Jurisdiction and Powers
The bifurcated system of separate final appeal courts for civil and criminal cases exists only in Oklahoma and neighboring Texas, meaning that, unlike most states, Oklahoma has two courts of last resort. The Oklahoma Supreme Court, which is considered the first among equals of the two, determines all issues of a civil nature, and the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals decides all criminal matters. Regardless of where the appeal comes from, the Court of Criminal Appeals is always the first court to hear an appeal involving the death sentence in Oklahoma.
Whenever there is dispute involving whether a case falls under the jurisdiction of the Oklahoma Supreme Court or Court of Criminal Appeals, the case is heard before the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
Read more about this topic: Oklahoma Court Of Criminal Appeals
Famous quotes containing the words jurisdiction and/or powers:
“The putting into force of laws which shall secure the conservation of our resources, as far as they may be within the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, including the more important work of saving and restoring our forests and the great improvement of waterways, are all proper government functions which must involve large expenditure if properly performed.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“Exploitation and oppression is not a matter of race. It is the system, the apparatus of world-wide brigandage called imperialism, which made the Powers behave the way they did. I have no illusions on this score, nor do I believe that any Asian nation or African nation, in the same state of dominance, and with the same system of colonial profit-amassing and plunder, would have behaved otherwise.”
—Han Suyin (b. 1917)