By:
Jaured Griffiths William Jackson Juwan Nixon Jayvon
Newton
Jurisdiction- court’s power to hear a case and to make a judgment.
Federal courts have jurisdiction over:
Actions in which the U.S or a state is a party
Cases that raise a federal question (interpreting the Constitution)
Cases that involve citizens of different states and when the amount of money disputed is over $75,000.
Cases that have to do with the sea
Patent and copyright cases
Bankruptcy cases
Federal courts have 3 tiers: district courts, courts of appeals, and the
U.S Supreme Court.
District courts originated jurisdiction over most federal civil and criminal cases
Original jurisdiction- court has power to hear a case for first time
Most federal cases begin in one of the U.S. district courts
Court of appeals- is a court that appeals decisions from the lower courts
Ex: If a person appeals the U.S. district court decisions then there case will get forward to the courts of appeals
Appellate court- is a court that hears appeals and reviews cases from the lower courts
The U.S. is divided into 13 judicial circuits and each circuit has several district courts and 1 court of appeals and only 3 judges give out decisions.
These courts are set up by Congress and they only have a say in certain cases.
Ex: When a citizen files a lawsuit against the federal government.
The U.S Supreme Court is the court in the country. It is made up of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight associate judges.
The president chooses the justices with the consent of the senate. Like all Federal judges, they serve for life.
The Supreme Court can decide what appeals it will hear, and cases that involve the constitution or affect a lot of people.