United States Government

D

State and Local Courts

Despite their high visibility, the federal courts deal with only one percent of the nation’s judicial business. The state and local courts—the latter usually at the county, municipal, and township level—hear most of the judicial cases. Annually over 25 million cases enter state and local systems; every year, one in nine Americans is directly involved in some sort of litigation or court proceeding.

At the state level, courts are assigned what are called police powers over the health, morals, and safety of their citizens. Thus, by the authority of its health power, a state legislature may require all schoolchildren to be vaccinated; any challenge to this law would be considered in state court. To protect community health in the late 19th century, state courts approved a controversial quarantine of immigrants before they entered the United States. The states’ authority in these matters can be found in the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, which reserves powers not delegated to the federal government to the states. At the same time, many state constitutions include their own Bill of Rights, which limits the power of states over the people.

By constitution or by statute, state governments create the local courts that have jurisdiction over minor state offenses and the violation of local ordinances, such as those involving zoning or disturbing the peace. Some local courts have specialized jurisdiction over juveniles and domestic relations.

Like those at the federal level, state court systems are arranged into a three-tiered system of trial, appellate, and supreme courts. Decisions by the state supreme courts can be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which can overturn state laws. An example of the relation between state and federal courts occurred in the 1960s. At that time, state laws that impeded desegregation were overturned because in the view of the Supreme Court, the laws violated the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment.

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Unlike federal judges, who are appointed by the president with the Senate’s approval, state judges come to the bench in a variety of ways. Some judges are appointed by state governors and, after a period of time, stand for elections. Other judges are elected from the beginning. Sometimes these elections are contested and partisan; often they are not. In recent years states have tried to improve the quality of state and local judges by creating panels of qualified lawyers from which state governors choose the judges they appoint.

E

Current Trends and Issues

The judicial system is challenged by a tremendous volume of cases. The use of the system has escalated because the U.S. population has increased from 122 million in 1930 to 301 million in 2007. In addition, Americans have become more likely to settle any dispute, no matter how minor, in court.

The caseload has also increased because the courts have developed new categories of constitutional rights, mainly as a result of rulings in important, high-profile cases. Examples of this are the right to privacy established in the 1965 Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut and the legal rights guaranteed defendants by Miranda v. Arizona in 1966. The court has expanded the legal rights of defendants in matters such as pretrial criminal procedures and protections to prisoners in the state and federal prison systems. Changes in technology, such as the development of the Internet, are also new areas that require judicial response. Inevitably such new developments lead to new laws, new kinds of disputes, and new judicial interpretations.

Federal district courts heard 87,000 cases in 1961; in 1996, 320,000 cases were commenced. Circuit court judges heard 51,500 cases in 1996. The Supreme Court, which decides the cases it hears, considered 7,602 in the same year, and of these only 140 were given full review. Still this is a burdensome amount. A challenge for the Supreme Court is to keep control over the number and type of cases it accepts so that it can reserve its decisions for those that help determine high-level policy.

There are many problems that state and local judiciaries face. Among these are long delays for defendants coming to trial, the slowness of the trials themselves, unequal access to justice between the rich and the poor, and difficulties in obtaining jury pools.

VII

Crime and Safety

Like most structures in the U.S. government, law enforcement agencies are divided into federal, state, and local jurisdictions. At every level these agencies maintain public order. Unlike many nations, the United States has no national police force or national criminal law. Instead each state, city, county, and sometimes township has its own police units as well as its own laws that regulate police activities and define criminal behavior. Under the Tenth Amendment, law enforcement is primarily the responsibility of local governments, as is the prosecution of the vast majority of crimes committed in the United States.

A

Law Enforcement Agencies

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1

Local Agencies

In the 18th century, the law enforcement system existed only informally at the local level. Often an appointed justice of the peace served as judge and jury, while an elected county sheriff or constable was the principal law enforcement officer. However, as cities began to grow in the early and mid-19th century, many workers began to migrate to these new urban centers to find jobs. Workers came from other parts of the United States as well as from abroad. Conflicts often arose between native-born workers and immigrant workers because of competition for jobs. Police forces began to be needed to keep order and protect property. From their early beginnings in Boston in 1838, local police units, in county or city, have developed into the most important crime-fighting organizations in the United States.

At first police functioned as little more than night watchmen. Gradually they gained authority from their visibility and their uniforms, and they soon became an accepted first line of defense for maintaining order and safety. However, most local police were appointed by city officials and poorly trained. As a result, police officers were responsible for occasional episodes of brutality against citizens as well as for a failure to deliver equal justice to minority groups. By the 1920s, cities demanded more professional police forces that were better trained and not appointed by politicians.

Since that time, local forces have increased substantially both in size and in professionalism. But city sizes and crime rates have also increased, and local police are often hampered by a lack of funds and facilities. Also, modern city life requires much more from local police than detective work and crime fighting. Many of the functions of today’s police have little to do with maintaining law and order, and a great deal to do with investigating accidents and dealing with the problems of incapacitated adults, missing children, and corner drug sales.

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2

State and Federal Agencies

Besides local forces, each of the 50 states has its own state police system. Developed in the early 20th century, state police perform functions such as patrolling state roads, investigating gambling, and seizing drugs transported on interstate highways. State police also provide local police forces with expert assistance and resources required to fight crime across jurisdictions.

At the federal level, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the largest and best-known law enforcement agency. Established in 1908, the FBI is a division of the U.S. Department of Justice. FBI agents investigate federal crimes, including kidnapping, espionage, theft involving interstate commerce, and terrorism. In addition to its investigative duties, the FBI provides state and local law enforcement agencies with facilities such as laboratories for analyzing fingerprints and genetic evidence. The FBI also runs training programs for local law enforcement personnel.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which was created in 2002, oversees other federal law enforcement agencies such as the Secret Service, which protects the president and vice president and their families and investigates counterfeiting, and the Bureau of Border Security, which prevents illegal immigration to the United States. Other important federal law enforcement agencies include the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which combats the distribution and use of illegal drugs, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, which investigates violations of tax laws related to alcohol and tobacco, enforces laws controlling firearms, and investigates bombings. Another federal law enforcement agency, the U.S. Marshals Service, preserves order in courtrooms, handles subpoenas and court summonses, and transports federal prisoners.