Discussion Questions

Draft a response to each of the bulleted questions below. Each question must have its own response and have a minimum of 75 words.

1.       What is an appeal? How does an appeal relate to the overall criminal process and the different court systems? 

2.       What would happen if appeals were eliminated from the judicial system? 

3.       Defendants that are convicted of certain crimes can appeal their conviction to a higher court.  Sometimes these cases are overturned on technicalities and evidence is ruled inadmissible, thereby overruling the decision of the juries.  Is this appropriate if a defendant was convicted of a crime by a jury?  Why or why not?

4.       Summarize the development of American courts, including the concept of the dual-court system

5.       Describe the roles of professional members of the courtroom work group.

6.       How would you define the pretrial criminal process?

7.       How does the pretrial criminal process affect post arrest processes and trials? Is there a better solution to the current process? Explain.

8.    Should some offenses be ineligible for probation or if a defendant has committed an offense and been sentenced to probation for that crime then reoffends should they no longer have probation for an option?