Chapter One

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Chapter One The Court System, Court Cases, and
Sources of Rights

• Rolando V. del Carmen

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The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of
Rights

• Introduction

Federal Courts
State Courts
U.S. Supreme Court
State Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals
Intermediate Appellate Courts
U.S. District Courts
Trial Courts of General Jurisdiction
Magistrate Courts
Lower Courts
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The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of
Rights

• The Structure of the Court System
• The Federal Court System
• Original jurisdiction
• Rule of Four
• The State Court System

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The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of
Rights

• The Territorial Effect of Judicial Decisions
• Judicial Precedent (Stare Decisis)
• Federal versus State Jurisdiction
• Dual Sovereignty
• No Double Jeopardy
• Jurisdiction versus Venue
• Frisbie v. Collins (1952)

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The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of
Rights

• Court Cases
• Case Citations
• Internet Sources

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The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of
Rights

• How to Brief a Case
• Case title
• Citation
• Year decided
• Facts
• Main issue
• Court decision
• Holding

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The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of
Rights

• Example of a case briefing
• Case title Minnesota v. Dickerson
• Citation 508 U.S. 366
• Year decided 1993

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The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of
Rights

• Example of a case briefing (cont.)
• Facts During routine patrol, two police officers
  spotted Dickerson leaving an apartment building
  that one of the officers knew was a crack
  house. Dickerson began walking toward the police
  but, upon making eye contact with them, reversed
  direction and walked into an alley. Because of
  his evasive actions, the police became suspicious
  and decided to investigate. They pulled into the
  alley and ordered Dickerson to stop and submit to
  a pat-down search. The search revealed no
  weapons, but one officer found a small lump in
  Dickersons pocket, which he examined with his
  fingers and determined, after the examination,
  that it felt like a lump of cocaine in
  cellophane. The officer then reached into
  Dickersons pocket and retrieved the lump, which
  turned out to be a small plastic bag of crack
  cocaine. Dickerson was arrested and charged with
  possession of a controlled substance.

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The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of
Rights

• Example of a case briefing (cont.)
• Main issue Was the seizure of the crack cocaine
  valid under stop and frisk? No.

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The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of
Rights

• Example of a case briefing (cont.)
• Court decision The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed
  the decision of the Minnesota Supreme Court that
  held the seizure to be invalid.

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The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of
Rights

• Example of a case briefing (cont.)
• Holding (sometimes also known as the doctrine or
  the ruling) A frisk that goes beyond that
  allowed in Terry v. Ohio in stop and frisk cases
  is not valid. In this case, the search went
  beyond the pat-down search allowed by Terry
  because the officer squeezed, slid, and
  otherwise manipulated the packets content
  before knowing it was cocaine. The evidence
  obtained is not admissible in court.

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The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of
Rights

• Sources of Rights
• Constitutions
• The Federal Constitution
• State Constitutions
• Statutory Law
• Case Law
• Court Rules

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The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of
Rights

• The Incorporation Controversy Does the Bill of
  Rights Apply to the States?
• Background
• Approaches to Incorporation
• Rights Held to Be Fundamental and Incorporated
• Rights Not Incorporated
• Nationalization of the Bill of Rights

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The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of
Rights

• The Judicial Review Doctrine
• Marbury v. Madison (1803)
• Indianapolis et al. v. Edmond et al. (2002)

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The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of
Rights

• The Rule of Law
• Adherence
• Justice
• Supremacy
• Obedience
• No person is above the law

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The Court System, Court Cases, and Sources of
Rights