Federal and Supreme Courts

Ch. 18

1. The Creation of a National Judiciary – At first there were laws that were passed and put into play within the states and the states would handle the courts. There became a need when Hamilton talked about it in the 78^th Federalist paper.
2. A Dual Court System – There are two different courts.  One is the national courts that are placed all around the United States (100 around the US).  The others are the courts within the states. The states basically are the ones that go through all the different problems.
3. Two Kinds of Different Courts – The Constitutional courts are the federal courts that Congress formed the exercise of the judicial power of the United States.  The special Courts are the courts that were created by Congress to hear cases about the other expressed powers of the Congress from Article I.
4. Jurisdiction – this is the authority of a court to hear and decide a case.  The constitution gives the federal courts when the subject of the matter or the parties is involved in the case.
5. Subject Matter – The federal courts may hear a case if it deals with two different things.  One thing is if the interpretation and application of a provision in the Constitution or in a federal statue or treaty.  The other is if a question of admiralty or a question of maritime law happens.
6. Parties – A case comes within jurisdiction of the federal courts if any of the parties is the United State or its offices, an ambassador, a states suing another States, a citizen suing another states, a citizen of a state is suing another of another, an American Citizen is suing a foreign government,.  In all these cases the cases can be brought to federal court.
7. Exclusive Jurisdiction – these are cases that can only be heard by the federal courts.  These are cases that involve someone charged of a federal crime, or a lawsuit involved only in that state.  
8. Concurrent Jurisdiction – these cases can be tried in the federal courts and/or the State courts.  These may involve disputes between citizens of different States.
9. Plaintiff – this is the person who initiates the suit.  He/she may bring the case to the proper State or federal court.
10. Defendant – this is the party that is defending the complaint.  He/she may decide to move it to a federal district court.
11. Original Jurisdiction- this is where the case is heard first.  Most of the time the district courts are the first to hear the case.
12. Appellate Jurisdiction – these are cases that appeal at a lower court.  The Supreme Court hears appellate and original cases.
13. Appointment of judges – Federal judges is drawn from ranks of the leading attorneys, legal scholars, and law professors, former Congress, and from the state courts.  The president is also supposed to nominate the judges of the Supreme Court.
14. Terms and Pay of Judges – judges of the constitutional courts are judges for life (at least until they resign or retire or die) or if they are impeached.  Judges may retire at ago 70 and they receive full salary for the rest of their lives if they served for at least 10 years.
15. Court Officers – The federal courts appoint a clerk who has the custody of the seal of the court and keeps the records of the cases.  They have a magistrate also which who serve for 8 terms and they handle a lot of the legal matters that were dealt by the judges.  The President and the Senate appoints a martial that serves the district courts.
16. District Courts/ Jurisdiction – the district courts are the federal trial courts which deal with 80% of the workload.  These are mostly heard by a single judge and are throughout the country and even Puerto Rico.
17. Jurisdiction – the district courts have original jurisdiction over the federal courts.  They hear a range of criminal cases to civil cases.  They are the only federal courts that use grand juries all the time to indict defendants.
18. The Courts of Appeals/ Jurisdiction – this was created by Congress in 1891 because there was too much of a burden on the Supreme Courts.  There are 12 courts of appeal and there is usually a panel of three judges.
19. The Court of International Trade – There are nine judges and they hear civil cases from the tariff and other trade-related laws.
20. The Court of Appeals for the federal Circuit – they hear different appeals from several different courts.  Most of the repeals come from the Trade courts, and the Claims courts and the Courts of the Veterans appeals.  They hear cases involving patents, trademarks, and copyrights.  Sometimes the cases are carried out to the Supreme Court. 
21. Judicial Review – The Court has used its power in thousands of cases since 1803.  Usually it upheld the constitutionality of federal and State actions.
22. Jurisdiction – There are two classes that can be held by the High Court which are those to which a State is a party and those affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls.
23. How Cases Reach the Court – An appealed court case will be heard when 4 of the 9 Supreme Court judges agree that the case should be heard.  This eliminates most of the cases, so it’s hard to get an appeal. 
24. Writ of certiorari – this is an order by the Court that directs a lower court to send up the record in a given case for review.  Most of the cases that reach the Supreme Court by a writ of certiorari.
25. Certificate – This is the process when a lower court is not clear about the procedure or the rule of the law.  A few of the cases that reach the Supreme Courts are through this way.
26. The Supreme Court at Work – The Supreme Courts have many different processes that they have to go through to be at work.  There are oral arguments, briefs, and Conference and opinions.  They basically start the first Monday of October and are still in session by the next June or July.
27. Oral Arguments – This is where the lawyers give their argument orally in front of the Supreme Court.  The Supreme Court hears these cases in two week cycles.
28. Briefs – These are written documents that filed with the Court before the oral argument.  These are detailed statements that support one side of the cases and are built on relevant facts.
29. The Solicitor General – He or she is the person that represents the United State cases that go in front of the Court.  He or she decides which cases the government should as the Supreme Court to review.
30. The Conference – This is where the justices meet in a conference to consider the cases that they have orally heard.  Most of the decisions are not unanimous because they are all difficult decisions.
31. Opinions – These are the things where the Courts tell their decision on a court case.  These are valuable because these opinions basically stand as precedents for the next case that is similar to it.
32. Majority opinion – This is another word for the Courts opinions.  This is where it announces the Courts decision in a case and sets out the reasoning on which it is based.
33. Concurring opinion – this is where the Courts make or emphasize a point that wasn’t made in the majority opinion.  This is a part of the majority opinion.
34. Dissenting opinions – this is where the justices who do not agree with the majority courts show their opinion.  These are often written by those who dislike the opinion of the majority.
35. The U.S. Federal Claims Court – No one can go to court against the United States unless the Congress okay’s it. This court is made up of 16 judges appointed by Senate and the president.  They hear the claims for the damages against the government.
36. Redress – The US could secure this only by an act of Congress.  This is when they are okay with the claim and decide to pay it.
37. The Territorial Courts – These courts are set up around the world where the United States has basic control over.  They are just like having the local courts in the states.
38. The Courts of the District of Columbia – This is where the courts hear the local issues and also constitutional cases.  They also established two local courts like the superior and the court of appeals.
39. The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces – There is a chief judge and four associate judges who are appointed by the President and the Senate for 15 years and are NOT part of the armed forces.  This deals with serious court-martial convictions of the members of the armed forces.
40. The Court of Veterans Appeals – this court has the ability to hear appeals from the decisions of administrative agencies that deal with the Veteran’s affairs.  This is where they hear claims that were denied by the Board of the Veterans Appeals Department.
41. The United States Tax Court – This court has 19 judges and they are appointed by the President and Senate for 12 year terms.  They hear civil cases involving disputes over the applications of the tax laws.