How does a case move from local courts to the U.S. Supreme Court? 8.2 Lower Federal Courts How does a case move from local courts to the U.S. Supreme Court?

Federal District Courts Lowest tier of the federal court system 94 federal district courts in the U.S. handling over 300,000 cases a year! Each district has at least two judges Some districts have many more Southern New York district, which includes New York City, has 44 judges

Original Jurisdiction of District Courts 1.) Civil cases: Civil rights, employment laws 2.) Criminal cases: (wide range of criminal activities will put you in a district court) Perjury during a murder trial Destruction Serious criminal cases call for a grand jury – 16 to 23 people that hear evidence and recommend whether the evidence is sufficient to file criminal charges 3.) Bankruptcy Cases: Bankruptcy – legal process by which persons who cannot pay money they owe can receive court protection and assistance settling their financial problems

District Court Officials District court judges – appointed by president, approved by senate, no term limit Main job is to preside over trials and make sure trials follow proper legal procedures to ensure fair outcomes Instructs juries about the matters of law they will decide Magistrate judges – oversee early hearings of criminal trials and misdemeanor cases Appointed by the district court and serve 8 year terms Misdemeanor – minor criminal cases punishable by one year or less of prison

Other Courtroom Officials U.S. Attorney – Represents the United States government in federal court The lawyer for the United States, basically The U.S. attorney will try to gain a guilty verdict for any person who is charged with a federal crime One U.S. attorney per district with lots and lots of assistant U.S. attorneys if needed Appointed by the president, confirmed by Senate and serves a four year term Serves under the executive branch, not the judicial branch

Other Courtroom Officials Public Defenders – Lawyers for defenders who cannot afford to hire a lawyer Appointed by the panel of judges who make up the court of appeals U.S. Marshal – Provide security and police protection at federal courthouses. Marshals also transport prisoners, help track down and arrest people for crimes, and provide protection to witnesses in federal cases

Federal Courts of Appeals 13 Appellate courts in the United States 65,000 cases are heard by the appellate courts per year 75% of those are criminal and civil cases

Appeals Court Procedure Appellant – person who files the appeal Has to show that the original ruling was based on a legal mistake In almost all cases, the court of appeals will overturn a case only if the original court followed improper procedure Court of appeals do not retry cases Don’t permit new evidence Don’t hear testimony from witnesses Only in rare cases do they rule that the original jurisdiction drew a wrong conclusion from the evidence Instead, they rely on the factual record established by the trial court to determine if the court did its job correctly

Appeals Court Procedure Cases are reviewed by a randomly selected panel of three judges Panels Review: Trial court record of the hearing Any written arguments, or briefs from both sides in the case Sometimes will listen to oral arguments from each side When making a decision, the judges are guided by: Precedent set by both the Supreme Court and similar decisions made in their own circuit, NOT other circuits in the U.S.

Appeals Court Procedure Only a small percentage of cases are successfully appealed After the ruling: Some cases might send the case back to the district for additional hearings If the panel is in favor of the criminal defendant, the prosecutor may re-try the case in the district court…this is rare Sometimes, the case may be reviewed further by a larger panel of judges Small number of cases may be reviewed by the Supreme Court Most of these options are the exception, not the rule. The majority of the rulings are upheld by the appeals court

Other Federal Courts In addition to district and circuit courts, Congress has created other federal courts that have a very limited jurisdiction to only deal with certain types of cases U.S. Courts of International Trade U.S. Tax Court U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims U.S. Court of Federal Claims U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces National Security Courts Military Commissions Washington D.C. and Territorial Courts