Court History and Purpose

Abstract

The United States Court system is very complex because of the different types of courts available. In New York, the Criminal court is the entry level court that handles criminal cases within the five boroughs. The New York Court system consists of civil, criminal and, family courts. The New York Criminal Court hears cases pertaining to misdemeanors, some traffic infractions and, also arraigns people accused of felonies. The New York Supreme Court is a trial level court. A “Trial court is of general jurisdiction are the main trial courts in the state system. They hear cases outside the jurisdiction of the trial courts of limited jurisdiction. These involve both civil and criminal cases”. (unknown, Understanding Federal and State Courts) This court handles large civil cases and felony cases within New York’s five boroughs.

The United States Court system is very complex due to the different types of courts available. In New York, the Criminal court is the entry level court that handles criminal cases within the five boroughs. The New York Court system consists of civil, criminal and family courts. The New York Criminal Court hears cases pertaining to misdemeanors, some traffic infractions and, also arraigns people accused of felonies. An arraignment is “the hearing in which a person charged with a crime is arraigned in his or her first appearance before a judge. This is the initial appearance of a criminal defendant (unless continued from an earlier time) in which all the preliminaries are taken care of”. (Hill, 2010) In New York, felonies are arraigned by the New York City criminal court but are ultimately heard and tried in the New York State Supreme Court. During the arraignment, many issues will be discussed some of them consist of the decision about bail. The prosecutor will make a case to the judge asking for bail and the defendants’ attorney will argue for the defendant to be released on his own recognizance. Certain aspects are taken into...