1. 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?

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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.

12. 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

13. 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