Jurisdictions of the Federal and State Court Systems

The national and state governments have different, but sometimes overlapping, spheres of power. This holds true also for their court systems. The power of a court system to hear and decide a case is called its jurisdiction.

Although there are many types of courts, the main state and federal judicial systems involve general, trial courts, with appeals taken to one or more higher courts.

Federal courts have particularized subject-matter jurisdiction, usu­ally based on "federal questions" or diversity jurisdiction. State courts have general subject-matter jurisdiction.

The federal courts were provided for in the Constitution of the United States on the theory that the judicial power of the federal government could not be entrusted to the states, which was necessary for a strong national government.

The U.S. Supreme Court has original jurisdiction when the parties include
ambassadors or other foreign officials, or when two states are the opposing
parties. However, almost all of the cases heard by the Supreme Court arise
out of its appellate jurisdiction: the power to hear appeals from other courts'
decisions. Appeals generally involve interpretation of constitutional law
and/or federal statutes.

A decision of the Supreme Court cannot be appealed to any other court. Neither the President nor Congress can change their decisions.

The Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. They are nominated by the President but must be approved by the Senate. Once approved, they hold office as Supreme Court justices for life.

Other federal courts are the district courts, the courts of appeals, the Claims Court, the Court of International Trade, the Tax Court, and the territorial courts established in the federally administered territories of the United States.

Federal district courts have original jurisdiction(meaning that proceedings commence there) over federal criminal cases and certain specified civil cases.

The federal courts are limited to hearing cases specifically placed within their power (subject-matter jurisdiction) by the U.S. Constitution or other laws. Nu­merous federal statutes, as well as certain exclusively federal areas under the Constitution (e.g., admiralty, bankruptcy, patents, copyrights), give the federal courts a vast array of subjects to decide; these areas are called federal questions (cases involving the federal constitution, statutes, or treaties).

If a defendant wishes to transfer a case from one state to another, or from state court to federal court, his/her request will be for removal. Such requests must be made at the beginning of the case and are premised on the claim that the correct jurisdiction lies in another court.

There are other types of courts. For instance, many federal and state administrative agencies have their own judicial systems. There are specialized courts (e.g., federal bankruptcy courts), and states generally have special courts (ones without juries) for cases involving small amounts or special litigants, such as orphans or landlords and tenants. However, the general trial courts, with juries available, remain the crucial arena for most important cases.

Federaljudges are appointed for life. At age 70, a judge may go on ‘'inactive status" at full pay.

The following diagram shows the structure of the federal court system.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 955