State and Federal Court Systems
Dual Court System
• There are separate state and federal court
systems
• Federal courts deal with matters of federal law
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Dual Court System (continued)
• State courts deal with matters of state law
• Whether a case enters through the federal or
state court system depends upon which law has
been broken
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The American Court Structure
A court’s jurisdiction is set by law and
limited by territory and type of case.
jurisdiction
The authority of a court to hear and decide cases.
Criminal Court Structure
• Each Court system basically consists of the
following:
– Higher Courts (superior)
– Lower Courts (inferior)
• The type of law defines the jurisdiction of each
court
• There is usually one court of last resort
– Remember Texas has 2 high courts
• There are some specialty courts
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Four Tier State Court Systems
• State court systems are structured as follows
(from highest to lowest):
Court of Last Resort
Appellate Courts
Courts of General Jurisdiction
Lower Courts
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Four Tier State Court Systems
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Lower Courts
• These courts are limited in what they can do
• They generally hear minor cases and conduct
some pretrial activities for more important
ones
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Lower Courts (continued)
• They are most organized at the town,
municipal, or county level
• They are referred to as the lower courts or
misdemeanor courts
• They dispose of minor cases
• Their sentencing options are restricted
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Courts of General Jurisdiction
• Controlled by state law
• Conduct preliminary activities and trials for
felonies
• Conduct appeals from lower courts
(trial de novo)
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Courts of General Jurisdiction
(continued)
•
•
•
These have general authority to conduct trial
and pretrial activities in all criminal cases
These are courts of record
These courts have “exclusive” jurisdiction to
try felony cases
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Appellate Courts
• There are rights of appeal as determined by
law
• An appeal is not a new trial
• The courts review previous trials for
procedural errors
• There may be two levels of appeals courts
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Appellate Courts
(continued)
• Appellate courts do not try cases
• An appeal is based on some contention of law
• Many times multiple judges review a case
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Appellate Court Decisions
• The Appellate Courts may
– Order a new trial
– Allow the defendant to go free
– Uphold (sustain) the original verdict
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States Court of Last Resort
• Each state has a court of last resort
• In most instances, this is referred to as the
State Supreme Court
• It is the highest state court
• It reviews issues of law and facts appealed
from the trial courts
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States Court of Last Resort
(continued)
• In New Mexico, it is the New Mexico
Supreme Court
• In Texas for criminal cases, it is the Court of
Criminal Appeals
• Cases appealed from this court go to the
United States Supreme Court
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Federal Court Structure
From highest to lowest:
United States
Supreme
Court
United States
Courts of Appeal
United States
District Courts
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United States District Courts
• Each state has at least one federal district
• There are 94 districts in the U.S.
• These are the primary trial courts of the U.S.
system
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United States Federal Courts
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United States Courts of Appeal
• These are also called the Circuit Courts
because the jurisdiction covers a large
geographical area
• They are usually located in major cities
• They review cases from lower courts
• These cases involve constitutional issues
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United States Supreme Court
• This is the highest court in the land
- the court of last resort
• Their decisions become precedents
• They may choose to hear
or not hear most of their cases
• It uses writ of certiorari to get case records
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United States Supreme Court
(continued)
• 9 Justices (1 chief justice and 8 associate
justices)
• The full court hears about 100 cases per year
• 4 Justices must vote to hear a case
• There are majority, minority, and dissenting
opinions
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Federal Crimes vs. State Crimes
• Most crimes are violations of state law
– murder, robbery, burglary, arson, theft, rape, etc.
• Federal lawmakers can pass laws only where
there is some federal or national interest at
stake.
– For example, counterfeiting is a federal offense
because it is the federal government’s duty to print
money
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Federal Criminal Jurisdiction
• The federal government has jurisdiction over the following crimes:
• Any crime that takes place on federal land or involves federal officers,
such as a murder in a national forest or on an Indian reservation, a theft on
a military base, or an assault against a federal law enforcement agent, i.e.
Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent.
• A crime where the defendant crosses state lines. For example, a person
who takes a kidnapping victim from Oregon to Nevada.
• A crime where the criminal conduct crosses state lines. For example, an
Internet fraud scheme the has victims and perpetrators in multiple states,
• Immigration and customs violations. Such as importing child
pornography, international human trafficking, international drug smuggling.
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Criminal Statistics
• Federal Crimes prosecuted per year
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
76,000 cases per year
32% drug cases (24,000)
30% immigration cases (22,000)
Firearms
Fraud
RICO
52% of offenders were Hispanic
More than 40% filed in Arizona, New Mexico, Southern
California, Western Texas and Southern Texas
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Criminal Statistics
• State Crimes prosecuted per year
– It is not uncommon for a large state to process
approximately 1 million criminal cases per year
– Texas 901,000 reported crimes with a 20% clearance rate
– New Mexico 66,643 cases per year
– The majority of state crimes committed are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Murder
Rape
Robbery
Burglary
Larceny
Aggravated Assault or Battery
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