T HE J UDICIAL B RANCH Chapter 18

P ART 1 What is the US Court System?

B ASIC V OCABULARY Jurisdiction : the limits or territory within which authority may be exercised Circuit : The area or district covered under the jurisdiction of a judge Plaintiff : person who files the suit Defendant : person whom the complaint is against Docket : list of cases to be heard in a court Appeals : The transfer of a case from a lower to a higher court for a new hearing Habeas Corpus : “unlawful detention” a person under arrest must be seen by a judge. Writ : Legal action

T YPES OF J URISDICTION Exclusive : Cases only heard in either the State or Federal Courts Concurrent : Cases that can be heard in either the State or Federal Courts Original : The court in which a case is first heard Appellate : A court that hears a case on appeal from a lower court

2 S EPARATE C OURT SYSTEMS IN THE US National/Federal 120 Courts throughout the Country State Each state has their own system They hear most of the cases

F EDERAL VS. S TATE J URISDICTION StateFederal Cases involving state laws Family law issues Real property issues Most private contract disputes most professional malpractice issues most personal injury lawsuits Most workers’ injury claims Probate and inheritance matters Most traffic violations and registration of vehicles Crimes under statuses enacted by congress Most cases involving federal laws Matters involving interstate and international commerce Cases involving securities and commodities regulations Patent, copyright and other intellectual property issues Cases involving rights under treaties Bankruptcy matters Disputes between states Habeas Corpus actions Traffic violations on certain federal properties

F EDERAL C OURTS BROKEN DOWN FURTHER Supreme Court (Created by the Constitution Inferior Courts (Created by Congress) Constitutional Courts Special Courts

C ONSTITUTIONAL C OURTS Federal courts that Congress has formed under Article III “Judicial Power of the United States” Includes: 94 District Courts 12 US Courts of Appeals US Courts of Appeals for the federal Circuit US Court of International Trade

S PECIAL C OURTS Created to hear cases arising out of the expressed powers of congress More narrow range Includes: US court of Federal claims Territorial Courts Courts of DC US Tax Court US Court of Appeals for Armed Forces US Court of Appeals for veterans claims

P ART 2 Judges

B ASICS Why does the Judicial branch need to be more or less independent from political parties? President with the Senates help chooses federal judges Usually whomever the Senate from the state where the judge will serve is nominated Anyone can be chosen Usually: lawyer, legal scholars, law school professors, former members of congress, state court judges

T WO TYPES OF JUDGES Judicial activists : Believe they should use their position to promote desirable social ends Judicial restraint: Believes in making decisions judges should defer to the actions of the executive and legislative branch

T ERMS Supreme Court Justices serve for life Removed by impeachment Constitutional Court Justices serve for life Removed by impeachment Special Court Judges serve for a certain term length

C OURT O FFICERS Judge: With clerks, bailiffs, court reporters etc Magistrate: Appointed by district court judge (400) 8 year term Do smaller things that the judge doesn’t have time for Bankruptcy Judge: Each federal district has at least 1 (350) 14 year term US attorney: President and Senate appoints 1 for each district The Government’s prosecutor