1. Reaching a Decision
How do the various levels of the court system reach decisions? Why are appeals decisions handled differently than original jurisdiction cases?

2. Trial Courts NC District Court – NC Superior Court –
Criminal misdemeanor cases at the District level do not use jury trials.
An individual judge hears and delivers a verdict in each case.
Civil cases can either be decided by a jury or a single judge.
NC Superior Court –
A jury is used in both criminal and civil cases.
If a jury is used in a criminal case, they decide guilt or innocence and a judge will issue a sentence for the defendant.
Punishments assigned must align with national and state standards for the crime committed.
US District Court –
Juries are used in both criminal and civil cases
A judge will assign punishments in criminal cases

3. Appeals Courts NC Court of Appeals – NC Supreme Court -
Judges sit in panels of 3 to hear a case.
They discuss the case and record their opinions, whether they agree or disagree, the majority “wins”
NC Supreme Court -
7 Justices hear a case and discuss the details and their legal opinions on the case.
The court’s decision is the opinion shared by a majority of judges, even if it is not a unanimous decision.
US Court of Appeals –
Operates the same as the NC Court of Appeals.
US Supreme Court –
Operates the same as the NC Supreme Court, except there are 9 justices as opposed to 7.

4. Types of Opinions
Supreme Courts write their decisions down with legal explanations based on legal precedent and the details of each case.
The opinion of the court will be the argument that the majority of the justices agree with. This opinion is called the majority opinion.
If a justice disagrees with the majority opinion, they must explain their legal arguments in a dissenting opinion.
If a justice agrees with the final “solution” in a majority opinion, but their legal argument is different, they must explain their legal arguments in a concurring opinion.
All of the opinions of the judges may be used as precedent in future cases. (However, if a dissenting opinion is used, it will overturn the previous standard and change how similar cases are addressed in the future.)
For example, the judges in Brown v. Board of Education used a dissenting opinion from the Plessy v. Ferguson case to support their majority opinion to overturn segregation in public schools.