State judicial system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

State judicial system - Essay Example Jurisdiction is conferred by laws and therefore cannot be waived or subject to agreement by parties. A defendant has the right to appeal a trial court’s decision, usually once, to the next immediate appellate court. Any other appeal from the initial appeal is discretionary and may be done only through a writ of certiorari or discretionary review. The appellate courts review only the law applied by the lower courts, leaving the findings of facts intact, and no new issues can be considered. They rely solely on the trial briefs of the parties and the records of the proceedings in the trial court. A discretionary review or review via a certiorari is accepted only if the issue at hand is novel or of such general importance. The final resort that a defendant can avail of, after showing state-level exhaustion, is with the federal courts on a petition for a writ of certiorari or petition for a writ of habeas corpus (Acker & Brody 2003 pp 26-29). The lowest court level in the federal court system is the federal district court, of which every state and US territory has at least one. In addition to violation and issues of the US Constitution, federal laws, treaties, diversity of citizenship jurisdiction, these courts have jurisdiction over petitions for habeas corpus that state prisoners may file on the ground that their convictions or sentences violate the US Constitution. Moreover, there must be actual disputes and controversy for federal jurisdiction to apply. On the other hand, the US federal Courts of Appeal can entertain only appeals from federal district courts within their respective circuits as the federal district courts are divided into circuits and assigned an appeals court. Additionally, certain limits of the amounts in dispute are considered before an appeal can be had to the circuit courts. In civil cases, for example, the amount involved must be more than $50 and in admiralty $300. An appeal

What were the major characteristics of the urban culture that Essay

What were the major characteristics of the urban culture that developed in late nineteenth-century America - Essay Example Earlier, in the ages of slavery and racial isolation, diversity was far away from the limelight of urban cultural life. But the urban cultural scenario in the late nineteenth-century inculcated diversity to its core by showing acceptance without considering one’s culture, ethnicity, race, color and gender. Besides, diversity is the base of the urban culture of America. The African Americans, people from different parts of Asia makes the American society more diverse. The urban culture that developed in late nineteenth-century America helped the society to be well prepared for further development in following centuries. Another important characteristic of the urban culture that developed in late nineteenth-century America was ward politics or importance gained by local politics in national political scenario. As the urban society was more diverse, ward politics helped the diverse population to gain representation in national politics. Besides, restrictions upon voting franchise, like qualification on property and tax were lifted. This helped the people to participate in local, state and national levels without any pressure from the side of major political parties. Popular culture of simply ‘pop culture’ is one of the major characteristics of the urban culture that developed in late nineteenth-century America. Popular culture originated in 19th century and developed in 20th century. The urban culture in the 19th century provided enough space for popular culture to express emotion, views, ideas and perspectives of lower class people. Still, popular culture deeply influences urban culture in America. Summing, the unique characteristics of urban culture in late nineteenth-century America added a lot to its development in following centuries. The racial, lingual and cultural diversity in the urban culture was helpful to inculcate innovation to the core of American society. Besides, ward politics in local