1. Today: Understanding Types of Courts, and Their Functions
11/16/09 BR- Explain the difference between a trial court and a court of appeals?
Today: Understanding Types of Courts, and Their Functions
Letters, Logical Fallacies, NU, MIKVA

2. To Begin.. Get a blue law book. Go to Chapter 5
This Section deals with:
Trial Courts
Appeals Courts
Federal and State Court systems
Take notes on the following pages. KEEP THESE NOTES!

3. State and Federal Courts
There is a completely separate court system in the U.S. that handles different types of cases.
The State and Federal courts
Both systems can end at the U.S. Supreme court

6. State/Local vs. Federal
1. Hears cases concerning state laws and local issues
1. Hears cases that involve federal law, affect the nation, or incidents between states
Do you know the difference between a state and federal law?

9. 1. There are lots of state,municipal, and local courts (Cook County, etc.)
2. There are not as many Federal Courts. The country is divided up into districts (94) these are in major population centers.
3. These 94 District Courts are Federal Trial Courts. (page 53. In the red book)
4. There are 13 Circuits. These are Federal Courts of Appeals.

11. In both State and Federal systems..
There are trial courts and courts of appeals or “appellate courts.”
These courts serve two very different functions and are very different in how they operate.
You only go to the appellate level if there is an appealable issue such as: bad evidence, bad trial procedure, bad law, or constitutional issue.
You CAN NOT appeal your case just because you lost.

12. Trial Court vs. Appeals
1. Trial Courts are “cases of fact.” They try to determine what happened through the trial process of argument and presentation of evidence
1. Appellatte courts are “courts of procedure.” These courts try to determine if the trial court did anything wrong

13. Trial Court vs. Appeals
2. Trial courts are called the “court of original jurisdiction.” It means the place where the case was first heard
3. Lawyers use evidence and witnesses to prove their case
2. All courts after the trial court are appelate courts
3. There are NO WITNESSES or EVIDENCE at the appellate level. The lawyer presents their argument as to what was wrong at the trial level. That’s It!

14. Trial Court vs. Appeals
4. Trial courts result in the person going free or going to jail (or appealing!)
5. Both sides can appeal
4. Appellate courts can affirm the lower court’s decision (they got it right.) or it can remand the case to the trial court with instructions - Basically saying that you need to do the trial over and fix the problems.

15. Trial Court vs. Appeals
Case is decided by a judge or jury
Case is decided by a panel (3-9) of judges who listen to the lawyer and ask questions.

16. U.S. Supreme Court This is the highest appellate court in the land.
Each side speaks for approximately 1 hour. During this time the 9 Supreme Court justices fire questions at the lawyer while they try to give their speech.
Cases that start in state or federal court can end up here.
State Supreme courts can send cases to the U.S. Supreme court.
The Supreme court is concerned ONLY with cases that have Constitutional Significance

18. Talking Courts.. “It was reversed on appeal.”
“It will be heard at the appellate level.”
“It was an appellate court.”
“We will appeal the decision.”
“I wish to appeal the decision.”
“The case was remanded on appeal.”
“The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme court.”

20. Tomorrow.. We will work on the problem sets in class.
Wednesday and Friday..I will ask you to sort out different cases as to what court they would be heard in. It would be very helpful for your to come in tomorrow with a better understanding of today’s discussion.
In other words..look this stuff over tonight!