Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

The Judicial Branch of State Government: People, Process, and Politics. Edited by Sean O. Hogan. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC*CLIO, 2006. 1 vol. 433 p. $95.00. ISBN 1-85109-751-1.

The introduction has the startling fact that 93,000,000 lawsuits are filed in state courts each year – which is 1 case for every 3 people in the U.S. Students who need to learn about the state court systems will find a history, structure, and development in the "Introduction to State Courts and the Law." In "The Roles, Functions, and Powers of State Court," the role, work, and enforcement power of these courts are discussed. The third section describes the structure and processes including both judicial process and criminal trial process. In "The People Who Serve in State Court Systems," a description of the judges, attorneys, support staff, and jurors is given. "The Policies of State Courts" includes politics, elections, relationships among courts, policy, and the political impact of courts. The judiciary is then described state by state. Inset boxes with additional information and a few black and white photographs illustrate the text. Each essay has a bibliography. The appendixes include a 5-page glossary and a 3-page annotated bibliography.