American government, military, courts, and other systems

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Describe the merit system?

The merit system is based on the ability to perform a job and not on political or other connections. Merit system requires raises, job transfers, and other changes be based on the performance of an employee. I the federal government the merit system was established after the Civil War in response to the political machines where jobs were given to those who were politically positioned or had political connections. The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act is the law that established the merit system (Wikepedia.com)

Describe the various types of courts?

The court system was set up under Article 3 of the US Constitution. The court system of the United States is extensive from local criminal and civil courts. Those courts deal with criminal activity within the state and charged by and prosecuted by the state's attorney or district attorney. Each state has a court of appeals as well as a supreme court. The federal government also has criminal and civil courts where defendant are charged with and prosecuted for crimes or civil disputes are resolved. The federal government also has special courts for bankruptcy claims, which are all filed in the federal system. There are courts for appeals and finally the United Supreme Court, the highest court in the country. All decisions rendered here are the final say in a legal matter.

The federal system is made up of district courts. (information on the federal system is found at http://www.uscourts.gov/districtcourts.html )
District courts can hear cases both criminal and civil. There are jury trials for both courts as well. Juries are made up of citizens called to hear the evidence and render decisions as peers of defendants and plaintiffs. There are 94 district courts. Included in these districts courts are those in Puerto Rico, The U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam. Also, it is in the district court system that the bankruptcy courts exist. The Court of International Trade and the Court of Federal Claims are also in the district courts.

Appeals courts are important because they assure that court systems render fair decisions. The district courts are set up into 12 regions, each with an appeals court. Appeals courts can hear criminal and civil matters, decisions made by federal agencies and both the Court of International Trade and Court of Federal Claims, and also on patents.

The most important court is the Supreme Court. It has nine members and like appeals judges, they must be nominated by the President and approved by the Senate. The court has a Chief Justice and eight associate judges. They hear a limited number of cases each year and it is solely the discretion of the court as to which cases they accept. Their term starts on October first each year and concludes in June or early July. Appeals and Supreme Court judges are appointed for life. It is not unusual for a Supreme Court judge to serve for more than 30 years. ( fun fact: the Supreme Court still uses the quill pen)
People at the lower levels can request a trial by jury (Amendment 6 of the US Constitution allows for the right to both a speedy trial and the right to confront witnesses). Civil cases may sometimes be heard by only a judge (many juvenile courts are run in this manner as well.) Other times a deal between the prosecution and defendant for certain allowances may be made and this preempts a trial. This is called a plea bargain. It is used more in recent decades as a way to prevent the continued overload of court cases to be heard. All defendants, criminal and civil are accorded due process. The process is in relation to the legal rights of a citizen in relation to life, liberty, and property. All are protected under due process under the laws of the U. S. Constitution.

One part of the court procedure is the something called the Uniform Commercial Code which allows creditors to file notices within a system that allows access to others involved in giving credit or accepting credit from others. It is mostly used to identify assets used as ...