Basics - Federal Court System

1. Basics - Federal Court System Federal District Courts (94 Courts in 12 Districts) Federal Appeals Court (12 Appeals Courts +1 Special Appeals Court) Supreme Court (Highest and Final Court

2. Federal Courts

3. Federal Courts Continued… Analyzing Maps – from the previous slide answer the questions below… • Which circuit covers the largest geographic area? • District 3 is smaller than District 10. Why do you think this is so?

4. Judicial Branch Vocabulary • Jurisdiction: the authority to hear and decide a case • Exclusive Jurisdiction: only Federal Courts can hear Federal cases or only State Courts can hear States Cases • Concurrent Jurisdiction: Both Federal and State Courts can hear a case when both Federal and State Law was broken. • Original Jurisdiction: the authority to hear the case first. All Federal cases must start in Federal District Courts. • Appellate Jurisdiction: the authority to hear a case that has been appealed from a lower court. • Appeal: request the decision of a lower court be reviewed • Remanding: send a case back to a lower court to be heard again as part of an appeal process. • Opinion: a detailed legal explanation of a court’s decision. • Precedent: a model of a similar court decision used as guidance in the decision making of the court.

5. Federal Jurisdiction • Cases involving federal law • Cases beyond the authority of individual state • Cases appealed from State Supreme Courts • Federal Court Jurisdiction examples are… • Constitutional Rights, • Federal Laws, • Disputes between States, • Citizens disputes from different States, • disputes against the Federal Government, • disputes against foreign governments and treaties, • Maritime Laws, • and disputes against US Diplomats from a foreign government.

6. Federal Judges • As in Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution… • The President will appoint Federal Judges and the Senate must approve his/her appointments. • There are no requirements set in the Constitution to become a Federal Judge. • There is no “term limit” and Federal Judges hold their office for life. The Framers wanted Judges to be unaffected from political pressures over job security. • There are over 650 Judges in the Federal Court system. Each District has at least 2 Judges, each Appeals court has 6 to 28 Judges, and the Supreme Court has 9 Justices.

7. District Courts • 94 District Courts • First to hear a case involving a federal crime (Kidnapping, Air pollution) • Witnesses are called, jury decides facts, judge applies the law

8. Appeals Court • 12 Courts of appeal • Has no jury, calls no witnesses and does not examine evidence • Panel of 3 judges decides if original trial was fair

9. Appeals Court continued.. • 13th Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit • Nationwide jurisdiction to hear special cases • Such as patent violations or international trade disputes • Court is located in Washington D.C.

10. U.S. Supreme Court • Final Court of Appeals • Decides if the U.S. Constitution was violated

11. Supreme Court“The Constitution is what we say it is”

12. Judicial Review • Most important power of the Supreme Court • Gives the court final say over the validity (Properness) of any law • It is not in the Constitution

13. Justices • No official qualifications • President usually picks from among most respected judges, lawyers, and legal scholars • Senate Approves • Chief Justice $175,000 • Associate Justices $167,000