CJA 454 Week 3 Assignment 2

CJA 454 Week 3 Assignment 2 | University of Phoenix | Assignment Help 

Case Study: An Unmanageable Case Management Quandary

Write a 1,750- to 2,100-word paper that answers the Ch. 8 An Unmanageable Case Management Quandary case study questions.

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Chapter 8 Court Issues and Practices

I. Carol’s Construct for Court Chaos

Carol Smith, a divorced mother of one, employed as an assistant manager at a large discount center, was denied custody of her 10-year-old son following a bitter divorce (in which her husband accused her of neglect and inattentive behavior toward the child). In July, she filed several actions against the county and other parties, alleging violations of her civil rights. When these petitions were denied, she petitioned the state Supreme Court, writing a letter about her case that stated in part, “This county’s courts and social services do not have a bit of compassion for anyone, and cared nothing about protecting my rights or administering due process to me. I should not have to be paying all of these lawyer’s fees and losing so much sleep about getting my son back. No one should have to turn to such actions as the World Trade Center to get some proper attention, but that is the only thing some people will listen to.” Smith later told former coworkers at a grocery store that if the state Supreme Court would not hear her case, she would go to the state capital “and shoot up the place.” Then, when that court did decline to review her case, she became distraught. A number of her neighbors were very alarmed as she kept ranting about her violent intentions. One day she left her home and traveled to the state capital, where she went to the Supreme Court building. While there, she called a relative back home and stated that she had “found her purpose in life” that she “planned to shoot the top judge” and had bought a gun. The relative contacted the police, who arrested her for making threats against the judge’s life.

Questions for Discussion

Looking at this case from a threat perspective:

II. An Unmanageable Case-Management Quandary

You are the administrator for a court with 50 employees. This court, which used to dispose of about 700 cases per month, now hears an average of 100 criminal and 400 civil cases per month. Case filings have doubled in the past 7 years. The present “hybrid” combination of the individual and master case-management systems has evolved over a long period of time through tradition and expediency. A growing caseload and increasing difficulties in avoiding a backlog, however, have prompted the judges to rethink their present system. Criminal cases that formerly reached final disposition in 1 month now require 2 to 3 months. The situation shows no signs of improving in the foreseeable future. Again, the court has a mixed calendar system. Two judges are assigned to hear criminal cases and motions for a 1-month period, whereas the remaining four judges hear all manner of civil cases on a random basis on the filing of civil complaints. The judges are responsible for the management of these cases until final disposition. At the end of the 1-month period, the two judges hearing criminal cases return to the civil division and two other judges rotate onto the criminal bench; any pending criminal cases or motions are then heard by these two incoming criminal judges. One of the judges hears all juvenile-related cases in addition to any assignment in the criminal and civil divisions. The court collects statistics on the number of court filings and motions filed in each division on a month-to-month basis.

Questions for Discussion