| Chapter
9
Covering
Civil Courts
By Maurice
Possley
Arguments and Opinions
In many cases, though not all, appellate courts schedule oral arguments before
panels of three judges. At these hearings, attorneys for both sides are allowed
a limited time to present their cases directly to the appellate court judges.
At the close of these arguments, the cases are typically taken “under
advisement,” and nothing further is heard about the case until the
decision is handed down, almost always in the form of a written opinion.
The opinions will list the judges who participated in the decision
and which judge authored the opinion. An exception is a per
curiam opinion, which is unsigned by a particular judge and
is considered to be the opinion of the entire court. The opinions
may also contain the names of judges who dissent with the majority.
If dissenters write opposing opinions, these can provide valuable
balance to accounts of the decisions.
As with most criminal cases, appeals begin with an intermediate
appellate court before proceeding to the Supreme Court—whether
it be state or federal. There is no guarantee that a case will
be accepted by a Supreme Court.
A party who loses an appeal on the intermediate level may petition
the appellate court for a hearing before all judges on the appeals
court. Such a hearing is called an en banc hearing.
The U.S. Supreme Court requires a petition be filed seeking permission
to appeal. This petition is known as a writ of certiorari.
Appellate cases, no matter whether decided on the intermediate
level or at the Supreme Court level, are almost always decided
by majority vote. Occasionally, appellate courts are so fragmented
that a plurality (4-3-2, for example) ends up deciding a case.
Other Civil Courts
There are other civil proceedings that play out in a variety of legal settings,
some of them highly specialized. These include juvenile courts, divorce courts
(sometimes called family courts), bankruptcy courts and probate courts. Reporters
will find themselves in these courts because of specific cases rather than
generalized daily coverage.
Divorce cases primarily are news because of the parties involved—celebrities,
politicians, athletes and other well-known public figures. It is
a repository of personal and financial information about individuals
that largely are entitled to their own privacy. However, divorce
files are rich with information about public employees, politicians
and others in the public eye. Divorces in some jurisdictions, such
as Texas, are still handled by a jury. (In Dallas in 2004, a jury
refused to grant a divorce to a couple who wanted one.)
Issues of child custody, psychiatric examinations, allegations
of child abuse and marital infidelity may prompt issues of reporter
access and judges may seek to seal records or limit access to hearings.
In these instances, as in all cases where judges seek to limit
access, remember to operate from the position that court proceedings
are presumed to be open to the public and the press unless a judge
makes a specific finding—with articulated reasons—for
closing any portion of a hearing or trial.
Historically, some great cases and disputes have evolved from
divorce disputes. For example, in 1989, in the small town of Maryville,
TN., a couple–Junior and Mary Sue Davis–were getting
a divorce. The separation was amicable–he got the car, she
got the house. The only thing they disagreed on was the future
of the seven frozen embryos they had created at a local in vitro
fertilization clinic in an attempt to have a baby while they were
happily married. Mary Sue claimed the embryos were life and wanted
the embryos to have them implanted so she could have children.
Junior argued they were property and wanted to have them destroyed.
If Mary Sue did have the embryos implanted and had children, Junior
would be the legal father and responsible for child support. This
simple divorce case led to a constitutional showdown over when
life begins. The case remains a nationally cited precedent to this
day.
Probate courts are where estates and private property are transferred
or disposed of following someone’s death. Like divorce court
records, much of the activity in this court is not of interest
to the media unless the parties involved are of public interest
on their own.
Bankruptcy courts, located with in the federal court system, are
a gold mine of financial information about businesses and individuals.
Again, most reporters find themselves in bankruptcy court because
of specific individuals or companies whose profiles are well known.
The most common types of bankruptcy are Chapter 7 (liquidation
or dissolution), Chapter 11 (used by business to stave off and
pay back creditors while remaining in business) and Chapter 13
(wage earners seeking to pay off debts).
In bankruptcy cases, a trustee usually is appointed to oversee
the handling of the disposition of assets—if there are any—to
creditors. The trustee can be a good source of information and
in some instances will be the individual who uncovers fraud or
corruption—which can lead to referrals to authorities for
investigation and possible criminal charges.
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