Chapter Nine

Laws, Courts, and Justice

An Introduction to Texas’s Justice System

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State Law in Texas

• Sources of Law

• Code Revision

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Figure 9.1: Court Structure of Texas

Reprinted Courtesy of the Office of Court Administration

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Table 9.1: Texas Judges and Justices

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Courts, Judges, and Lawyers

• Local Trial Courts

• County Trial Courts

• State Trial Courts

• Appellate Courts

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Courts, Judges, and Lawyers

• Disciplining and Removing Judges and Justices

• Lawyers

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Juries

• Grand Jury

• Trial Jury

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Judicial Procedures

• Civil Justice System

• Civil Trial Procedure

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Table 9.2: Selected Texas Noncapital Offenses, Penalties for First Offenders, and Courts Having Original Jurisdiction

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Judicial Procedures

• Criminal Justice System

• Capital Punishment

• Criminal Trial Procedure

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Correction and Rehabilitation

• The Texas Department of Criminal Justice

• State Institutions of Correction for Adults

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Figure 9.2: Facilities of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, August 2002

Source: Texas Department of Criminal Justice

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Correction and Rehabilitation

• Local Government Jails

• Private Prisons

• Supervision of Released Offenders

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Table 9.3: Inmate Cost per Diem in Texas Criminal Justice Programs

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Juvenile Justice

• State and Local Agencies

• Procedures and Institutions

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Problems and Reforms: Implications for Public Policy

• Coping with Crowded Dockets

• Judicial Selection

• Technology

• Racial and Ethnic Diversity

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Selected Reading

• “Josiah Sutton One Year Later: Waiting for Justice” by Mary Ann Fergus