1. The Judicial Branch
Review

2. Levels of Courts: District Courts
Lowest level
Handles 90% of caseload
Has original jurisdiction for all federal cases (except cases involving foreign diplomats or states!)
This is where a judge and jury decide if you are guilty or innocent.
District courts rule over a geographic district.
Several districts feed into a CIRCUIT-----

3. Levels of Court: Appeals Courts
If you feel like you didn’t receive a fair trial in district court, you can APPEAL it to the Appeals Court.
There are 12 circuits (each containing several districts). There is one Appeals Court for each circuit, type of larger geographic area.
NO JURIES---Appeals courts have a panel of at least 3 judges instead.
3 possible decisions:
Uphold – The lower courts were fair and the ruling stays the same
Overturn – The lower court was unfair and the ruling reverses
Remand – The case is sent back to the district court for a retrial

4. Levels of Courts: Supreme Court
9 justices: Can we name them all?
If you STILL don’t think your trial was fair, you can appeal again to the Supreme Court.
SCOTUS receives thousands of applications per year and only picks around 100 using the “Rule of Four”. (Choose cases to go on the docket)
Most cases come from appellate jurisdiction, but SCOTUS has original jurisdiction when cases involve foreign diplomats or states.
Functions like an appeals court---same 3 possible decisions:
Uphold, Overturn, and Remand

5. Supreme Court (continued)
More likely to choose cases that involve Constitutional issues and that will affect many Americans
5 out of the 9 justices have to agree on the ruling
One justice is chosen to write the Majority Opinion, which explains the facts of the case, announces the ruling, and provides reasoning for why the court ruled that way.
Opinions are distributed to the media and posted on the SCOTUS website.

6. Supreme Court: More Opinions
If a justice agrees with the majority but has different reasons, they can write a Concurring Opinion.
If a justice disagrees with the majority, they can write a Dissenting Opinion.
Most decisions are made using Stare Decisis, which is the practice of using precedents to decide how to rule.
If you don’t agree with the Supreme Courts ruling on your case, too bad!

7. Judicial Review Established by Marbury v Madison
SCOTUS can review laws and Presidential actions when they are challenged in a case.
If SCOTUS finds a law or action to be unconstitutional, they will strike down the law.
Congress can get around Supreme Court rulings by passing a new law, making small changes, or even amending the Constitution.

8. People You’ll See in DISTRICT COURTS
Judge: presides over a case, interprets the law, and decides the proper punishment.
Magistrate: similar to a junior judge. Can issue warrants and hear preliminary cases.
U.S. Marshall: official bounty hunter for the U.S. Can find you to collect fines and if you try to run away to avoid being arrested or going on trial, they can find you and bring you back to the court.
Court Clerk: do lots of paperwork and keep the court running efficiently.