THE COURT SYSTEMS Chapter 18

The Dual Court System ■In the United States there are two types of court systems under which every court in the nation can be classified. ■There the 50 unique State Court Systems and the Federal Court System or the national judiciary ■Each state has its own court system and no two state court systems are exactly alike

Virginia Court System ■The Virginia Court System is comprised of four basic types of courts: General District Courts, Circuit Courts, Virginia Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of Virginia

General District Courts ■The General District Courts are the lowest courts in the state of Virginia. They are both an original jurisdiction court and and a limited jurisdiction court ■The term original jurisdiction means that the General District Courts have the ability to hear court cases for the first time ■The term limited jurisdiction means that the General District Courts are limited in the type of cases they are allowed to hear ■General district courts have the exclusive right to original jurisdiction in civil cases up to $4,500 in claims, but can only hear civil cases worth up to $25,000 and criminal cases involving minor traffic violations and criminal misdemeanors. ■ General District Courts have concurrent jurisdiction in civil cases with between $4,500-$25,000 in claims

General District Courts ■There is no jury in a General District Court, and only one judge! ■Every City and County in Virginia has a General District Court ■General District Court judges are elected by the general assembly and serve six year terms

Circuit Courts ■Just like General District Courts, Circuit Courts in Virginia have original jurisdiction ■We have already said the Circuit Courts share jurisdiction with General District Courts on civil matters with between $4,500 and $25,000 in claims, but Circuit Courts have exclusive original jurisdiction in civil cases with more than $25,000 in claims, divorce cases, and criminal cases involving felonies ■While Circuit Courts have original jurisdiction, they also have appellate jurisdiction in civil cases between $4,500-$25,000 and criminal misdemeanors if either party does not like the ruling a General District Court

Circuit Courts (Continued) ■Appellate Jurisdiction means that Circuit Courts have the ability to hear cases after another court (General District or Juvenile) has already heard them and the case has been appealed ■Unlike other “appellate” courts, the Circuit Courts hear cases “De Novo” (From the beginning, or anew”) This means that a circuit court judge could decide to allow or disallow, evidence that was or was not presented in the General District Courts ■When a defendant pleads not guilty in a criminal case, they have a right to trial by jury in Circuit Courts

Virginia Court of Appeals ■The Virginia Court of Appeals hears cases that have been appealed beyond the Circuit Court of Virginia. ■The Court of Appeals DOES NOT hear cases “de novo”, meaning that no new evidence may be presented in the Virginia Court of Appeals, the reason for appealing then is to decide whether previous judges or jurors interpreted law correctly or gave a fair trial. ■The Virginia Court of Appeals is made up of 11 judges with at least (and typically) three judges hearing a case ■Judges on the Virginia Court of Appeals are elected to eight year terms by Virginia General Assembly

Supreme Court of Virginia ■The Supreme Court of Virginia is the known as the “Court of Last Resort” in the state of Virginia but actually has very limited original jurisdiction as well as full appellate jurisdiction ■There are a total of seven Virginia Supreme Court Justices (6 justices and a chief justices) who serve 12 year terms ■The only time in which a criminal case is guaranteed a right to appeal to the Supreme Court is when the death penalty is involved ■The Supreme Court of Virginia has the final say on all cases in Virginia, civil or criminal, except for when there is a “federal question” involved

Federal Court System ■Under the Articles of Confederation, there were national rights and laws similar to those under the Constitution; however, there was no national judiciary ■The Framers of the Constitution realized this was a problem because the way a law was interpreted in Virginia, might be different than how it as interpreted in Massachusetts. ■To address this the Federal Court system and its three main courts were put into place ■Federal courts have jurisdiction if the case involves a “federal question”, meaning if the United States or any of its federal agencies is being sued, the case involves a foreign government or foreign national, a state is suing another state, or a citizen from one state is suing a citizen from another, or a federal crime has been committed

Federal District Courts ■Just as in the case of Virginia, District Courts are the lowest court in the Federal Court System. ■There are currently 94 district courts in the United States, which handle well over 300,000 cases per year, or about 80% of all federal cases ■Federal District Courts have exclusive original jurisdiction on almost all federal cases ■Federal District judges, like Supreme Court Justices, are appointed for life ■One judge and possibly a jury of 6 to 12 jurors

United States Court of Appeals ■The U.S. Court of Appeals were created in 1891 to alleviate the Supreme Court’s large workload ■There a currently 13 Court of Appeals in the United States ■Each court case usually has a three judge panel with no jury and no new evidence may be presented

Supreme Court of the United States ■The United States Supreme Court is the only court that was created by the Constitution ■The Supreme Court has the final say on all Federal court cases as well as all the legality of all Federal laws in the United States ■Made up of nine (or sometimes less  ) Justices who make opinions. ■The majority opinion rules (or if Scalia dies and there are only eight justices and they have a split decision of 4-4, the lower court decision stands)