Chapter Three: FEDERAL COURTS

1
Chapter ThreeFEDERAL COURTS
2
The Basic Principles of American Court
Organization

• Jurisdiction
• Trial and Appellate Courts
• Dual Courts

3
JURISDICTION

• The power
• of a court to
• decide a dispute.

• Types of Jurisdiction
• Geographical
• Subject Matter
• Hierarchical

4
TRIAL and APPELLATE COURTS

• Trial Courts
• All cases begin here.
• Finders of fact.
• Plea or trial.
• Witnesses appear only in trial courts.
• Opinions are rare.

• Appellate Courts
• Ensure that trial courts interpret the law
  correctly.
• May make new law.
• No trial, witnesses, or juries.
• Opinions are common and many are written.

5
DUAL COURT SYSTEM

• The Dual Court System
• includes one national court
• plus
• separate court systems for each
• of the 50 states and the
• District of Columbia.

6
Question

• Is our dual court system effective
• or
• should we revert to a singular system?

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The FEDERAL COURT STRUCTURE

• U.S. Magistrate Courts
• U.S. District Courts
• U.S. Courts of Appeals
• U.S. Supreme Court

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U.S. MAGISTRATE JUDGES

• The position was created in 1968 and is housed
  within the judicial branch, however, they are not
  Article III judges.
• There jurisdiction includes both civil and
  criminal cases.
• They are similar to state trial court judges of
  limited jurisdiction except, they do not try
  and sentence felony defendants, however, they can
  participate in all felony trial stages leading up
  to trial, i.e., preliminary hearings, bail, and
  issuing search warrants.
• They are selected by district court judges.
• They review but do not decide prisoner petitions.

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U.S. DISTRICT COURTS

• There are 94 U.S. District Courts in the U.S.
  with at least one in every state.
• They are courts of original jurisdiction for all
  major violations of federal criminal law.
• The President nominates district court judges and
  they are approved by the Senate usually, they
  serve for life terms.
• They handle both civil and criminal cases plus
  prisoner petitions.
• There is one U.S. Attorney per district court who
  is nominated by the President and confirmed by
  the Senate (they serve at the pleasure of the
  President).
• District court judges are assisted by bankruptcy
  judges who are adjuncts of the court appointed by
  the court of appeals for 14 year terms.

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QUESTION

• WHAT IS A
• FEDERAL QUESTION?

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

• What are some different types
• of federal civil cases?
• And,
• What consequences do they
• have for state and local
• criminal justice officials?

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U.S. COURTS OF APPEALS

• The U.S. Courts of Appeals are Article III
  courts.
• U.S. Courts of Appeals are also considered as
  courts of last resort which include 12
  circuits.
• Courts of appeals judges are nominated by the
  president and approved by the Senate.
• Three-judge panels
• Key term En banc.

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U.S. SUPREME COURT

• The U.S. Supreme Court is an Article III court
  that selects which cases it will decide.
• Supreme Court justices are nominated by the
  president and confirmed by the Senate.
• The U.S. Supreme Court is composed of nine
  justices eight associate and one chief justice.
• Writ of certiorari and the rule of four.
• The legal issue must involve a federal question
  either a violation of federal law or the U.S.
  Constitution.
• They handle approximately 80 cases per year and
  their decisions are geared to set policy for the
  entire nation.

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SPECIALIZED COURTS

• Constitutional courts Article III courts.
  Full-time judges that are appointed (lifetime).
  Examples include district courts and courts of
  appeal.
• Legislative courts Article I courts. Full-time
  judges that are appointed (specific term).
  Examples include bankruptcy judges and
  magistrates.

• Types of Specialized Courts
• Tribal Courts (Article I)
• Tax Courts (Article I)
• Court of Federal Claims (Article I)
• Court of Veterans Appeal (Article I)
• Court of Intl Trade (Article III)
• U.S. Court of Appeals of the Armed Services
  (Article I)
• Court of Appeals for the Federal Courts (Article
  III)

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Discussion Question

• Recently captured terrorists have become
  classified as military non-combatants instead of
  prisoners of war and are thus being tried in
  secret military courts. As a controversial
  topic, should these prisoners be tried in secret
  in the name of national security, should they be
  tried in regular court, or should the U.S. even
  have jurisdiction over these prisoners in lieu of
  some kind of international court?

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THE ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES OF FEDERAL COURTS

• Chief Justice supervisory authority of the
  federal judicial system. The Chief Justice
  serves on the Judicial Conference of the U.S. and
  the Federal Judicial Center as well as appoints
  key administrative personnel.
• Judicial Conference of the United States
  Administrative policy making organization of the
  federal judicial system.
• Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
  Responsible for day-to-day administrative tasks
  of the federal judicial system, i.e., budgets,
  lobbying and liaison, and proposing changes to
  court rules.

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THE ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES OF FEDERAL COURTS
(contd)

• Federal Judicial Center Responsible for
  research and training for the federal judiciary.
• Judicial Councils The basic administrative unit
  of a federal judicial circuit. A judicial
  council administers and monitors caseload and
  judicial assignments.
• U.S. Sentencing Commission The sentencing
  commission is an independent agency in the
  judicial branch. It established the federal
  sentencing guidelines (1987) and is responsible
  for research, evaluation, and development of
  sentencing issues.

18
Question

• When should state crimes
• become
• federal violations?

19
Question

• With rising federal case loads,
• should we increase the number of federal judges,
  or should we reduce federal jurisdiction?