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Court system
The American Court System
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Personal Jurisdiction | a courts authority over the parties to a law suit |
| Special Jurisdiction | the power of a court to hear only certain kinds of cases |
| General Jurisdiction | the power of a court to hear any type of case |
| Appellate Jurisdiction | the power of a court to review a case for errors of law |
| Original Jurisdiction | authority of a court to hear a case when it is first brought to court |
| Jurisdiction | authority of a court to hear and decide cases |
| Dual court system | court system consisting of one system of state and local courts and another system of federal courts |
| Summary or bench trials | trials without a jury |
| trial de novo | trial in which an entire case is reheard by a trial court of general jurisdiction |
| writ of certiorari | written order from the us supreme court to a lower court whose decision is being appealed to send the records of the case forward for review |
| writ of habeas corpus | order from a court to an officer of the law to produce a prisoner in court to determine if the prisoner is being legally detained |
| complaint | a charging document specifying that an offense has been committed by a person |
| arrest warrant | written order directing law enforcement officers to arrest a person |
| bench warrant | document that authorizes a suspects of defendants arrest for not appearing in court as required |
| rules of discovery | rules that mandate that a prosecutor provide defense counsel with any exculpatory evidence in the prosecutors possession |
| plea bargaining | in many jurisdictions the judge agree on a specific sentence to be imposed if the accused pleads guilt to an agreed upon charge or charges instead of going to trial |
| incapacitation | the removal of restriction of the freedom of those found to have violated criminal laws |