Problems in American Democracy Part 92

3. What is the importance of the statutes as a source of state law?

4. What are some other sources of law?

5. Describe the work of the justice of the peace.

6. What is the jurisdiction of the county courts?

7. What is the chief function of the state supreme court?

8. Name some special state courts.

9. What is the function of the district attorney?

10. What is the relation of state to Federal courts?

11. Discuss the chief powers of state courts.

12. What is the scope of the civil jurisdiction of the state courts?

13. Describe a civil trial.

14. What are the two types of crimes?

15. Outline the steps in a criminal trial.

REQUIRED READINGS

1. Beard, _American Government and Politics_, chapter xxvi.

2. Guitteau, _Government and Politics in the United States_, chapter xi.

3. Munro, _The Government of the United States_, chapter x.x.xiv.

4. Reed, _Form and Function of American Government_, chapter xiii.

QUESTIONS ON THE REQUIRED READINGS

1. Define common law. (Guitteau, page 115.)

2. What is the relation of the old Privy Council to the origin of English common law? (Guitteau, page 116.)

3. What is a tort? (Beard, pages 558-559.)

4. What is the relation of the state judiciary to the other departments of state government? (Reed, page 160.)

5. To what extent do the Federal courts interfere with the decisions of the state courts? (Munro, page 492.)

6. By what three methods may judges be chosen? (Beard, page 550.)

7. Name some states in which judges are not chosen by the people. How are judges chosen in these states? (Beard, page 550.)

8. Compare the salaries of American judges with the salaries of European judges. (Beard, page 552.)

9. By what three methods may judges be removed? (Munro, pages 496-497)

10. In what state has the codification of the civil code been most successful? (Reed, page 168.)

TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION AND REPORT

I

1. Provisions in your state const.i.tution with respect to the state judiciary.

2. The choice of judges in your state.

3. Characteristics of a good judge.

4. The actual conduct of a civil or criminal trial in a near-by court.

5. Delay in legal procedure in your state. (Consult a friendly attorney.)

6. Methods of removing judges in your state.

II

7. The evolution of state justice. (Gettell, _Readings in Political Science_, page 384.)

8. Function of the state court. (Gettell, _Readings in Political Science_, page 387.)

9. Methods of choosing judges in the various states. (Gettell, _Readings in Political Science_, page 388.)

10. Procedure in the state courts. (Kimball, _State and Munic.i.p.al Government in the United States_, chapter xv.)

11. The system of appeals in state courts. (Reinsch, _Readings on American State Government_, pages 150-158.)

12. Politics and the state courts. (Reinsch, _Readings on American State Government_, pages 158-168.)

13. Defects in the enforcement of law. (Reinsch, _Readings on American State Government_, pages 173-180.)

14. Relation of judicial inefficiency to crime. (Reinsch, _Readings on American State Government_, pages 181-198.)

15. Legal claims against the state. (Reinch, _Readings on American State Government_, pages 168-172.)

16. Necessity of judicial independence. (Gettell, _Readings in Political Science_, page 391.)