The Federal Court System Chapter 8, Sec. 1

Equal Justice for All Courts settle civil disputes between 1.Private Parties 2.A private party and the government 3.United States and a state or local government Courts also hold criminal trials for people accused of crimes Witnesses present evidence and a jury or judge delivers a verdict of guilt or innocence All accused people have the right to a public trial and a lawyer. If they cannot afford a lawyer, the court will appoint and pay for one The accused are considered innocent until proven guilty They may ask for a review (appeal) of their case if they think the court has made a mistake

The Federal Court System Article III established a national Supreme Court and gave Congress the power to establish lower federal courts Over the years Congress set up 3 levels in the federal court system 1.Supreme Court at the top 2.Appeals Court in the middle 3.District Courts at the bottom Each state also has its own laws and court system which will be discussed later

The Federal Court System Jurisdiction A court’s authority to hear and decide cases The Constitution gives the federal courts jurisdiction over 8 kinds of cases 1. If the law in question applies to the constitution 2. Cases involving federal law Kidnapping, tax evasion, Counterfeiting 3. Any disagreement between states 4. Lawsuits between citizens of different states 5. Lawsuits involving the federal government 6. Disputes between foreign governments and the U.S government or U.S. private parties 7. Crimes on the high seas 8. Cases involving U.S. diplomats

The Federal Court System For most of the 8 areas, federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction- only federal courts can hear these types of cases In a few circumstances, the state and federal courts have concurrent jurisdiction- state and federal courts share jurisdiction