THE JUDICIAL BRANCH
Chapter 18
PART 1
What is the US Court System?
BASIC VOCABULARY
Jurisdiction: the limits or territory within which
authority may be exercised
 Circuit: The area or district covered under the
jurisdiction of a judge
 Plaintiff: person who files the suit
 Defendant: person whom the complaint is against
 Docket: list of cases to be heard in a court
 Appeals: The transfer of a case from a lower to a
higher court for a new hearing
 Habeas Corpus: “unlawful detention” a person under
arrest must be seen by a judge.
 Writ: Legal action

TYPES OF JURISDICTION

Exclusive:


Cases only heard in
either the State or
Federal Courts
Concurrent:


Cases that can be
heard in either the
State or Federal
Courts
Original:


The court in which a
case is first heard
Appellate:

A court that hears a
case on appeal from a
lower court
2 SEPARATE COURT SYSTEMS IN THE US
National/Federal
120 Courts throughout the
Country
State
Each state has their own
system
They hear most of the cases
FEDERAL VS. STATE JURISDICTION
State
• Cases involving state laws
• Family law issues
• Real property issues
• Most private contract disputes
• most professional malpractice
issues
• most personal injury lawsuits
• Most workers’ injury claims
• Probate and inheritance
matters
• Most traffic violations and
registration of vehicles
Federal
•Crimes under statuses enacted
by congress
•Most cases involving federal laws
•Matters involving interstate and
international commerce
•Cases involving securities and
commodities regulations
•Patent, copyright and other
intellectual property issues
•Cases involving rights under
treaties
•Bankruptcy matters
•Disputes between states
•Habeas Corpus actions
•Traffic violations on certain
federal properties
FEDERAL COURTS BROKEN DOWN
FURTHER
Supreme Court
(Created by the
Constitution
Inferior Courts
(Created by Congress)
Constitutional
Courts
Special Courts
CONSTITUTIONAL COURTS
 Federal
courts that Congress has
formed under Article III
 “Judicial Power of the United States”
 Includes:
94 District Courts
 12 US Courts of Appeals
 US Courts of Appeals for the federal
Circuit
 US Court of International Trade

SPECIAL COURTS
 Created
to hear cases arising out of the
expressed powers of congress
 More narrow range
 Includes:






US court of Federal claims
Territorial Courts
Courts of DC
US Tax Court
US Court of Appeals for Armed Forces
US Court of Appeals for veterans claims
PART 2
Judges
BASICS
 Why
does the Judicial branch need to be
more or less independent from political
parties?
 President with the Senates help chooses
federal judges

Usually whomever the Senate from the state
where the judge will serve is nominated
 Anyone

can be chosen
Usually: lawyer, legal scholars, law school
professors, former members of congress, state
court judges
TWO TYPES OF JUDGES
 Judicial

Believe they should use their position to
promote desirable social ends
 Judicial

activists:
restraint:
Believes in making decisions judges
should defer to the actions of the
executive and legislative branch
TERMS
 Supreme

Court Justices serve for life
Removed by impeachment
 Constitutional
Court Justices serve
for life

Removed by impeachment
 Special
Court Judges serve for a
certain term length
COURT OFFICERS

Judge:


With clerks, bailiffs, court reporters etc
Magistrate:
Appointed by district court judge (400)
 8 year term
 Do smaller things that the judge doesn’t have time for


Bankruptcy Judge:
Each federal district has at least 1 (350)
 14 year term


US attorney:
President and Senate appoints 1 for each district
 The Government’s prosecutor
