The Structure of our Courts

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The Structure of our Courts

• Legal Research and WritingOrientationAugust 12,
  2004

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Source of LawThe United States Constitution

• Allocates powers between state and federal
  system.
• Establishes Federal Court System
• Allow for state constitutions to provide
  framework for state governments and court
  systems.

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What Does Federalism Mean?

• The Constitution
• 1) grants powers to the federal government,
• 2) states it may enact any laws that are
  "necessary and proper" to exercising these
  powers, and
• 3) asserts that all powers not granted to the
  national government are retained by the
  states(10th Amend.)

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What Does it mean to say we have a Dual Court
System?
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Jurisdiction
What does jurisdiction mean? What does general
versus limited mean? How do you get state law
jurisdiction? How do you get federal
jurisdiction? -Diversity -Federal Question
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The Source of Law Comes From All Three Branches
of Government.
All three branches of government have some
lawmaking power.
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The Legislative Branch

• How does the Legislative Branch make law?
• By enacting statutes by way of the authority
  granted to them by federal or state
  constitutions.

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The Executive Branch

• How does the Executive Branch make law?

Through Executive Orders
Congress can also give the Executive Branch
power to promulgate regulations in order to
enforce legislation
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The Executive Branch

• Can you think of an example of how Congress gives
  the Executive Branch power to implement
  legislation?
• The Internal Revenue Service(which is part of
  the Executive Branch), promulgates regulations
  needed to implement Internal Revenue Code (which
  is legislation adopted by Congress).

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The Judicial Branch

• What are two ways the Judicial Branch develops
  law?

• By interpreting constitutional and statutory law
  and applying them to factual circumstances

2) Through the creation of judge made law
arising in situations not covered by
constitutional or statutory law.
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Typical Court Hierarchy

• Trial courts
• Fact-finding
• Appellate courts
• Corrects Errors
• Supreme Court
• Make law

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The Federal Court System
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The U.S. Supreme Court

• The U.S. Supreme Court hears selected appeals
  from the United States Courts of Appeals.
• It does not decide questions of state law.
• It will hear appeals from the highest state
  courts only where the state court's decision has
  been based upon federal law

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Federal Courts by Circuit
The Courts of Appeals are divided into 13
Circuits
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The Alabama Court System
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Alabama Judicial Circuits
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What is the mandate of our court system? (i.e.
what is the job of our courts?)

• One possibility is that courts are supposed to
  dispense justice.
• Another is that they are supposed to find and
  apply the correct law.
• The first possibility is too liberal. The second
  is too rigid. Neither describes what courts do.

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Equitable vs. Legal Claims

• In England, the Courts of Common Law dispensed
  Justice and the Courts of Chancery were created
  in contrast, when common legal remedies were too
  harsh or inadequate.

Although we do not have this kind of duality,
remnants of this idea are implicit in what we
call legal as opposed to equitable claims
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The Common Law

• Common law, or case law which has its roots in
  the English system varies from state to state.
  There are however common views on general
  principles. (Restatement of Torts, contracts,
  etc.)
• Federal courts do not engage in the creation of
  common law but have retained case law in a few
  restricted areas such as procedural court rules
  and admiralty law.

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Creating the Common Law

• State v. Blight(adapted from)
• Regina v. Dudley Stephens,(1884)