. Government and politics in Virginia . be punished by imprison-ment in the state penitentiary. Thus small cases and trialsfor petty offenses are left to the justices* and police courts. THE CITY OR CORPORATION COURTS. In additionto the circuit court, every city of ten thousand inhabitantsmay have an additional court known as a corporation which have as many as thirty thousand inhabitantshave a number of different courts, each with the power, orjurisdiction, to try cases of certain kinds prescribed by thelaw. It is natural that many more cases should arise in largecities than in f
. Government and politics in Virginia . be punished by imprison-ment in the state penitentiary. Thus small cases and trialsfor petty offenses are left to the justices* and police courts. THE CITY OR CORPORATION COURTS. In additionto the circuit court, every city of ten thousand inhabitantsmay have an additional court known as a corporation which have as many as thirty thousand inhabitantshave a number of different courts, each with the power, orjurisdiction, to try cases of certain kinds prescribed by thelaw. It is natural that many more cases should arise in largecities than in farming communities. A special and moreelaborate system of city courts is therefore provided. THE SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS. At the top ofthe system of courts provided for Virginia stands the SupremeCourt of Appeals. This court has the power to hear caseswhich may have been tried in the circuit courts and the variouscity courts, and which may be carried, in accordance with thelaw, to the highest court of the state for a last hearing. The. oo OS o 108 GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS IN VIRGINIA Supreme Court holds sessions at different times of the yearin Richmond, Staunton, and Wytheville. THE JUDGES. The justices courts are presided over byjustices of the peace, elected by the people of the district inwhich they serve. All the other courts in the state, however,are presided over by judges. For each circuit court and foreach city court one judge is chosen by the General Assemblyfor a term of eight years. The Supreme Court of Appealsconsists of five judges chosen by the General Assembly for aterm of twelve years each. It is provided that the judges inall of these courts shall be men trained in the law, either byhaving previously held a judicial position, or by having prac-tised law for a period of at least five years. It is providedalso that their salaries shall not be increased or diminishedduring their terms of office. This is in order to prevent theGeneral Assembly from gaining any con
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