courts and procedure

sentencing: an overview

A criminal sentence refers to the formal legal consequences associated with a conviction. Types of sentences include probation, fines, short-term incarceration, suspended sentences, which only take effect if the convict fails to meet certain conditions, payment of restitution to the victim, community service, or drug and alcohol rehabilitation for minor crimes. More serious sentences include long-term incarceration, life-in-prison, or the death penalty in capital murder cases.

Definition

The process of determining what a particular statute means so that a court may apply it accurately.

Overview

Any question of statutory interpretation begins with looking at the plain language of the statute to discover its original intent. To discover a statute's original intent, courts first look to the words of the statute and apply their usual and ordinary meanings.

trial practice: an overview

Only a small percentage of legal disputes are litigated in a court. When litigation does occur, several areas govern the lawyers' conduct of the trial or trial practice:

• Criminal procedure
• Civil procedure
• Appellate procedure
• Legal ethics

appellate procedure: an overview

Appellate procedure consists of the rules and practices by which appellate courts review trial court judgments.

court rules: an overview

Courts of general jurisdiction have the power to hear claims as long as there is a controversy among parties with diverse interests and conflicting claims. There are additional requirements placed on the controversy depending on what type of court the claim is filed in. Not all claims can be filed in all courts. Each court has certain defined jurisdiction and categories of disputes may be excluded because of the amount at stake. For instance, in federal courts, if jurisdiction is based on diversity of citizenship, the amount in controversy must exceed $75,000. (See 28 U.S.C. § 1332).

Definition

To set aside; to void. As in "to quash a motion" or "quash evidence."

Illustrative caselaw

See, e.g. Arizona v. Evans, 514 US 1 (1995).

See also

• Category: Courts and Procedure

A writ emanating from an appellate court, demanding that a lower court convey the record of a case to the appellate court so that the record may be reviewed for alleged errors of law committed during a juridical proceeding. See, e.g. Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 (1832).  When a writ of error is sent by the appellate court to the trial court for a review of the trial court's judgment based on an alleged error of fact, it is termed a writ of error coram vobis from the Latin "before you."  A writ of error that is directed to a court for review of its own judgment based on alleged errors of fact is termed a writ of error coram nobis from the Latin "before us." 

In civil cases, the writ of error has been expressly abolished by Rule 60 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP).  Prior to the enactment of subsections 60(b)(4)-(6), relief from judgment was available under the writ system authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 1651, the All Writs Act.  Relief from judgment in civil cases is now governed by Rule 59 and Rule 60 of the FRCP rather than the writ system.

In criminal cases, the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure provide an alternative to the writ of error.  In 1948, 28 U.S.C. § 2255 was enacted to provide a postconviction remedy consistent with the writ of error coram nobis and § 1651, the All Writs Act.  The remedy provided by § 2255 differs from the writ of habeas corpus in that it is requested by motion rather than a separate petition.  For this reason, a § 2255 motion is considered to be a continuation of the criminal case whose judgment is under attack rather than a new civil action.

Although § 2255 does not expressly abolish the writ of error, the writ no longer plays a significant role in criminal proceedings.  According to the Supreme Court, "it has become difficult to conceive of a situation in which the writ would be necessary or appropriate." See Carlisle v. United States, 517 U.S. 416, 429 (1996).

See Appellate Procedure

Definition

In general, a place or location in which something takes place. The proper place to hold a civil or criminal trial, usually because important related events have taken place there.

Illustrative caselaw

See, e.g. Cortez Byrd Chips, Inc. v. Bill Harbert Construction Co., 529 U.S. 193 (2000).

See also

• Compare to subject matter jurisdiction and personal jurisdiction

Definition

1) An unauthorized, mock court or legal proceeding, e.g. a tribunal of sorority sisters created to settle disputes within the sorority, in which some or all of the accused's due process rights are ignored and the outcome appears to be predetermined. The term's first known use was in the American West in the 1850s.

Latin for "that you have the body." A writ of habeas corpus is used to bring a prisoner or other detainee (e.g. institutionalized mental patient) before the court to determine if the person's imprisonment or detention is lawful. In the US system, federal courts can use the writ of habeas corpus to determine if a state's detention of a prisoner is valid.  A habeas petition proceeds as a civil action against the State agent (usually a warden) who holds the defendant in custody.