Corrections and Prisons Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Corrections and Prisons - Essay Example The court system in the United States is divided into the federal governments and the state governments which are administratively different from each other (Miller & Gaines, 2012). The courts act independent of the legislature and the executive; it is a semiautonomous branch of the government. The federal court system vests power on one Supreme Court and all the other courts remain inferior to the Supreme Court. Federal courts are divided into three levels; the federal district courts, the courts of appeal which is more superior to the district courts and Supreme Court which is the highest federal court. Miller & Gaines (2012) cited that, the federal district courts are made up of 92 districts with at least one bench in each of the available 50 states, one each in the Columbia District and Puerto Rico. There are judges in each of the districts ranging from 1 to 20 judges. District court judges are appointed by the president recommended by the members of the senate and confirmed by t he senate. District federal courts are charged with the responsibility of solving cases like violations of the constitution and other federal laws, cases that directly involve the federal government, maritime disputes, foreign government cases, and cases involving citizens from foreign countries or of two different states (Miller & Gaines, 2012). The court of appeal system consists of 11 judicial circuits in the 50 states and one in the Columbia District. ... and is the only federal court that is mandated by the constitution to give a final jurisdiction on all the cases that come before it. It consists of one Chief Justice and 8 Associate Justices. In addition, it has jurisdiction on cases that involve two or more U.S. states and high ranking diplomatic staff. Judges in the three main federal courts serve for life (Miller & Gaines, 2012). The federal judiciary also watches over a group of courts that handle specialized and specific cases. For example, the Court of Federal Claims that looks into cases of monetary claims alleged against the U.S. government. There are also the Courts- Martial that handles cases that involve the military personnel under the Military Law and the Tax Court (Miller & Gaines, 2012). State court systems are diverse having a hierarchically organized system that encompasses general and specialized courts. It comprises of inferior courts like the magistrates court, justice of peace court, municipal court, traffic cou rt, municipal court, police court and the county court which handle minor criminal and civil cases in mostly an informal manner (Miller & Gaines, 2012). Serious and superior cases are heard in the state district court mostly known as the superior court. Superior courts hear appeals from minor courts and are organized by counties; they have jurisdiction over major civil suits and serious crimes like grand larceny. Large cities like New York have appellate courts between the superior courts and the states highest courts. Courts with special purposes under the state courts include probate court, family court, divorce courts, juvenile courts, small claims courts and housing courts. Judges in these courts may be elected or appointed. When appointed, the judges

The life Winston experienced in 1984 which has a parallel in Essay

The life Winston experienced in 1984 which has a parallel in contemporary American life - Essay Example Technological innovations have deeply impacted the life of the people all over the world, and it has proved to be the single important factor in â€Å"uniting† the world. Even though â€Å"the world is one family,† is the often-repeated slogan, technology and internet revolution have achieved that goal to a great extent in their areas of influence without ever pronouncing it, and without any supporting propaganda. Weaponry and strategies play a prominent role during wartime, and propaganda has even bigger influence. Misinformation to misguide the enemy contributes in a major way to confuse the enemy. A misinformed enemy is the greatest asset to gain advantage in war-situations. Being in Britain, George Orwell watches from close range how the operations in theaters of Second World War are conducted by the powers that have major stakes in the outcome of the war. The broadcasts of BBC are greatly influenced by the dictates of the Government for its overseas propaganda. Per verse double talk is the order of the time. Orwell’s model for the lying Ministry of Truth in his book 1984 is the British wartime Ministry of Information that censors BBC broadcasts. Politicians alone cannot be blamed for the grave societal ills that are always there. Democracy is not choosing one of the two evils (political parties) once in 4-5 years. It is about active participation of the people and their willingness to protest against the smallest deviations relating to the democratic norms in any area concerning the Republic. Life for an average citizen has mostly been the same under all systems at any given time during the course of history—that is, BAD! 1984 and the conditions prevailing in America at present corroborate this fact. The people have got to be ever vigilant and keep themselves in readiness to fight for their rights. 1984 The common man, an ordinary citizen, always receives the first blow and suffers and therefore, he has to remain ever vigilant an d guard his individual freedom and other democratic rights. George Orwell is a revisionist. Officially sponsored atrocity and hate propaganda are not to his liking. History is not imagination; it needs to be subject to free and impartial enquiry and that is possible under the conditions of freedom of speech and writing. Every era has serious issues to deal with, or the issues are made serious by the rulers of the time. As for the political game, one important observation holds good for all the time, past present and future. The â€Å"Powerful Chairs† (politicians and bureaucrats) wish to maintain their hold on â€Å"Chair- less Powers† (the common citizens) for self-aggrandizement. In the present context, they extensively use the economic weapon called corruption. Take the issue of drug culture. Drugs in any form are illegal and they are confiscated and destroyed; besides the involved individuals are arrested and severe punishment follows, upon indictment. In this area , the Government is not willing to accept any new ideas and the drugs are banned outright. Banned in paper, and yet the industry thrives, due to corrupt practices at the implementation level. After the 9/11 incident, the life of the section of citizens and immigrants has been put under legal microscopic examination. The curbs are more or less similar to the ones in vogue as described in the book