com/judicial_selection/methods/selection_of_judges.cfm?state=NY
Mission. (2013, 02 15). Retrieved 06 28, 2013, from NY
Courts: http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/general-info.shtml
Pfau, J. L. (2010,
09). The New York State Courts: An Introductory Guide. New York, New York,
USA.
Schiele, E. (2013). How
to Become a Judge in New York. Retrieved 06 28, 2013, from eHow:
http://www.ehow.com/how_6201503_become-judge-new-york.html
Structure of the
Courts. (2013, 02 15). Retrieved 06
28, 2013, from NY Courts: http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/structure.shtml
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