The United States judicial system
The first thing you should know about the United States
judicial system is that it is composed of two court systems. The federal
government composes one and the other is for the state governments. Each hears
specific types of cases. The two systems often interact and share the goal of
fairly handling legal issues. The Constitution created a government structure
known as federalism and this means that there is sharing of powers between the
federal and state governments. The Constitution gives only certain powers to
the federal government. The rest of the powers are reserved for the state
governments. The federal court system deals with legal issues granted to it by
the Constitution. The state courts deal with state constitutions and the legal
issues that the Constitution did not give to the federal government. For
example, since the Constitution gives Congress authority to make all laws
concerning bankruptcies, a state court would not have the power to rule over
thus case. Also, since the Constitution does not give the federal government
authority in family law matters, a federal court would not have any power over
the ruling in a divorce case. There are three main levels in the federal courts
system, district courts, circuit courts which are courts of appeals,
and the Supreme Court of the United States. There are 94 district courts, 13
circuit courts, and 1 Supreme Court in the United States court system. Courts in
the federal system work differently than state courts. The primary difference
for civil cases is the kinds of cases that can be heard in the federal system.
Federal courts have limited jurisdiction, so they can only hear cases based on the
United States Constitution. The federal district court is the beginning for any
cases under federal jurisdiction. This is called original jurisdiction. In some
cases there can be original jurisdiction in state and federal courts, meaning
cases can be brought in both courts. Criminal cases are not up for question as
to jurisdiction. States may only bring criminal cases in state courts, and the
federal government may only bring criminal cases in federal court.
