NCJ Number
15920
Date Published
1974
Length
32 pages
Annotation
STUDY OF THE JURISDICTION, ORGANIZATION, STAFFING AND OPERATIONS OF THE STATE'S APPELLATE COURT SYSTEM.
Abstract
AN OVERVIEW OF THE APPELLATE PROCESS IN CALIFORNIA FOLLOWS AN INTRODUCTORY PRESENTATION OF THE HISTORY, GROWTH AND UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE STATE'S COURTS OF APPEAL. SUBSEQUENT CHAPTERS DETAIL THE APPELLATE SYSTEM, INCLUDING STRUCTURE, FRAMEWORK, JURISDICTION AND COMPOSITION OF EACH COURT, PROCEDURES FROM TRIAL COURT JUDGMENT TO CONCLUSION OF THE APPEAL, AND PRESENT DEPLOYMENT OF PERSONNEL. A GENERAL ANALYSIS AND DISTRICT PROFILES ARE PRESENTED. SPECIFIC DIVISIONAL ARRANGEMENTS AND CASE ASSIGNMENT PROCEDURES ARE ANALYZED, AS IS THE NEED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTS. THE REPORT SUGGESTS THE OPTIMUM NUMBER OF APPELLATE DISTRICTS, COURT LOCATIONS AND ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF PROVIDING REPRESENTATION FOR INDIGENT CRIMINAL DEFENDANTS. IT CONTAINS A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE APPELLATE CASELOAD AND A REVIEW OF COURT LIBRARY RESEARCH FACILITIES. THE REPORT RECOMMENDS TOPICS WHICH WARRANT FURTHER STUDY AND EXPERIMENTATION TO FURTHER IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF OPERATIONS IN THE COURTS OF APPEAL. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)