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

14. Justices
The Supreme Court is made up of Nine (9) Justices all appointed by a President
The leader of the Supreme Court is the Chief Justice. Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Jr.,

15. Justices
The Associate Justices are *Antonin Scalia (passed away 2/13/16, President Trump appointed Neil Gorsuch), Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr., Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan.
Liberals: 4 Moderate: 1 Conservatives: 4 (3)*

16. Judge Scalia 2/13/16 Rest in Peace

17. Neil Gorsuch (conservative judge), new Supreme Court Judge, appointed by President Trump and confirmed on 4/7/17 by the Senate which changed the rules, using the “nuclear option”.
Normally the Senate requires 60 members to vote in the affirmative to confirm a Federal Judge.
Republican Senator Mitch McConnell triggered the “nuclear option”, requiring only 51 of it’s 100 members to confirm a Federal Judge. Senator McConnell has changed the rules for ALL future Federal Judge confirmation hearings.