Law and government of Missouri

Government of the U.S. state of Missouri is organized into the state government and local government, including county government, and city and municipal government.

State government,Constitution

The fourth and current Constitution of Missouri, the state constitution, was adopted in 1945. It provides for three branches of government: The legislative, executive, and judicial.

Legislative branch

The legislative branch consists of the state legislature, which is the Missouri General Assembly. Like 49 of the other 50 states, it is bicameral & comprises a 163-member House of Representatives (the lower house) and a 34-member Senate. Members of both houses are subject to term limits: Senators are limited to two terms, Representatives to four, and a total of eight years for members of both houses. The state constitution provides that "The general assembly shall meet on the first Wednesday after the first Monday in January following each general election. The general assembly may provide by law for the introduction of bills during the period between the first day of December and the first Wednesday after the first Monday of January. ..The general assembly shall reconvene on the first Wednesday after the first Monday of January after adjournment at midnight on May thirtieth of the preceding year." As a part-time legislature, compensation is low, and most senators and representatives hold jobs outside their legislative duties. State legislators are paid $31,351 per legislative year. The General Assembly meets at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City.

Executive branch

The executive branch is laid out in Article IV of the state constitution. It is headed by the governor of Missouri. The governor is charged with executing the laws of the state. The governor is elected a four-year term and can serve two terms. He or she must be at least 30 years of age, a Missouri resident for at least 10 years, and a U.S. citizen for at least 15 years before holding office. There is also a lieutenant governor, the Lieutenant Governor of Missouri, required to have the same qualifications as the governor, who is an ex officio president of the state Senate. The lieutenant governor is allowed to debate any and all questions before the Senate as a whole and may cast the deciding ballot in case of a tie. Additionally, the lieutenant governor assumes the office of governor in case of the governor's death, resignation, or incapacitation. Missouri voters also elect the heads of several executive departments: the Missouri Attorney General (the state attorney general), Missouri Secretary of State (the state secretary of state), State Treasurer of Missouri (the state treasurer), and the State Auditor of Missouri (the state auditor). The requirements for holding these offices are the same as those for the governor, but only the State Treasurer has term limits similar to the governor.

Judicial branch

The judicial branch (the state courts) is established by Article V of the Missouri Constitution. The state supreme court is the Supreme Court of Missouri - it is the highest court. The Missouri Court of Appeals is the state intermediate appellate court. It is split into three districts: Western (based in Kansas City), Eastern (based in St. Louis), and Southern (based in Springfield). The state trial courts of general jurisdiction are the 45 Missouri Circuit Courts and Associate Circuit Courts within each Circuit Court.

Seven judges sit on the Supreme Court of Missouri, which meets in the state capital, Jefferson City. Unlike the life tenure appointments of federal judges (including the Supreme Court of the United States), state supreme court judges hold the judicial bench for 12 years, as do judges of the Court of Appeals. Circuit Court judges have terms of six years and Associate Circuit Court judges have terms of four years. There are no term limits for judges, though there is a mandatory retirement age of 70 years.

Missouri pioneered a unique way of selecting judges for its state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals in an effort to remove some of the partisan politics from the selection process. Article V, Section 25(a) of the Missouri Constitution specifies a process, known as the Missouri Plan, to appoint judges to the state Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and circuit and probate courts in the independent City of St. Louis, Jackson County (Kansas City), and any other circuit court where a majority of voters choose to adopt nonpartisan appointment (currently St. Louis County, Clay County, and Platte County). When a position becomes available in one of the above courts, a nonpartisan judicial nominating commission reviews applications, interviews candidates, and submits three nominees to the Governor. The Governor then appoints one of the three nominees to fill the vacant position. Finally, in the first general election one year or more after the appointment, the judge must be retained by the voters in a retention election before serving a full-term. Judges for all other courts are elected directly by the voters.

County and city government

Counties with more than 85,000 people may elect their own charters, smaller ones must use the standard charter dictated by the state.

Missouri allows cities to adopt their own charter should they chose to do so; it was the first state in the union to do so. Regardless of the freedom given to city governments, most municipalities choose to organize their local government around a mayor and a city council. Council members are typically elected in either city wide or district elections.

