Chapter 18—federal courts

1. Chapter 18—Federal Courts

2. Before the Constitution
• Under the A of C, there was no
federal court system
• Only state courts in colonies
• Most decisions in one state were
often ignored by other states

3. After the Constitution
• Article III set up the SC
• Gave congress power to set up
“inferior courts”
• Judiciary branch is a DUAL court
system—1. Federal
---2. State

4. After the Const. cont.
• Two types of Federal Courts:
1. Constitutional Courts—decide
issues of constitutionality along
with Supreme Court
2. Special Courts—Created to hear
cases on specific topic (Tax Court,
Small Claims, Court of Appeals for
Armed Services)

5. Jurisdiction of Federal Courts
1. Hear cases that deal with
interpretation and application of
the law
2. Hear cases that arise on high seas
or in navigable waters of the US—
Maritime Law

6. Jurisdiction cont.
• 3. Hear those that involve the United
States as a party
• 4. Cases involving ambassadors
• 5. Cases involving a state suing
another state
• 6. Cases involving a citizen of one
state suing a citizen of another

7. Jurisdiction cont.
• 7. Cases involving an American
citizen suing a foreign citizen

8. Types of Jurisdiction
• 1. Exclusive Jurisdiction—when a case can
only be heard in federal courts
• 2. Concurrent Jurisdiction—when a case can
be heard in Federal and State courts
• 3. Original Jurisdiction—the court where a
case is first heard and decided
• 4. Appellate Jurisdiction—when a court hears
a case on appeal from a lower court

9. Judges
• 1. Senatorial Courtesy—unwritten
rule that says if the senator from the
home state of the nominee does not
approve, then the other senators
usually do not vote for the nominee
• 2. Picking judges may be most
important duty a President has!!

10. More judges
• 3. Judges/justices are appointed for
life and can only be removed by
impeachment
• 4. Congress sets salaries and benefits

11. Officers that help the judge
• Officers that assist the judge:
1. Clerks
2. Bailiffs
3. Stenographers
4. Magistrates
5. US attorneys
6. Federal Marshals

12. Judicial Review
• Supreme Court is third branch of government,
but is not really equal in power until the idea
of Judicial Review
• Judicial Review is NOT in the Constitution
• Made famous during the Marbury v. Madison
case in 1803

13. Chapter 18
Inferior and
Special Courts

14. • A. District Courts:
-563 district judges—they hear about
80% of the federal judiciary cases
-Each state forms at least one district
court (2 judges to each district)

15. -District courts have original jurisdiction
over most cases heard in the federal
courts
*Hear both civil and criminal cases
*Use both grand and petit juries
-Grand Jury=designed to determine if a law
has been violated and if the evidence
warrants prosecution
-Petit=12 persons who render a verdict

16. • B. Court of Appeals:
-Created in 1891
-Considered the “gatekeepers” to the
Supreme Court
-12 Court of Appeals and 179 judges

17. -US is divided into 12 regions and each
has a separate Appeals Court
-VA is in the 4th
district…along with MD,
WV, NC and SC
-each Court of Appeals is assigned a
Supreme Court justice that sits on
the various cases

18. Special Courts
-special courts deal with small areas of
cases
-do NOT decide constitutionality

19. 1. US Federal Claims Court:
-Used when people are suing US
-Judges only sit for 15 years
2. Territorial Courts
-US Courts overseas
3. US tax court, veteran appeals and
Appeals for Armed services (Section 1
notes)

20. 4. Court of International Trade:
-9 judges hear civil cases arising out
of tariff and trade laws
5. Court of Appeals for Federal Circuit
(set up in 1982):
-12 judges
-centralizes appeals process in
certain federal cases and cases from
lower courts and sp courts

21. Judicial Branch
Section 3 Chapter 18
Supreme Court

22. Introduction to Supreme Court
• Only court specifically created by the
Constitution
• Constitution also created the office of Chief
Justice
• Constitution does not set a fixed number of
justices to serve on Supreme Court
• Term for SC begins on first Monday in October
and goes through following July

23. Supreme Court at Work
• Jurisdiction—Constitution only gives two
original jurisdiction cases to the SC:
– 1. Cases where state is a party
– 2. Cases affecting ambassadors
• Court can take original jurisdiction over any
other federal court but usually does not
• Most reach SC by through appeals from lower
courts

24. How SC decides cases
• More than 6,000 cases are appealed by only a
few hundred are heard by SC
• Go by the “Rule of Four”—if four justices want
to take the case, then the Court decides to
hear the case
• Docket—list of cases that the SC has on its
agenda

25. How SC decides cases Cont.
• Most cases reach the Court by Writ of Certiorari
– An order by the Court to a lower court asking for the
case record to be sent for review
• These cases are usually chosen because they
present a constitutional issue that is important to
society
• Another way a case reaches the court is by
certificate (less used)
– When a lower court is not clear about the law and
asks the SC for clarification

26. Steps to a Supreme Court case
• 1. Oral Arguments—lawyers from both sides
plead their case in front of the court
– Solicitor General—the Federal Govt. head Lawyer
• 2. Court looks over briefs
– Briefs are written documents about the case that the
lawyers submit to the Court before the trial
– Amicus Curiae Briefs—briefs by people not associated
with the case but have an interest in the case
(abortion, affirmative action)

27. .
• 3. Justice Conference—when the justices meet in
private to discuss the case
• 4. Opinions—once the justices come to a decision
they write a formal decision
– Majority Opinion—official opinion of the case,
explains why the justices came to their decision
– Concurring Opinion—an opinion written by a justice
who agrees with the majority but for different reasons
than the majority
– Dissenting Opinion—written by a member of the
minority who did not agree with the majority decision