Court Systems

1. Court Systems Chapter 3

2. How to resolve disputes? There are 3 ways in which parties who disagree can handle their disputes legally: • Mediate • Arbitrate • Litigate

3. Mediate • When two parties decide to mediate, they have an independent 3rd party come and listen to both sides. • The Mediator will try and develop a solution that both sides can agree on. • What the Mediator decides is Advisory and NOT legally binding! • When would this be used?

4. Arbitrate • The disputing parties may agree to obtain an arbitrator. The arbitrator holds an informal hearing to determine what happened. • The arbitrators decision IS legally binding and may be enforced by a court order. • Sometimes a provision to use an arbitrator to handle disputes is specified in the original agreement.

5. Litigation • Litigate - means taking your dispute to court to let a judge or jury decide • Court– governmental forum that administers justice under the law

6. When the Court settles the dispute • Courts are to be impartial and will hear both criminal and civil cases. • There are typically 2 levels of courts involved. • Trial Courts • Appellate Courts

7. Trial Courts • Trial Courts are the first to hear cases. They have original jurisdiction. • They will hear witnesses and review evidence and then reach a verdict. • All those involved include: judges, lawyers, clerks, sheriffs (state or lower levels) or marshals (federal level), bailiffs, and jury members.

8. Appellate Courts • Appellate courts only review decisions of lower courts when the party feels there was a mistake or error occurred. • They don’t determine the facts, they only check for errors of law. • They do this by reviewing the transcript(verbatim record of the trial) and by reading the appellate briefs (written arguments on the issues of law). The court may also listen to oral arguments from attorneys in support of these briefs.

9. Appellate Courts • Determine if the correct law was used • If not, apply the correct law • Determine if ruling may be different with additional facts that may be presented considering the correct law

10. Appellate Courts Decide if the case should be: • Affirmed – upheld • Reversed – overturned • Amended – changed • Remanded – sent back to the trial court for corrective action or for a new trialGenerally entitled to one trial and one appeal

11. Federal Court System There are 3 levels in the Federal Court System with general jurisdiction (can hear any type of case). (Those with special jurisdiction can only hear 1 specific type of case.) • Federal District Court (lowest level) • Federal Court of Appeals • U.S. Supreme Court See chart on page 53 in text

12. Federal District Court • For a case to go to the Federal District Court (trial court) it must typically be a case regarding: • a federal issueor • lawsuits between citizens of different states or citizens of a state and a foreign country (these disputes must be over $75,000)

13. Federal Court of Appeals • Same as an appellate court (don’t hear any new evidence) • 13 Federal Courts of Appeal (one of the 13 only handles patent cases that are appealed)

14. U.S. Supreme Court • They have both Original and Appellate Jurisdiction. (They may also hear state as well as federal cases) • If any case deals with a constitutional issue, they may issue a writ of certiorari. This compels the lower court to turn the records over to them.

15. Special state Courts • County Courts – Hear minor criminal cases, state traffic offenses, and lawsuits with smaller amounts • Municipal Courts - Hear traffic and criminal cases where ordinances are in involved

16. Special state courts • Small Claims Courts – Hear disputes with small amounts (varies from state to state) example: Judge Wapner. • Probate Courts – Handle wills and estate issues • Juvenile Courts – Hears cases on minors, meant for rehabilitation more than punishment