Political parties

Like the rest of the nation, the two dominant parties in Missouri are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party (whose state affiliates are the Missouri Democratic Party and the Missouri Republican Party, respectively). The state secretary of state also recognizes the Libertarian Party as an organized party, although only five Libertarians currently hold elected office in Missouri.

The Democratic and Republican parties have been responsible for establishing the voting districts, casting votes in the Electoral College, and fielding candidates for the general elections and help determining legislative policy and priorities.

Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School, Harvard Law or HLS,  is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University and is regarded as one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the world. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S. News and World Reports as the second best law school in the United States, behind only Yale Law School.

The current Dean of Harvard Law School is Martha Minow, who assumed the role on July 1, 2009. Harvard Law has 246 faculty members. Many are preeminent legal scholars; Harvard Law School faculty were responsible for more downloaded papers on the Social Science Research Network than any other law school, a fact only partially explained by the school's size.

Harvard Law School has produced a large number of luminaries in law and politics, including the current President of the United States, Barack Obama, and former President Rutherford B. Hayes. World leaders counted among its graduates include the current President of the Republic of China, Ma Ying-jeou; the current President of the World Bank Group, Robert Zoellick; the current United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay; and the former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson. Some 149 sitting United States federal judges are Harvard Law School graduates; six of the nine sitting justices of the Supreme Court of the United States attended the law school (Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Associate Justices Anthony Kennedy, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Antonin Scalia and Elena Kagan). Seven sitting U.S. Senators graduated from the school.

Harvard Law School has also educated a significant number of leaders and innovators in the business world. Business leaders counted among its graduates include the current Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, current Chairman of the Board and majority owner of National Amusements, billionare Sumner Redstone, current President and CEO of TIAA-CREF, Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., current CEO and Chairman of Toys "R" Us, Gerald L. Storch, and former CEO of Delta Air Lines, Gerald Grinstein, among many others.

Each class in the three-year J.D. program has approximately 550 students. The first-year (1L) class is broken into seven sections of approximately 80 students who take most first-year classes together. Harvard Law School graduates have accounted for 568 judicial clerkships in the past three years, including one-quarter of all Supreme Court clerkships. More than 120 from the last five graduating classes have obtained tenure-track law teaching positions.

History

Harvard Law School was established in 1817, making it the oldest continuously-operating law school in the nation. (William & Mary Law School opened first in 1779, but closed due to the American Civil War, reopening in 1920. The University of Maryland School of Law was chartered in 1816, but did not begin classes until 1824, and also closed during the Civil War.

Campus

Harvard Law School's campus is located just north of Harvard Yard, the historic center of Harvard University, and contains several architecturally significant buildings.

From 1849 to 1855, the Harvard Branch Railroad terminated within what would become the present Law School campus, close to its southwest edge. Austin Hall, the law school's oldest dedicated structure, designed by architect H. H. Richardson, was completed in that vicinity in 1884. The law school's student center, Harkness Commons, was designed by the Bauhaus's founder, Walter Gropius, and his firm, along with several law school dormitories. Together they make up the Harvard Graduate Center complex. Langdell Hall, the largest building on the law school campus, contains the Harvard Law Library, the most extensive academic law library in the world.

As of 2010, a new complex is rising on the northwest corner of the law school campus, designed by traditionalist architect Robert A. M. Stern. The complex is set to marry the architectural themes present in Austin and Langdell Halls, as well as the Gropius buildings.

Notable alumni

Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th President of the United States, and Barack Obama, the 44th and current President of the United States, graduated from HLS. Obama was the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review and is now the first African-American President of the United States. His wife Michelle Obama is also a graduate of Harvard Law School. Ma Ying-jeou, the current president of the Republic of China (Taiwan), received his SJD from Harvard. Past presidential candidates who are HLS graduates include Michael Dukakis and Ralph Nader. The plurality of US Senators with law degrees, and a significant number of Massachusetts governors, graduated from HLS as well.

Fourteen of the school's graduates have served on the Supreme Court of the United States, more than any other law school, and another four justices attended the school without graduating. Six of the current nine members of the court attended HLS: Chief Justice John Roberts, and Associate Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, who also served as the Dean of Harvard Law School from 2003 to 2009. Ginsburg transferred to and graduated from Columbia Law School. Past Supreme Court justices from Harvard Law School include David Souter, Harry Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Louis Brandeis, Felix Frankfurter, Lewis Powell (LLM), and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., among others.

