Structure of the Judicial Branch Flashcards

The Structure of the Judicial Branch

Overlapping jurisdiction

• In the US, federal and state/provincial courts significantly overlap in jurisdiction.
• Civil procedure class will cover the overlap in detail.

Federal Court System

Establishment

• Established by Article 3 of the U.S. Constitution.
• The Constitution mandates one Supreme Court.
• Congress may establish lower courts, but it's optional.
• From the beginning, Congress created lower federal courts.
• The federal judiciary operates on multiple tiers.

Three Tiers of federal courts

• United States District Courts
• Circuit Courts
• United States Supreme Court

United States District Courts

• Lowest rung, called courts of first instance.
• Federal cases begin here (lawsuits or criminal charges).
• Also referred to as trial courts, as trials occur here.
• In trial courts witnesses testify, lawyers make objections, and juries give verdicts.
• Trials are not as common as TV dramas suggest.
• Most criminal cases are resolved through plea bargains (almost 90% in federal criminal cases).
• Plea bargains involve agreements where the prosecutor may drop charges for a guilty plea.
• On the civil side, only about 1% of federal lawsuits go to trial.
• Lawyers still do interesting work, debating legal or factual issues which often set the stage for settlement negotiations.
• Thousands of trials are still conducted annually.
• Typically, one judge is assigned to a case in a trial court.
• There are almost 1,000 federal district court judges across the country.
• Each judge is assigned to one of the 94 federal district courts.
• Each of the 94 courts has a unique geographic territory.
• Boundaries are contained within a single state.
• Less populous states may have the federal district court's territory covering the complete state.
• More populous states can have multiple federal districts.
  • Example: Massachusetts has one federal district court.
  • Example: New York State has four federal district courts.
• Lawyers often refer to federal district courts by their initials.
  • Example: SDNY, EDNY.

Circuit Courts

• One level above the district courts.
• Appellate courts that hear appeals from district courts.
• Appeals from the district courts to the circuit courts are called appeals as of right.
• Each of the 94 district courts is part of one of the 11 regional circuits.
• Appeals from a district court always go to the same circuit court.
• Example: Massachusetts is part of the first circuit.
• The First Circuit includes districts of Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico.
• Appeal goes to the United States Court of Appeals for the first circuit.
• In addition to the 11 regional circuit courts, there are two specialized circuit courts.

US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (DC Circuit)

• Small regional circuit court.
• District court within its borders is the district court for the District of Columbia.
• Widely viewed as the second highest court in the US.
• Has jurisdiction that other appeals courts do not have.
• Entrusted with the power to make decisions affecting things, such as the environment, campaign finance, worker's wages, and social security.

US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

• Created in 1982.
• Hears all appeals arising under US patent law, international trade, government contracts, and trademarks.
• Exception to the rule that appeals from a district court go to the regional circuit court.
• Patent cases would go to the Federal Circuit, rather than the Circuit Court.