CRIMINAL JURISDICTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



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dollars, or thirty days), and the highest in Kan- 

 sas (five hundred dollars, or one year). In Ne- 

 vada justices try not only misdemeanors, but 

 also violations of corporation ordinances. 



A somewhat remarkable feature in the juris- 

 prudence of Maine is the power conferred upon 

 justices of the peace to issue writs of habeas 

 corpus in certain cases a provision not found 

 in the penal code of any other State, except 

 in South Carolina, where two trial justices, 

 acting jointly, may issue writs of habeas corpus 

 in like manner and with like effect as judges of 

 any court of record. 



The trial of violations of corporation ordi- 

 nances is intrusted in some States to police 

 justices ; in others to police courts, mayor's 

 courts, or recorder's courts, created either un- 

 der a general law or by special act. 



The survival of usages derived from the 

 English system of practice in criminal proceed- 

 ings is noticeable in several States, particularly 

 in the maintenance of the distinction between 

 the Court of Oyer and Terminer and the Court 

 of General Quarter Sessions, in New Jersey 

 (where the justices of the Supreme Court and of 

 the Court of Common Pleas are ex-officio judges 

 of both courts) ; and of the distinction between 

 the Supreme Court and the Court of Common 

 Pleas in Rhode Island (whose jurisdiction is 

 concurrent, except in Providence County, and 

 the Supreme judges are ex-officio judges of 

 Common Pleas). In Delaware the same body 

 of judges constitute the bench, not only of the 

 Superior Court, but also of the Court of Oyer 

 and Terminer and of the Court of General 

 Sessions. 



APPELLATE JURISDICTION. There are some 

 striking departures from the ordinary system 

 of appeals from the decisions of inferior courts. 

 In Delaware, an appeal may be taken in a bas- 

 tardy case directly from a justice of the peace 

 to the Superior Court, which is the court of 

 last resort ; but the decisions of the Courts of 

 General Sessions and of Oyer and Terminer, in 

 criminal cases, are final. The peculiar organi- 

 zation of the bench of the Delaware courts 

 has the effect of depriving a convicted prisoner 

 of the right of appeal. 



In Colorado, an appeal may be taken from a 

 justice of the peace to the County Court, which 

 has no original criminal jurisdiction, but no 

 appeal lies from the County Court to any 

 other. 



In New York and New Jersey, a court known 

 as the Supreme Court is interposed between 

 the inferior courts and the Court of Appeals. 

 Theoretically, the Supreme Court has original 

 criminal jurisdiction ; but, practically, it does 

 not exercise it. An appeal lies from its decis- 

 ion to the Court of Appeals. The system of 

 appellate courts in Illinois is somewhat simi- 

 lar ; but these courts have no original jurisdic- 

 tion, criminal or civil. There is a system of 

 district courts in Ohio. The occasion for the 

 creation of these special courts of appellate ju- 

 risdiction probably was a desire to relieve the 



dockets of the courts of ultimate resort in the 

 States where they exist. 



In Texas, the Court of Appeals is the court 

 of last resort in criminal proceedings only ; the 

 Supreme Court enjoys the ultimate jurisdiction 

 in civil cases. 



INVESTITURE OF JUDGES. There are three 

 modes of investing a judge with the authority 

 pertaining to his office: 1. Election by the 

 people ; 2. Election by the representatives of 

 the people ; and, 3. Appointment by the Ex- 

 ecutive. 



In one-half the States of the Union the first 

 is the only mode in use ; and in seven others 

 a marked preference for this mode is mani- 

 fested. 



Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, and New 

 Hampshire are the only States in which inves- 

 titure by appointment is the mode exclusively 

 practiced ; but in New Jersey all judges are 

 appointed, except justices of the peace ; in 

 Florida, all except mayors ; and in Mississippi, 

 all except mayors and justices. 



The intermediate method (investiture through 

 election by the Legislature) appears to have the 

 preference in the States of Rhode Island, South 

 Carolina, and Virginia. 



In Connecticut and Georgia, a mixed system 

 prevails. 



Where appointments are made by the Gov- 

 ernor, they are in some States subject to con- 

 firmation by the Senate, and in others not. In 

 New Hampshire they must receive the unani- 

 mous approval of the Governor's Council, who 

 also sign the judges' commissions. 



TENURE OF OFFICE. In Massachusetts, all 

 judges above the grade of trial justices, includ- 

 ing even the judges of police courts, are ap- 

 pointed for life. The only other life tenures 

 are those of the judges of the Superior Court 

 in Delaware, and of the Supreme judges in 

 Florida, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. 



The tenure of office of other judges, above 

 the grade of justice of the peace, varies from 

 two to twenty-one years, the longest term be- 

 ing that of the judges of the Supreme Court 

 of Pennsylvania. In the majority of cases it 

 is four or six years. 



Justices of the peace are usually elected or 

 appointed for from two to four years; but 

 longer terms are provided in New Hampshire, 

 New Jersey, and Pennsylvania (five years each), 

 in Tennessee (six years), in Delaware, Maine, 

 and Massachusetts (seven years each), and in 

 Florida (eight years). 



REMOVAL FROM OFFICE. A judge may be re- 

 moved from office either by impeachment, by 

 the act of the Governor (whether at his discre- 

 tion or on address of both Houses of the Legis- 

 lature), by joint resolution of the legislative 

 body, by the action of a court, or on convic- 

 tion of crime or of misfeasance or malfeasance 

 in office. Instances of all these modes of re- 

 moval occur. In some cases no mode of re- 

 moval is prescribed in the statutes, but it is 

 probable that indictment and conviction would, 