Attorneys General Alberto Gonzales and Janet Reno, among others, and noted federal judges Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Michael Boudin of the First Circuit Court of Appeals, Laurence Silberman of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Pierre Leval of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, among many other judicial figures, graduated from the school. The current Commonwealth Solicitor General of Australia Stephen Gageler SC graduated from Harvard with an LL.M.

Famous legal academics who graduated from Harvard Law include Erwin Chemerinsky, Ronald Dworkin, Susan Estrich, Arthur R. Miller, William L. Prosser, John Sexton, Kathleen Sullivan, Cass Sunstein, Michael Kinsley, and Laurence Tribe.

In addition to their achievements in law and politics, Harvard Law alumni have also excelled in other fields. Many have gone on to become influential journalists, writers, media and business leaders and even professional athletes.

In popular culture

Books

A number of notable novels have been inspired by the student experience at the school.

The Paper Chase is a novel set amid a student's first ("One L") year at the school. It was written by John Jay Osborn, Jr., who studied at the school. The book was later turned into a film and a television series (see below).

Scott Turow wrote a memoir of his experience as a first-year law student at Harvard, One L.

Richard Kahlenberg's account of his experiences, Broken Contract: A Memoir of Harvard Law School. Kahlenberg breaks from the other two authors and describes the experience of the final two years at the school, claiming that the environment drives students away from their public interest aspirations and toward work in high-paying law firms.

The book Brush With the Law, by Robert Byrnes and Jaime Marquart, is an account of the authors' three years in Stanford and Harvard Law Schools. The authors indulge in alcohol, drugs, womanizing, and gambling before passing their exams and moving on to a successful legal career.

Film and television

Several movies and television shows take place at least in part at the school. Most of them have scenes filmed on location at or around Harvard University. They include:

The Social Network (2010)

Legally Blonde (2001)

How High (2001)

The Firm (1993)

Soul Man (1986)

The Paper Chase (1973)

Love Story (1970)

Love Story in Harvard (Korean TV series, 2004)

Many popular movies and television shows also feature characters introduced as Harvard Law graduates. Some of these include:

Suits (2011)

Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

Boston Legal (2004–2009)

NCIS (2003–)

Two Weeks Notice (2002)

The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)

Passions (1999–2008)

Sex and the City (1998)

The Practice (1997–2004)

The West Wing (1999–2006)

Ally McBeal (1997–2002)

Judging Amy (1999–2005)

Quiz Show (1994)

The Firm (1993)

A Few Good Men (1992)

Law & Order (1990–)

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990–96)

Matlock (1986–95)

Legally Blonde (2001)

Entourage (2004–)

Oz (1997–2003)

Blue Bloods (TV series) (2010)

New York City Civil Court

New York City Civil Court is a court hearing civil cases within New York City. By volume, it is the largest civil jurisdiction court in the United States, and handles about 25% of the total filings of the entire New York state court system.

The court's jurisdiction includes civil actions for damages arising within the five counties of New York City involving claims of up to $25,000, as well as residential and commercial landlord-tenant disputes. The court also hears certain cases transferred from the New York State Supreme Court. Small claims cases (up to $5,000) also fall within the court's jurisdiction. Generally speaking, the court does not have any equitable jurisdiction, but can award money damages or possession of property only.

The Civil Court was formed in 1962 in a consolidation of predecessor courts. There is a branch of the Civil Court in each of the five boroughs of New York City. In other parts of New York State, the role of the Civil Court is performed by various local courts.

Judges of the Civil Court are elected to 10-year terms in either borough-wide or district elections (the districts are a holdover from the old New York City municipal court system).

The Civil Court districts are parts of the boroughs, and do not cross borough lines. Party leaders frequently designate candidates for the Civil Court Judgeships, who then face an open primary against others who qualify for the ballot. The party machine usually manages to elect most of its judicial candidates. Vacancies on the Civil Court are filled by mayoral appointment.

