I recently served on a jury and the case was refered to as “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vs _____”, not “The People vs ____” that’s used in TV. Do most states really bring prosecutions in the name “The People” instead of “State of X” or is this just a PA thing?
I think it all means the same thing, “The People of the State of Texas vs. ________.”
Sometimes they just say “the people” and sometimes they just say “the state of…”
One of them lawyer people will probably be able to clarify whether there are actually subtle differences, I’m sure.
I think “People vs.” and “U.S. vs.” are more commonly associated with Federal cases, but I’m not sure that there’s any hard and fast rule saying a state can’t also use “People vs.” Personally I’ve seen “State vs.” and “State of X vs.” most frequently but I’m not much of an expert.
It varies from state to state and state v. feds. It’s all custom and/or statute law as to how cases should be formed before a court.
I believe that New York State uses the “People of the State of New York vs.” label whereas other states may use “State of * vs.” and others use “Officer John Doe vs.” almost like a civil case where the arresting officer is the plaintiff…
Correct me if I’m wrong, you foreign dopers, you, but in Canada and the UK isn’t it usually “The Crown vs …” or “The Queen vs…” ?
Right…criminal cases generally get referenced in the form “R v. Do Not Taunt”
The R being short for Rex or Regina depending on the monarch’s sex. Don’t some courts in Canada change their name depending on whether a king or queen is on the throne?
The other thing is that- at least in UK/Australian/NZ usage- R v Citizen is pronounced as “Crown and Citizen”, not “Crown versus Citizen”.
Both types of citation are used in Australian jurisdictions:
We were taught to pronounce them as:
“A and B” for the civil case A v B
“The Crown against B” for the criminal case R v B
Yes, you’re correct there- Sorry, I should have mentioned that as well.
The main point, of course, is that it’s considered a spectacularly n00bish thing (in the UK/Australia/NZ, anyway) to describe a case as “Crown (or worse, “R”) versus Citizen”, which is in contrast to the US pronounciation, as I understand it.
Isn’t it confusing to use “The People v ___”? We have fifty different state court systems plus the federal. The People of California have a different set of laws than the People of New York.
Not particularly confusing. How many states’ courts does your average person hop around to, anyway? Most people are only ever going to be in a court of their own state. Criminal case captions are always “The United States v. ______” in Federal court, but vary in the state courts. In Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts (and presumably Puerto Rico), it’s “The Commonwealth of [whatever] v. _______.”
In Ohio felony cases, it’s “The State of Ohio v. _______.” In misdemeanor criminal cases in municipal court, it’s “The City of [whatever] v. ______.” We don’t use “The People v. _______” here. The only state that does that I’m aware of (although I’m sure there are others) is California.
New York uses “The People of the State of New York v. _____” In conversation, it’s just “People vs. _____.”
Good to know.
On a slight tangent… criminal cases within a state will be cited as we’ve discussed, but if such a case goes all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, it will be cited by the state’s name to distinguish it from all the others, given the USSC’s national jurisdiction. Thus, it’d be State v. Jones here in the Buckeye State, but Ohio v. Jones by the time it reached the Supremes.
How do you pronounce a civil case of A and B v C?
Michigan too.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=mi&vol=appeals\022500\6381&invol=2
Sometimes states use Commonwealth v., too: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=MA&vol=appslip/97p2331&invol=1
http://www.courts.state.pa.us/OpPosting/Supreme/out/J-15A&B-2006mo.pdf
Depends on the province. Some provinces (such as Alberta) have a Court of Queen’s Bench. Obviously, that’s because there’s a Queen currently on the throne. If Elizabeth died and Charles became King, it would be the Court of King’s Bench.
Ontario uses different appelations for its equvalent level of court–I’ve seen both Ontario Court of Justice and Ontario Superior Court of Justice as the names for Ontario’s equivalent of Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench. Not living in Ontario any more though, I’m unsure which is in current use.
And of course, each province has specialized courts for family law, small claims, etc.; plus a Court of Appeal. But these don’t carry a “King’s” or “Queen’s” designation. Neither, for that matter, does the Supreme Court of Canada.
In cases involving the monarch–such as a criminal case, which would always be styled on paper as R. v. Defendant Name–it would be acceptable to pronounce the case as either “Regina and Defendant Name” or “Crown and Defendant Name.” I’ve also heard “R [pronounced “ar”] and Defendant Name” said as well, but generally only in colloquial conversation. I believe (but am not sure) that the “Regina” usage is most common in court however; and of course “Rex” would replace “Regina” if a male was on the throne. However, the prosecution side in court would always be known as “the Crown,” and the lawyer(s) arguing that side would be the “Crown Prosecutor(s),” regardless of who occupies the throne. If that all seems a little confusing, here’s how all these terms might be used in a sentence: “In the case of R. v. Smith, the Crown’s case was argued by Sue Jones, the Crown Prosecutor in the city of …”
A and B against C. It’s sometimes (at least in the UK) pronounced ‘vee’, but as Martini Enfield noted, never ‘versus’.
Colorado also uses “The People of the State of Colorado v. ________,” at least on court documents. I don’t know how cases are referred to conversationally. Probably by case number–it’s what I use, but I’m not a lawyer or a court officer.
In citations and conversation, it looks like this:
Washington is a “State v. _____” state: