The Inferior Courts

1
The Inferior Courts

• Government/CWP
• Mrs. Huston

2
The District Courts

• There are 632 district judges
• They hear 80 of the federal caseload
• Each State forms at least one judicial district,
  and two judges are assigned to each district

3
3-Judge Panels

• Cases involving Congressional districting
• Cases involving State legislature apportionment
• Cases rising from the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Cases rising from Voting Rights Acts of 1965,
  1970, 1975 and 1982
• Certain Anti-Trust actions

4
Anti-Terrorism Courts

• Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
• Alien Terrorist Removal Court

5
Jurisdiction

• District Courts have original jurisdiction over
  most of the cases heard in the federal courts
• District Courts hear both civil and criminal
  cases
• District Courts use both grand and petit juries

6
Terms

• Criminal Case involves an action declared to be
  a federal crime by law
• Civil Case has no crime examplesuit for
  damages

7
Federal Criminal Cases

• Prosecuted by U.S. Attorneys

8
The Court of Appeals

• Created in 1891 as gatekeepers to the Supreme
  Court
• 12 Courts of Appeal 179 Circuit Judges
• Appellate courts are regionalhear cases from
  courts within their circuits

9
Reason for Appeals Courts

• To relieve the burden of the Supreme
  Court--overworked

10
Other cases for Appeals Courts

• Appeals from US Tax Court
• From Territorial courts
• From the decisions of federal regulatory
  commissions

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Terms

• Appeal to make a request to a higher court for
  the rehearing or review of a case
• Docket a list of cases to be tried by a law
  court
• Circuit the judicial district of a US Court of
  Appeals

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Judicial Circuits Appeals Judges

• 12 judicial circuits, including Washington, D.C.
• One Supreme Court Justice is assigned to each
  Court of Appeals
• 3 judges normally review each case

13
Source of Cases

• Circuit court cases come from the District Courts
  in their circuits

14
13th Court of Appeals

• Court of Appeals of the Federal Circuit
• Created to centralize and speed up handling
  appeals in certain types of federal cases

15
Court of International Trade

• 9 judges
• Hear civil cases arising out of the tariff and
  other trade-related laws (no criminal cases)
• Appeals from Trade Court go to the Court of
  Appeals for the Federal Circuit

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The End