Texas Politics - The Justice System

1	Introduction
	1.	Overview of Justice
	2.	Looking Ahead
2	Foundation of Law
	1.	Types of Law
	2.	Sources of Law
3	Organization of The Courts
	1.	Jurisdictions
	2.	Local Trial Courts
	3.	Texas District Courts
	4.	Appellate Courts
	5.	Supreme Courts
4	Selection and Qualifications
	1.	Justice and the Law
	2.	Qualifications
	3.	Characteristics
	4.	Selection and Terms
	5.	Conduct and Discipline
	6.	Impact of Selection
	7.	Future of Elections
5	The Criminal Justice System
	1.	Criminal Trials
	2.	Sentencing
	3.	Decentralization
	4.	Law Enforcement
	5.	Criminal Corrections
6	Voters and Crime
7	Conclusion

Appendices
	1.	Print-friendly format
	2.	Key words and phrases
	3.	Multimedia resources

1.2

Looking Ahead

This chapter examines the key aspects of the Texas judicial system focusing on five key areas:

Overview of types and sources of law The conceptual and constitutional foundations of the legal system in Texas
Organization and structure of the Texas judicial system General characteristics of the court system, as well as specific jurisdictions of each court
Judicial selection, qualifications and performance The process for selecting members of the state judiciary and its impact, and a detailed analysis of the formal and "informal" personal qualifications for membership
Criminal justice system in Texas Criminal trial procedure, sentencing and penalties, law enforcement, and criminal corrections
Voters and crime The evolution of the public's attitudes toward crime over the course of the past decade

Covering such a large and complex system is extremely difficult. Nevertheless, the numerous features that supplement the main text of this chapter provide additional perspectives on the justice system in Texas.

Texas Politics:
© 2009, Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services
University of Texas at Austin
3rd Edition - Revision 38