Describe the four problem areas facing the lower courts in the United States, and explain why they represent problems for the judiciary.

Question

Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).

Answer 1

The four problem areas facing the lower courts in the United States are inadequate financing, inadequate facilities, lax procedures, and unbalanced caseloads. In general, lower courts are funded locally. Sparsely populated counties and small municipalities often lack funds to staff and equip their courts adequately. Lower-court courtrooms are often crowded and noisy, with 100 or more people forced to spend hours waiting for their minute before the judge. Some are makeshift, hastily created in the side of a store or the back of a garage. Courtroom conditions lack dignity and leave a bad impression, suggesting that the judiciary is more interested in collecting the fine for speeding than in bothering to do justice. Such inadequate facilities are detrimental to the attitudes of the defendant, prosecutor, judge, and all others involved in the justice process. Many trial courts of limited jurisdiction do not have written rules for the conduct of cases. Conventional bookkeeping methods are often ignored. Many lower courts are characterized by moderate to heavy caseloads, but others appear to have little to do. Wide discrepancies exist in the quality of justice rendered.