Civil Court Judges may be designated to sit in the city's Criminal Court or as Acting Justices of the New York State Supreme Court for either the civil or criminal term. In addition, Civil Court Judges can be assigned to a borough they were not elected in, but they must live in the borough or district where elected.

Notable judges

Robin Garson, wife of Gerald Garson, former NY Supreme Court Justice

New York City Criminal Court

New York City Criminal Court is the general term describing the entry-level court for criminal cases in the five boroughs of New York City.

The Criminal Court hears misdemeanors, and some traffic infractions. Criminal Court also arraigns persons accused of felonies. Felony charges are ultimately heard in New York State Supreme Court.

Most people who are arrested and prosecuted in New York City will appear before a Criminal Court judge for arraignment. They may share a holding cell behind the courtroom. In New York City, the time from arrest to arraignment in Criminal Court is about 24 hours.

Given the volume of arrests in New York City, Criminal Court arraignments are held day and night, seven days a week, 365 days a year, from 9:00 AM to 1:00 AM.

At the arraignment, the primary issue is whether or not the Court will decide that bail is required. If the Court does not set bail, the accused is released on his own recognizance. If the judge decides that the accused cannot be trusted to return to court without some encouragement, the judge may set bail.

The decisions to set bail and the amount of bail to set are discretionary, and depend on three factors: 1) prior criminal history, 2) the seriousness of the felony, and 3) community ties of the accused.

Every person who is arrested is entitled to be read the accusations against him or her formally. However, this is a rare event - tradition in New York City is that a copy of the charges be provided at arraignment to the defense lawyer, who is expected to waive the formal public reading. Generally, the defense enters a plea of not guilty.

Next, the prosecutor provides defense counsel with certain "notices" that are required by law. Although these notices vary depending on the type of case and actual facts presented, they generally relate to notifying the defense about certain types of evidence in the Government's possession. For example, one type of notice frequently presented at arraignment notifies the defense that the Government has a statement from the defendant. At the arraignment, the notices are rattled off in quick succession and identified by Criminal Procedure Law references. Once all the notices are handed to the defense, the judge usually asks to hear the Government's position on bail. Usually, the prosecutor will request bail and briefly outline the basis for the request. The defense lawyer is then afforded an opportunity to speak, and will usually seek the defendant's release from custody. Finally, after hearing from both sides, the judge decides on bail.

After arraignment, the misdemeanors, violations and other various low-level infractions are tracked to "All Purpose Parts", or courtrooms where the cases will be negotiated, resolved, or readied for trial. Once certain procedural requirements are met, the defense will frequently request the opportunity to file pretrial motions, through which they will request certain pretrial hearings, if required. Typically, there are three classic types of pretrial hearings, all of which relate to testing the admissibility of different kinds of evidence which the Government intends to use at trial. Specifically, the three classic pretrial hearings challenge the admissibility of: 1) identification evidence (like a lineup); 2) confessions; and 3) physical evidence, obtained either from the accused, or from a place where the accused has an expectation of privacy. Once pretrial hearings are completed, the case is considered ready for trial and will usually be transferred to a courtroom that specializes in handling trials.

New York City Criminal Court is also responsible for handling felony accusations beyond the arraignment. In New York, the Government is required to seek and obtain an indictment in order to prosecute a felony case to its conclusion at a trial. Issued by a Grand Jury, an indictment is permission for the Government to prosecute an individual for a felony (or sometimes a misdemeanor).

While the burden on the Government required to obtain the Grand Jury indictment is extremely low, the Grand Jury process is time-consuming. It has fallen to New York City Criminal Court, then, to be responsible for unindicted felony cases. Such cases are adjourned from arraignments to various Criminal Court courtrooms to monitor their progress toward indictment.

Once an indictment is issued, the case is transferred to New York State Supreme Court, where it will be tried.

Judges of the Criminal Court are appointed by the Mayor of New York to a 10-year term. Several Criminal Court Judges are designated as Acting Justices of the New York State Supreme Court. In addition, Judges of the New York City Civil Court are designated to sit in the Criminal Court.

Traffic violations in New York City are handled in the Traffic Violations Bureau, which operates under the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. The Bureau is an administrative law agency and not an Article III-type court.

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