The court plays a very critical role in American Criminal Justice. Without the development of courts, those who violate the law would face no penalty and would commit crimes and walk free. In this paper I will evaluate and examine the American Criminal court system. I will describe the court and the purpose that it serves as so I will also define the dual court system. I will also describe the role that early legal codes, the common law and the precedent played in the development of courts.

The court is a symbol for all the combined integrity of society, serving as an technique for expressing the dislike people feel for those who commit particularly monstrous crimes. Because the courts are given the duty of punishing offenders, courts operate as an agency of social control, establishing which behaviors may be acceptable and which deserve stern punishments. Courts play such a significant role simply because they determine what should happen to those who violate the law. There is a criminal court, and there is a civil court. Civil courts deal with private party issues, whereas criminal courts try alleged offenders. In court, all cases are handled differently no two case is the same. A person who is on trial for a more serious offense will receive a harsher sentence in court as compared to a person who is on trial for a less serious crime.

A dual court system separates federal and state courts. The dual court system makes up the judicial branch of Government. The benefit of having a dual court system is so that the court system can move, and operate in a timely matter. If there was only one level of the court system, many cases would not be heard and the process would not be as smooth as it is now. It is easier to have a balance of court systems than to have one court handling every matter, big or small.

The court systems have founded a sense of methodical methods. In the United States the court system has a federal system of government that is divided between a central authority and smaller local units of government. The courts have a dual system of federal and state courts that are separate from one another. Each state has its own system; this is called its jurisdiction which gives a court the authority to decide a case. The Courts have jurisdiction only within certain geographical boundaries. Having jurisdictions restricts a court from trying a case that happened outside those boundaries. Court in one state will rarely be able to try a case that involves a crime that happened in another state. Also there is restrictions that do not allow a state to try someone that lives in another state, unless the state in which the offender resides agrees to extradite the offender. Once the lower courts make a decision to be a case to trial, the parties involved will present evidence and ask a judge or jury for a decision or verdict. However, this decision in not final, after the decision or verdict is giving the people involved can ask for it to be challenged in an appellate court. The appellate court will hear appeals that they review from the lower courts’ decision to determine whether a legal error was made.

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