Judicial Branch Federal District Courts (94 Courts in 12 Districts) Federal Appeals Court (12 Appeals Courts +1 Special Appeals Court) Supreme Court (Highest and Final Court)

Federal Courts

Federal Courts Continued… Analyzing Maps 1.Which circuit covers the largest geographic area? 2.District 3 is smaller than District 10. Why do you think this is so?

Judicial Branch Vocabulary Jurisdiction: the authority to hear and decide a case Exclusive Jurisdiction: only Federal Courts can hear Federal cases or only State Courts can hear States Cases Concurrent Jurisdiction: Both Federal and State Courts can hear a case when both Federal and State Law was broken. Original Jurisdiction: the authority to hear the case first. All Federal cases must start in Federal District Courts. Appellate Jurisdiction: the authority to hear a case that has been appealed from a lower court. Appeal: request the decision of a lower court be reviewed Remanding: send a case back to a lower court to be heard again as part of an appeal process. Opinion: a detailed legal explanation of a court’s decision. Precedent: a model of a similar court decision used as guidance in the decision making of the court.

Federal Jurisdiction Cases involving federal law Cases beyond the authority of individual state Cases appealed from State Supreme Courts Federal Court Jurisdiction examples are… – Constitutional Rights, – Federal Laws, – Disputes between States, – Citizens disputes from different States, – disputes against the Federal Government, – disputes against foreign governments and treaties, – Maritime Laws, – and disputes against US Diplomats from a foreign government.

Federal Judges As in Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution… – The President will appoint Federal Judges and the Senate must approve his/her appointments. – There are no requirements set in the Constitution to become a Federal Judge. – There is no “term limit” and Federal Judges hold their office for life. The Framers wanted Judges to be unaffected from political pressures over job security. – There are over 650 Judges in the Federal Court system. Each District has at least 2 Judges, each Appeals court has 6 to 28 Judges, and the Supreme Court has 9 Justices.

District Courts 94 District Courts First to hear a case involving a federal crime (Kidnapping, Air pollution) Witnesses are called, jury decides facts, judge applies the law

Appeals Court 12 Courts of appeal Has no jury, calls no witnesses and does not examine evidence Panel of 3 judges decides if original trial was fair

Appeals Court continued.. 13 th Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Nationwide jurisdiction to hear special cases – Such as patent violations or international trade disputes Court is located in Washington D.C.

U.S. Supreme Court Final Court of Appeals Decides if the U.S. Constitution was violated

Supreme Court Supreme Court “The Constitution is what we say it is”

Judicial Review Most important power of the Supreme Court Gives the court final say over the validity (Properness) of any law It is not in the Constitution

Justices No official qualifications President usually picks from among most respected judges, lawyers, and legal scholars Senate Approves Chief Justice $175,000 Associate Justices $167,000