The Federal Court System
National Judiciary 2 separate court systems 1 federal and 1 state Two kinds of federal courts Inferior courts- lower federal courts below the supreme court Constitutional courts Special courts
Constitutional Courts 94 District courts 12 US courts of appeals US court of appeals for the federal circuit US court of international trade
Federal court jurisdiction Jurisdiction- authority of a court to hear a case Can hear case due to Subject matter Parties involved If US officer or agency involved And ambassador or consul State suing another or foreign government Citizen in one state suing one in another US citizen suing foreign government or subjects
Federal Judges Judges appointed by president approved by Senate Judicial restraint – believe that judges should decide cases on basis Of the original intent of the framers Precedent of a decision on a similar case Judicial Activision- broad view of judicial power, things should change in light of cultural change
Federal Judges Constitutional court judges serve for life Independence of the federal judiciary Only removed by impeachment- only 13 have been removed May retire at age 70, if they served 10 years they receive full salary for rest of their life
District Courts 667 Judges 89 Judiciary districts Criminal case- done for committing a crime Civil case- cases of non criminal matter
Court of Appeals “gate keepers” of supreme court Docket- list of cases to be heard 13 courts of appeals Each court is composed anywhere from 6 to 28 judges (179 in all)
Judicial Review Marbury v. Madison Establishes judicial review Supreme can rule on constitutionality of laws and their use
How cases reach the Court Able to set own agenda At least 4 justices must agree to take case Remand (return) case to lower case Hears, decides and write full opinion of less than 100 cases per year Writ of certiorari- order by court directing lower court to send up records for review Certificated- happens when lower court not clear about procedure or the rule of law that should apply
How the Court operates Once court accepts case schedule oral arguments Each party files a brief- before oral argument Brief details party’s legal position Court conference- when justices decide how to rule of a case The courts opinion Majority opinion- sets out facts and how the court rules Concurring opinion- agrees with majority opinion, but for different reasons Dissenting opinions- written by those who do not agree with the majority opinion