CHAPTER 18:2: Federal Courts

Transcription

1 CHAPTER 18:2: Federal Courts

2 Chapter 18:2 o We will examine the structure and jurisdiction of the federal district court. o We will examine the structure and jurisdiction of the federal court of appeals. o We will examine the structure and jurisdiction of the two other constitutional courts.

3 (Pro 25:8) Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.

4 District Courts: o The district courts are the federal trial courts. o There are 632 judges handle some 300,000 cases a year. o Some 80 percent of the federal caseload. o The district courts were created by Congress in the Judiciary Act of 1789.

5 District Courts: o There are now 91 of them. o The 50 states are divided into 89 judicial districts, with one court in each district. o There is also a district court in the District of Columbia and another in Puerto Rico.

6 District Courts: o Each state forms at least one federal judicial district. o The larger, more populous States are divided into two or more districts because of the larger amount of judicial business there, of course. o At least two judges are assigned to each district, but many have several. o Thus, New York is divided into four districts; and one of those districts, the United States Judicial District for Southern New York, now has 28 judges.

7 District Courts: o Cases heard in district court are most often heard by a single judge. o However certain cases may be heard by a three-judge panel.

8 District Courts: o The district courts have original jurisdiction over most cases that are heard in the federal courts. o That amounts to another way of saying that these district courts are the principal trial courts in the federal court system.

9 District Courts: o District courts hear a wide range of both criminal and civil cases. o They try cases ranging from bank robbery, kidnapping, and mail fraud to counterfeiting, tax evasion, and narcotics violations. o They hear civil cases arising under the bankruptcy, postal, tax, labor relations, public lands, civil rights, and other laws of the United States.

10 District Courts: o The District courts are the only federal courts that regularly use grand juries to indict defendants and petit juries to try defendants. o Most of the decisions made in district court are final. o However, some cases are appealed to the court of appeals in that judicial circuit, or in a few instances, directly to the Supreme Court.

11 THE COURT OF APPEALS: o The Court of Appeals were created by Congress in o They were established as gatekeepers to relieve the Supreme Court of much of the burden of hearing appeals from the district courts. o Those appeals had become so numerous that the Supreme Court was then three years behind the docket its list of cases to be heard.

12 THE COURT OF APPEALS: o There are now 12 courts of appeals in the judicial system. o The United States is divided into 11 of those circuits; there is also one in the District of Columbia. o Altogether, 179 circuit judges sit on these appellate courts. o In addition, a justice of the Supreme Court is assigned to each of them.

13 THE COURT OF APPEALS: o U.S. Court of Appeals 11th circuit covers three states, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. o This Court is composed of 12 judges, and Justice Anthony Kennedy is also assigned to the circuit. o The judges hold sessions in a number of cities within the circuit.

14 THE COURT OF APPEALS: o Each of the courts of appeals usually sits in panels of three judges. o But on important cases, the court will sit en banc, where all of the judges for that circuit is participating.

15 THE COURT OF APPEALS: o The court of appeals only have appellate jurisdiction. o They hear cases on appeal from the lower federal courts. o Most often, those appeals some from the district courts within their circuits. o But some do come from the United States Tax Court and from the several territorial courts.

16 THE COURT OF APPEALS: o The Courts of appeals also hear appeals from the decisions of several federal regulatory agencies from such quasi-judicial agencies as the Federal Trade Commission, National Labor Relations Board, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

17 THE COURT OF APPEALS: o They hear 40,000 cases a year. o Decisions are final, unless the Supreme Court chooses to hear appeals taken from them.

18 The Court of International Trade: o Has nine judges of the trade court, sit in panels of three and often hold trials at such major ports as New Orleans, Boston, SF, etc. o Appeals from decisions of the Trade Court are taken to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

19 THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT: o Congress created the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in o It established the new tribunal to centralize, and so speed up, the handling of appeal cases in certain kind of civil cases. o This court has a nationwide jurisdiction. o Has 12 judges, and hears appeals from decisions, that are occasionally carried to the United States Supreme Court.

20 THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT: o Many of its cases come from the Trade Court, Claims Court, and the Court of Veteran Appeals, two special courts. o Also hears intellectual property cases, and administrative rulings from various agencies and commissions in the Federal Government.

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22 Discussion Questions A bakery owned by Christians refused to make a cake for a same-sex couple in the State of Oregon based on their religious convictions. They were fined $135,000. If the couple appeals the ruling and if you were a judge in a appeals court would you be willing to hear the case?