| Technology in the Courtroom |
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| Courts are increasingly using technology to enhance the quality and the effectiveness of court proceedings. New York, Florida, Arizona, Minnesota, and Delaware all have state-of-the-art courtrooms. Technology is being used to increase the trier of fact's understanding of the evidence while reducing the length of trials and their cost. Information related to the case is stored and presented electronically. A CD-ROM will hold a transcript, an audio and a video recording of the trial and all evidence that was presented at trial, making a multi-media trial record. This article discusses how technology is being used in today's state-of-the art courtroom. More... |
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| Court Personnel |
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| The persons involved in a trial, besides the parties, include the judge, clerk of the court, court reporter, bailiff, staff attorneys, clerks and lawyers.
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| Standards of Review for Appeals of Federal Administrative Hearing Decisions |
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| Federal agencies make administrative decisions in regulatory, entitlement, and enforcement cases. The agency can make an informal decision or hold a formal administrative hearing in a case. If the person or company affected by the decision is dissatisfied with the agency's decision, the decision is subject to review by a higher level within the agency or by a court. This article discusses the standards of review applied by a court in evaluating federal administrative agency decisions. More... |
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| The Office of the Independent Counsel |
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| Following the Watergate scandal, Congress passed the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (Ethics Act). The law created a Special Prosecutor (the name was later changed to Independent Counsel) to investigate possible crimes by high government officials. The Independent Counsel provision of the Ethics Act expired, and new Independent Counsel legislation that was passed in 1994 expired in 1999 and was not renewed. The Attorney General of the United States now has sole discretion to appoint an outside prosecutor. More... |
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| A Court's Authority to Resolve Disputes |
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| The framers of the United States Constitution separated the functions of government among three separate branches of government--legislative (the Congress), executive (the President), and the judiciary (the courts). The goal was to provide a system of checks and balances among the three branches so that no one branch could become too strong. Each branch of government has certain powers, and these powers are limited by another branch. More... |
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