Court History and Purpose Paper

Court History and Purpose Paper

University of Phoenix

CJA/224

April 17th, 2012

Court History and Purpose Paper

Originally, court systems in American colonies founded their own ways of dealing with disputes. Court systems called General Courts were established by the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629. These courts were made up of several types of officials. These included the governor, the deputy, 18 assistants, and 118 elected officials. These positions were assigned to the court to make laws, hold trials, and impose sentences. By 1639, the demand for courts was so high that the county courts were established. At this time the General Courts took charge of hearing appeals and serious crimes. (Siegel, 2011) According to Siegel’s text, Pennsylvania natives believed that every man could serve as his own lawyer. The Pennsylvania system used common peacemakers who served as referees in disputes. Parties to a dispute, including criminal suspects, could plead their case before a common peacemaker they had agreed on. The decision of the peacemaker was binding on the parties. Although the Pennsylvania referee system ended in 1766, lower-level judges are still referred to as justices of the peace in Pennsylvania and a few other states, many other jurisdictions call them magistrates.

Siegel further explains that by 1776, all of the American colonies had established full functioning court systems. The practice of law was substantially affected by a lack of trained lawyers. A large amount of the early colonies displayed a strong reluctance to recognize the practice of law as a profession. A Virginia statute enacted in 1645 provided removal of the mercenary attorneys from office and prohibited the fees for practicing law. Most other colonies retained strict control over the number of authorized lawyers by requiring formal training in English law schools and appointment by the governor. New York provided the appointment of “counselors at law,” permitting a total...