The Attorney General

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 581.

Judges

Reading 2: Types of legal profession in the USA

Pre-reading task. Read the words. Mind the stress. A):

΄leeway e΄xecutive par΄ticipant

΄veto nomi΄nation ,perso΄nnel

΄bailiff dis΄pose ,evi΄dentiary

΄edit con΄viction ,misde΄meanor

΄motion con΄sent ,employ΄ee

΄docket main΄tain ,memo΄randum

΄adjunct a΄ppellate ,dispo΄sition

΄educator trun΄cated e,limi΄nation

΄license o΄pinion ste΄nographer

΄entity a΄rray ,inter΄mediate

B) Complete the word building table.

C)

Judges in the USA initially come to the bench from other lines of legal work and after a substantial number of years of professional experience. American judges differ from judges of the common-law countries and civil-law systems in other parts of the world. Many judges have been legislators, but some have been office lawyers or counsel to organizations such as corporations or private associations. Numerous judges have been lawyers in government service as prosecuting attorneys or counsel to government agencies, either state or federal. Some judges are former law professors, but their number is small. Persons can enter the judicial system at any level. A lawyer can initially become a judge on the highest court, the lowest court, or any court between. In other words, a lawyer who has never been a judge can become a judge on a court of last resort or an intermediate appellate court or a trial court, in either a state or the federal system. Lawyers who come on the bench at the trial or intermediate appellate levels have no real promise of moving to a higher court.

Federal magistrate judges perform two kinds of functions. First, they hold hearings on variety of motions, such as motions seeking to control lawyers' conduct of discovery in civil cases, and make recommendations to the district judge as to the disposition. Assistance of this sort enables district judges to dispose of these matters without having to sit to conduct hearings themselves; they can simply accept the magistrates' recommendations. Magistrate judges also hold evidentiary hearing on prisoner's petitions challenging the legality of their convictions, and they recommend factual findings to the judge. Second, magistrate judges are authorized to conduct trials in civil cases and in criminal misdemeanor cases if the parties consent. In other words, the parties can choose to go to trial before a magistrate judge instead of a district judge. If the parties exercise this opinion, the magistrate judge is empowered to decide the case and enter final judgment in the name of the district court.

The federal system is the best known example of executive nomination with legislative confirmation. The Attorney General of the United States and the Department of Justice, which he heads, are key executive branch participants in the selection process, along with the White House staff. In selecting Supreme Court nominees, the President has even more leeway, but he still must take into account sentiment in the Senate, as that body has in effect a veto over the nomination.