Court Organization and Structure

Vocabulary flashcards covering court organization, structure, types of jurisdiction, and both federal and state court systems from CJ 2350 Chapter 4.

Dual Court Structure

The judicial system in the United States composed of two parallel structures: federal courts and state courts.

Jurisdiction

The legal authority or power of a court to hear and decide a case.

Personal Jurisdiction

The legal authority of a court over a specific person.

Subject Matter Jurisdiction

The legal authority of a court over a certain type of case.

Geographic Jurisdiction

The legal authority of a court over a specified geographical area.

Hierarchical Jurisdiction

The division of duties and responsibilities among courts in a single jurisdiction.

Judicial Federalism

The structural division and relationship between the federal court system and state court systems.

U. S. Federal District Court

The trial courts and courts of original jurisdiction for the federal system, comprising 94 district courts.

U. S. Federal Court of Appeals

Circuit courts that handle appeals from federal district courts, comprising 12 circuit courts.

U. S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

A specialized federal appellate court that reviews decisions from the U. S. Court of International Trade, the U. S. Court of Veterans Appeals, and the U. S. Claims Court.

U. S. Court of Military Appeals

A federal appellate court that hears appeals arising from military courts.

U. S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS)

The court of last resort and the final step in the federal court system, responsible for resolving disputes between states, conflicting opinions of lower courts, and constitutional questions.

Discretion

The legal authority of the Supreme Court to choose which specific cases it will hear.

Writ of Certiorari

An order issued by the Supreme Court directing a lower court to send up its case records for judicial review.

Rule of Four

The requirement that at least four Supreme Court justices must vote to accept an appeal for it to be heard.

Courts of Limited Jurisdiction

The lowest tier of state courts, handling misdemeanors, traffic violations, municipal ordinance violations, juvenile delinquency, and small civil disputes.

Courts of General Jurisdiction

State trial courts that have the authority to hear any matters not exclusively designated to courts of limited jurisdiction, sometimes sharing concurrent jurisdiction.

Appellate Courts (State)

Intermediate state courts that hear civil and criminal appeals from lower courts by reviewing the trial court record for procedural issues.

State Supreme Courts

The courts of last resort in each state, which hear cases primarily on a discretionary basis, with mandatory exceptions in some states such as the death penalty.