Public Opinion, the Legislature, and the Court System Court Systems and Practices.

Public Opinion, the Legislature, and the

Court SystemCourt Systems and Practices

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Public Opinion

• What the majority of the public thinks about a topic

• It is measured using things such as–Polls and surveys–Elections

3Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2011. All rights reserved.

Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

The Legislature

• The branch of government that makes the laws that the court system rules on

• In the end, the legislature is influenced by public opinion since lawmakers are elected officials that must keep their constituents happy to get reelected



How the Public Opinion Affects the Court SystemMany times judges hold elected positions. If the majority of their voters do not agree with their philosophies on rulings, they can be voted out. The elected judges may have this in mind as they make decisions



How the Public Opinion Affects the Court System (continued)District Attorneys are elected positions for each county, and they are the ones who make the ultimate decision on whether or not to prosecute someone or how they should prosecute



How the Public Opinion Affects the Court System (continued)If there is a jury trying the case, they may have to be sequestered so they are not influenced by the media



How the Public Opinion Affects the Court System (continued)

Jury members may not want to face scrutiny for their decisions, especially if they had already prejudged the case or know how their friends and family members would think about the case



How the Legislature Affects the Court System• The legislature determines what is or is not a

crime, thus determining what cases the court gets to decide on

• The legislature passes laws that may affect the way courts function:–Mandatory sentencing – The class of the crime and what court hears it, such

as a misdemeanor instead of a felony court



How the Court System Affects Itself• If a similar case has been ruled on before, the judge

may lean on the precedent already set• This occurs throughout the country with Supreme

Court decisions• Other relevant cases are automatically decided or

reversed based on what the Supreme Court rules



How the Court System Affects Itself (continued)Lawmakers then decide what could or could not be made against the law based on how the courts have ruled on similar laws and issues



Historical Influence

• In the past, there was a private prosecution system where the victims had the power and responsibility to prosecute crimes

• By the time of the American Revolution a public prosecution system was in place

• Crimes then became public concerns instead of just private concerns



Historical Influence (continued)

• It was not as much about the individual being the victim as society being the victim

• This kept sentences from being as vindictive• Starting in the 1960s, the pendulum started to

swing the other way with more emphasis on the individual instead of the community



Factors of Influence

• Politics• The type of crime or issue• The victim• The suspect• The media • Lobbyists• Religion • The public’s knowledge about the issue



Politics

• This ties back to the legislature and elections• There are normally two philosophies that

dominate lawmakers and judges:– Liberalism– Conservatism



Politics (continued)

• Liberals– Value self expression– Value individual privacy, such as matters of

religious or sexual preferences– Demand social control in the commercial sphere– At the workplace or in the stock markets



Politics (continued)

• Conservatives– Focus on self control in individual privacy matters– Defend untempered self expression in the

commercial sphere for employers and producers– Oppose government restrictions on the

marketplace



Type of Crime or Issue

People are opinionated about some crimes or topics. Lawmakers and courts may have to vote or decide on these issues with public opinion in mind. Some of them are– The death penalty– Gay marriage– Abortion– Sex crimes– Healthcare– Gun rights



Type of Crime or Issue (continued)

If someone has been a victim or suspect of a specific crime he or she may have a reaction to it that others would not have



Type of Victim or Suspect

Decisions of the court system have shown to be greatly affected by who the victim is. Some of the factors that influence these decisions are– Social class– Sex– Race– Age – Celebrity status



Type of Victim or Suspect (continued)Celebrity status –Most people agree that O.J. Simpson was found

not guilty for the double murder charge because of his status

– The same with Michael Jackson and his sex crime charges

– On the other hand, former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress received the maximum amount of punishment for illegally carrying a gun in New York City because the district attorney wanted to make an example of him



Type of Victim or Suspect (continued)Those who know the suspect or victim may have a certain opinion about how the case should be handled



Media

• The news agencies and newspapers have a lot of power in deciding what they will and will not cover

• If they don’t cover a topic, the public may not be knowledgeable enough about it to form an opinion



Media (continued)

If a reporter has a bias for or against the topic, he or she may not including certain facts about the topic and try to influence what the public thinks about it



Media (continued)

What people see in the movies or on TV can influence them. This can be a problem:– Sometimes the producers have a bias and are

trying to appeal to people’s emotions about the topic while not including all of the facts

– Producers and actors are in the business to make money and are more concerned about the entertainment value instead of making sure all of the facts are right



Lobbyists

Lobbyists – People who are paid by companies or

organizations to represent their interests to lawmakers and influence the way lawmakers vote in favor of whom they represent

– Lots of money is paid to lobbyists to do this– The more money an effort has, the better

representation and influence they have with lawmakers



Religion

Religion–Many people form their beliefs about

issues based on their religion– A lot of the religions have common

beliefs on the same issues– Protest groups and lobbyists may

represent groups made up mostly of religious people with these shared beliefs on a particular topic



The Public’s Knowledge about the IssueWrong perception of the crime or issue– The public may want harsher penalties on crimes

that statistically are not as bad as the media claims– The public may not realize the impact certain laws

will have, even on their own way of life, until after they are passed



The Public’s Knowledge About the Issue (continued)Incorrect perceptions about the criminal justice system that have the public demanding harsher penalties– Assumptions that criminals do not take

responsibility for their actions– The belief that prisoners do not do anything in

prison but watch television, and don’t serve their whole sentence



The Public’s Knowledge About the Issue (continued)The public has the tendency to see itself as a potential victim instead of a potential suspect of a crime



Resources

• 0201622742, It’s All The Rage: Crime and Culture, Wendy Kaminer, 1995.



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Public Opinion, the Legislature, and the Court System Court Systems and Practices.

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