Transcript Federal Courts - Lewiston Independent School District #1

Federal Court System
Chapter 18
I.
The National Judiciary
A. The Creation of a National Judiciary
• 1. Federal court system established by Article III of the
Constitution.
• 2. Two separate court systems in the United States.
– a. Federal system of courts.
– b. State courts (hear majority of cases).
•
•
Magistrate, District, Appeals, Supreme
3. Congress has created two types of federal courts.
– a. Constitutional courts
• 1. United States Supreme Court
• 2. Courts of appeals
• 3. District courts
– b. Legislative courts: limited range of specialized cases.
Legislative Oversight.
B. Jurisdiction in the Federal Courts
• 1. Interpretation and application of the Constitution or of any
federal statute or treaty.
• 2. Cases that arise on the high Seas or in navigable waters of the
United States.
• 3. Cases that do not fall under the jurisdiction of the federal courts
are within the jurisdiction of the State courts.
• 4. Types of jurisdiction
– a. Exclusive jurisdiction: ONLY be heard in the federal courts.
– b. Concurrent jurisdiction: share the power to hear cases (either
the federal or state courts).
– c. Original jurisdiction: the power to hear a case first (district
court)
– d. Appellate jurisdiction: the authority of a court to review
decision of inferior (lower) courts on questions of law.
• 5. Independent judiciary: courts are to be free from outside
influence.
C. Appointment of Judges
• 1. Federal judges are nominated by the President and confirmed by
the Senate.
– a.
CANNOT be removed from office by President
– b.
Removal through impeachment.
D. Terms and Pay of Judges
• 1. Federal constitutional judges, Article III judges, are appointed for
LIFE
• 2. Congress sets judicial salaries and benefits.
II. The Inferior Courts
A. The United States District Courts
• 1. Created in 1879 as trial courts
• 2. There are 94 districts. Each state has at least one district court. (CA, NY, TX all
have 4).
• 3. 80 percent of the federal cases that come before federal judges are tried in the
federal district courts.
• 4. U.S. District courts cover an assigned territory that is based primarily on
geographic regions. Each judicial district has two judges
• 5. U.S. District Courts have original jurisdiction over most of the cases heard in the
federal courts.
– a. U.S. District Courts hear both civil and criminal cases.
– b. U.S. District Courts use both grand and petit juries.
– Grand jury: 16-23 people and hears charges against a person accused
of committing a crime; if believes there is enough evidence to bring
the person to trial then it issues an indictment.
– petit jury: 6 or 12 people, it is a trial jury and it has the job of
weighing the evidence presented at a trial in a criminal or civil case;
in a criminal case it can pass a verdict of guilty or not guilty
B. The United States Courts of Appeals
• 1. U.S. Court of appeals were created in 1891 as
“Gatekeepers" to the Supreme Court.
– a.
Relieve the United States Supreme Court of
hearing most appeals.
– b. Only appellate jurisdiction, no original jurisdiction.
• 2. There are now 13 courts (12 judicial circuits or regions
with one court each, one special appeals court with national
jurisdiction.).
• 3. Appellate courts are regional and usually hear appeals from
courts within their circuits.
• 4. Cases brought before a panel of three judges usually hears
the federal courts of appeals.
• 5. Decided in 3 ways: uphold, reverse, or send case back to
the lower court to be tired again
• 6. Decisions are final unless appealed to the SC
C. Two Other Constitutional Courts
• 1. The International Trade Court
• 2. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
– a.
hear appeals from the International Trade Court, the
Court of Veteran Appeals, the Merit Systems Protection Board.
III. The Supreme Court: “Court of Last
Resort”
A. Justices: 9 justices (Chief Justice and 8 associate justices).
B. Judicial Review
• 1. decide the constitutionality of an act of government.
• 2. Marbury v. Madison, 1803.
• 3. Ultimate authority on constitutionality
• 4. Disputes between States and between States and the Federal
C. Jurisdiction
• 1. SC has both original and appellate jurisdiction
– a. Majority of its cases are appeals.
– b. Original and exclusive jurisdiction over:
• i. Issues between States
• ii. Cases against ambassadors, or other public
ministers.
• 2. SC has almost complete control over its own caseload.
D. How Cases Reach the Court
• 1. "The Rule of Four“: four judges must agree to hear case
• Then placed on Court's docket.
• 2. Writ of certiorari —order made by SC to a lower court,
requesting the records.
– a. From State high courts and federal appellate courts.
• 3. Some sent to by certificate
– a. Request by a lower court that SC rule on a specific legal issue.
– b. Extremely rare.
E. The Supreme Court at Work
• 1. Briefs are filed with the court (written documents supporting one
side of a case)
– a. Statements and facts from "friends of the Court" (experts)
– b. Statements and facts from Interest groups. Relevant cases
pending before the court
– c. Cite legal precedents
• 2. Oral Arguments are heard — lawyers address the justices,
emphasizing the major points made in their written briefs.
• 3. Briefs are analyzed privately
• 4. The Conference —justices meet in secret session to discuss in
depth and vote on the cases they have heard.
• 5. Opinions—
– A. Majority Opinion: at least five justices write the Opinions of
the Court
• Has immediate power of law
– B. Concurring opinion — an opinion written to make a point that
was not made in the Opinion of the Court.
– C. Dissenting opinion — an opinion disagreeing with the
majority opinion of the Court.
– All may have an influence on subsequent rulings.
•
•
Plessy vs. Ferguson
Justice John Harlan, wrote:
Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among
citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law...In my opinion,
the judgment this day rendered will, in time, prove to be quite as pernicious as the
decision made by this tribunal in the Dred Scott case...The present decision, it may
well be apprehended, will not only stimulate aggressions, more or less brutal and
irritating, upon the admitted rights of colored citizens, but will encourage the belief
that it is possible, by means of state enactments, to defeat the beneficent purposes
which the people of the United States had in view when they adopted the recent
amendments of the Constitution.
IV.
The Special Courts
A. The United States Claims Court
– 1. The United States cannot be sued - by anyone, in any court,
for any reason - without its consent.
– 2. The Claims Court hears cases from all over the country in
which there are claims for damages against the Federal
Government.
B. The Territorial Courts
•
•
•
1. courts for the nation's territories.
2. At the current time, there are three (3) courts. The
courts sit in the Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern
Marianas.
3. These courts operate much like local (state) trial
courts.
C. The Courts of the District of Columbia
• 1. The District of Columbia has its own system of courts.
• 2. This system was established by Congress.
D. The Court of Military Appeals
• 1. "GI Supreme Court"
E. The Court of Veterans Appeals
F. The United States Tax Court