JUDICIAL BRANCH

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JUDICIAL BRANCH

• FEDERAL AND STATE COURTS

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Where to Start ?
? Common Law ? The Doctrine of
Precedent (Stare Decisis)
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Jurisdiction

• Hierarchical Geographic
• Primary Law - Mandatory
• - Persuasive
• Court Jurisdiction
• Subject Matter

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Court of Last Resort
Trial Level
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4th Circuit Jurisdiction
?
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Federal District Court Authority
Red arrows Appellate Path Blue Arrows
Jurisdictional Authority
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State Court Systems South
Carolina - www.sccourts.org/
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Jurisdiction- Subject Matter

• Example Magistrates Court
• Landlord tenant disputes. S.C.22-30-10
• Civil cases involving claims of up 7,500.
• Magistrates also have exclusive authority to hear
  criminal cases for offenses subject to fines of
  500 or less or imprisonment of 30 days or less.
  See S.C. 22-3-540
• Magistrates may also hear certain criminal cases
  transferred from general trial court
• See S.C. 22-3-543

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Case Types - Jurisdiction

• Civil case Fine or Damages
• - Example
• State Kennedy v Griffin, 358 S.C. 122,
• 595 S.E. 2d 248 (Ct. App. 2004).
• Federal Miller v. ATT Corp,
• 250 F.3d 820 (4th Cir. 2001) 00-1277
• (Family and Medical Leave Act Civil
  violation)
• Criminal case Jail and/or Fine
• - Example DUI - S.C. 56-5-2930
• State v. Cuccia, 353 S.C. 430
• 578 S.E.2d 45 (Ct. App. 2003)
• Dual Consequences
• - Example Separate DUI Civil Case

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Where do I find Court Opinions ?

• Online - Websites -
• ? Free
• United States Law library
• Emory
• Cornell FindLaw Federal and State
• Judicial Department Home (SC)
• Google
• ? Commercial
• Westlaw (Public Westlaw)
• Lexis/Nexis (Lexis-Nexis Academic)

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Examples

• ? Federal - Miller v. ATT Corp,
• 250 F.3d 820 (4th Cir. 2001) 00-1277
• Unites States Law library
• Cornell FindLaw Federal and State
• ? State - Kennedy v Griffin, 358 S.C. 122
• 595 S.E. 2d 248 (Ct. App. 2004) 3743
• Judicial Department Home (SC)
• Google

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Cases Print

• S.C. Statutes Annotated - State
• - Library
• United States Code - Federal
• - (U.S.C.A.) Annotated
• - (U.S.C.S.) Annotated
• Reporters South Carolina Reports
• - Law Library
• Digests - South Carolina Digest
• - Law Library

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What Other Judicial Materials Do
Patrons Need?

• Briefs On Line
• Rules

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Appellate Court Briefs
Online

• ABA Preview of US Supreme Court Cases Merit
  Briefs-2003-present - http//www.abanet.org/public
  ed/preview/briefs/home.htm
• Supreme Court records - The Curiae Project
  http//curiae.law.yale.edu/
• Robert J. Ambrogi A Brief Summary Finding
  Briefs on the Web - http//www.legaline.com/freeb
  riefslinks.html
• LLRX Free and Fee Based Appellate Court Briefs
  Online http//www.llrx.com/features/briefsonline.
  htm
• Legal research online - http//www.llrx.com/llrxli
  nk.htm

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Court Rules - What are they?

• Procedural Case Type
• ? Rules of Civil Procedure
• ? Rules of Criminal Procedure
• Local
• ? Family Court - RULE 9 - Hearings ?
  Federal Court - Pro se Litigants
• Practice
• ? Citation of Authority Rule 239

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Where are the Court Rules for My Court?

• Court Websites (Internet)
• Ex Rules of Appellate Procedure
• www.judicial.state.sc.us/
• Ex Magistrate Court
• www.sccourts.org/courtReg/listMAGRules.cfm
• Court Clerk (Print)
• USC Law Library Rules of Court
• Guides
• http//www.loc.gov/law/guide/us-sc.html
• http//www.lawsource.com/also/usa.cgi?sc
• http//www.scbar.org/pdf/public/magbook.pdf
  
• http//judiciary.house.gov/media/pdfs/print
  ers
• /108th/appel2004.pdf