Full Description
The Judicial Processconcise yet comprehensive core text that introduces students to the nature and significance of the judicial process in the United States and across the globe. It is social scientific in its approach, situating the role of the courts and their impact on public policy within a strong foundation in legal theory, or political jurisprudence, as well as legal scholarship. Authors Christopher P. Banks and David M. O'Brien do not shy away from the politics of the judicial process, and offer unique insight into cutting-edge and highly relevant issues. In its distinctive boxes, "Contemporary Controversies over Courts" and "In Comparative Perspective," the text examines topics such as the dispute pyramid, the law and morality of same-sex marriages, the "hardball politics" of judicial selection, plea bargaining trends, the right to counsel and "pay as you go" justice, judicial decisions limiting the availability of class actions, constitutional courts in Europe, the judicial role in creating major social change, and the role lawyers, juries and alternative dispute resolution techniques play in the U.S. and throughout the world. Photos, cartoons, charts, and graphs are used throughout the text to facilitate student learning and highlight key aspects of the judicial process.
Contents
Part 1Chapter 1: The Politics of Law and Courts in SocietyLegal SystemsIn Comparative Perspective: Major Global Legal SystemsLegal Systems and GlobalizationThe Nature and Sources of LawThe Role of Courts in Contemporary SocietyContemporary Controversies Over Courts: The Dispute PyramidChapter 2: The Politics of Law and JurisprudenceClassical Theories of JurisprudenceIn Comparative Perspective: Law, Morality, and Same-Sex MarriagesContemporary Theories of JurisprudenceContemporary Controversies over Courts: Is Cannibalism Ever Legally Justified?Part 2: Judicial Organization and Administrative ProcessesChapter 3: Judicial Organization and AdministrationThe Origins of U.S. CourtsContemporary Judicial Federalism: State and Federal CourtsThe Politics of Judicial Administration and ReformIn Comparative Perspective: Constitutional Courts in EuropeContemporary Controversies Over Courts: Should the Public Finance State Judicial Elections?Chapter 4: Judicial Selection and RemovalStaffing State CourtsStaffing Federal CourtsContemporary Controversies Over Courts: The Hardball Politics of Filibusters, "Nuclear Options," and Recess Appointments in Federal Judicial SelectionToward a Representative Bench and a Career Judiciary?In Comparative Perspective: The Career Judiciary in JapanPart 3: Access to Courts and Judicial Decision MakingChapter 5: The Practice of LawThe Rise of the American Legal ProfessionContemporary Legal Education and Bar AdmissionIn Comparative Perspective: Legal Education and Lawyers in Western DemocracyThe Business of Legal PracticeAccess to Lawyers and Equal JusticeContemporary Controversies Over Courts: The Right to Counsel and "Pay As You Go" JusticeChapter 6: Access to Courts and JusticeFormal BarriersDiscretionary BarriersContemporary Controversies Over Courts: Tactics for Constitutional Avoidance: "Passive Virtues" or "Subtle Vices"?Organized Interests and Strategic LitigarionIn Comparative Perspective: Comparative Constitutional Law, Interest Group Litigation, and Capital PunishmentChapter 7: Trial Courts: The Adversarial Process and Criminal CasesThe Adversarial ProcessThe Criminal Law and the Justice SystemProsecutorial Discretion: From Arrest to Formal ArraignmentPlea BargainingContemporary Controversies Over Courts: Plea Bargaining, the Right to Counsel, and Global TrendsTrials and the Jury's RoleIn Comparative Perspective: Jury Systems Around the WorldThe Politics of the Post-Trial Sentencing ProcessChapter 8: Trial Courts: Civil Cases and LitigationAdversarial Civil JusticeCivil Lawsuits: The Trial and Appeal ProcessThe Politics of Tort and Civil Litigation ReformContemporary Controversies Over Courts: The Roberts Court and Class Action LawsuitsAlternative Dispute ResolutionIn Comparative Perspective: The Global Expansion of ADRPart 4: Judicial PolicymakingChapter 9: Appellate Courts and Decision MakingThe Appellate Decision Making ProcessStudying Judicial Decision MakingIn Comparative Perspective: Are Judges "Politicians in Robes" or Not?Statutory InterpretationConstitutional InterpretationContemporary Controversies Over Courts: How Should Judges Interpret the U.S. Constitution?Chapter 10: The Scope and Limits of Judicial PowerJudicial PolicymakingIn Comparative Perspective: The European Court of Justice and The Globalization of Judicial PowerThe Impact of Judicial DecisionsThe Limitations of Judicial PowerContemporary Controversies Over Courts: Do Courts Forge Major Social Change?
