The local, federal, and state courts contain the docket and calendar cases. The dockets in courts consist of materials that are filed by people involved in the proceedings of a court or by the court. The court is therefore mandated with the assignment of a docket number to each case. A program called "The Docket Management Program" was introduced to ensure that every case gets fair attention depending on the nature of the case (Steelman 2008). This program has facilitated the disposition of incidents and cases on time and also improved justice quality. This ensures that the litigants attain equal treatment, and the case is resolved on time since the court is involved actively in overseeing the events and time. The three courts have a judiciary system called Case Management/Electronic Case File that allows handling of files by the court with no loss of paperwork or data and also the management of records. Case flow management is efficient since it provides an avenue for serving justice to the cases and even to court and judicial systems.
Continuance in cases refers to granting more time for preparation for a trial either during or after trial. Continuance and calendaring would be different between the federal and the state system. The federal court does not grant an extension on criminal cases unless decided otherwise. In the fact of a state court, they consider the calendar and the criminal case and determine if there is allotted time and also find the reason for the continuance to grant it. The presiding judge in the case of Jane, Hermane, and Jed does not want an extension since his next ten months are blocked with trials. However, this case requires the intervention of the District Attorney from Washington D.C. (USA Courts 2017). This scenario does not provide a justified reason for a continuous period of four months. If evidence had been lost or failure of a witness from showing up would have led to the consideration of the continuance.
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Following the U.S. Constitution, the federal government has less power compared to the state government. This kind of limitation also limits the type of cases that the federal courts can handle. The state government passes the laws that mostly affect people, and therefore, the state courts have a mandate to handle disputes governing people's lives. The federal and the state courts differ in their jurisdiction, which mainly focuses on the type of cases that each can handle (Carp et al. 2017). The difference in the jurisdiction helps in the creation and maintenance of efficiency and effectiveness in the judicial system since everything is kept in order. The courts, therefore, do not engage in the making of laws but the interpretation of rules.
The effect of the venue in the scenario plays an important role. This is because the criminal activity took place in town, which gave the option of the case to take place in town. There was absolutely no reason or logical explanation to change the venue. Change of venue would have brought inconveniences, which include delays in other areas but within the court system boundaries or lines. The witnesses of the crime would also be residing close to the areas where the crime took place. This helps save time and enhance efficiency in the process because parties involved live close to the venue of the hearing.
If the case were granted the four-month continuance, it would affect the judge's calendar tremendously forcing him, or she alter the schedule to fix the situation. This would lead to an extension of the other cases to further dates, which increases the workload of cases hence inefficiency in the judicial system. The defense team is also likely to suffer from an inability to represent the client well with the best defense grounds. This will, in turn, require the defense to ask for a continuance as a result of the delay in receiving the evidence for them to defend their client in the best way.
In conclusion, every court system has a calendar and docket. The calendar ensures that all cases are assigned dates for hearing to avoid confusion. The docket ensures that are case files are well arranged and attached a docket number. The Docket Management Program provides that all cases are given the attention that they deserve. State and federal courts differ when it comes to granting of continuance in different cases. The jurisdiction that is bestowed to the state court is different from that of federal court. The venue in a case is essential to ensure efficiency in the judicial system. Granting of continuance in a case causes inconveniences and hence inefficiency in the courts.
References
Carp, A.R, Holmes, M.L., Manning, L.K, Stidham, R. (2017) Judicial process in America (10th Ed). Thousand Oaks CA: C.Q. Press.
Steelman, D.C. (2008, February). Improving case flow management: A Brief Guide. Retrieved from National Center for State Courts NCSC Library eCollection
United States Courts. (N.D.). Electronic Filing (CM/ECF). Retrieved from United States Courts.
