Texas Judicial Branch Case Study

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Government Institutions in Texas Many people believe the Texas Judicial Branch needs refurbishing for the 21st century. However, the Texas Judicial Branch operates efficiently now because of the way Texas has set up its Judicial Branch and court system. The reason for this is because Texas has structured layers of courts and those layers of courts allow cases ideal time to be heard, which works efficiently and adequately for the court system. At times, those five sections of the Texas court structure overlap because they all proceed to a higher level if needed. Those levels are local trial courts, county trial courts, state trial courts, state intermediate appellate courts and the state 's highest appellate courts. The Judicial Branch also …show more content…

As of 2012, only fourteen percent of judges were Latino and what is even more disturbing is that only two percent are African American. Nevertheless, the percentage is small, and that has raised concern within minority groups that feel the "larger partisan judicial races make it difficult for minorities to get elected to judgeships, and that Texas judges do not reflect the diversity of the state." (Champagne & Harpham, 2013, p. 292) Ultimately, this will change over decades more and more, as minorities in Texas become the …show more content…

282) Since Texas has a process for criminal law, some steps are followed before a trail is declared. First, there is usually a person who commits a misdemeanor or felony, and law enforcement decides to charge the suspect with a crime. Once a charge has been filed against an individual then a grand jury will determine if there is sufficient evidence to hand down an indictment against a suspect. If there is, then usually the defendant goes to trial. However, a defendant might accept a plea bargain from the prosecution before trial, because the evidence against them is overwhelming. If that is not the case, the prosecution will have to prove their case to a jury beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant committed a crime, and the defendant should have to serve jail or prison time for their punishment as a result of their crime. In conclusion, many people believe the Texas Judicial Branch needs refurbishing for the 21st century. However, the Texas Judicial Branch operates efficiently now despite some minor issues that critics perceive as inadequate for the 21st century. Perhaps in the future, some areas of our judicial system could be streamlined to better meet the needs of our society as we grow our ever more diverse society here in the state of Texas. Until