*Federal Courts* There are 2 kinds of cases -civil (suing) -criminal cases (illigal acts, fines) Who is involved? Litigants: plaintiffs vs. defendent Attornies: over 1,000 practicing Interest Groups: convince litigants to challange laws District Courts: District courts have original jursidiction:jurisdiction of courts that hear a case first. There are 91 district courts- at least one in each state. Judges are appointed for life and hear about 350,000 cases a year. Courts of Appeals: Courts of Appeals have appellate jurisdiction: jurisdiction of courts that hear cases brought to them on appeal from the lower courts. Courts of appeals is divided into 12 judicial courts. They aren't looking to determine if the person is innocent or not, they are looking to determine whether the first court made a error.
| *The Supreme Court* 8 Justices and 1 Cheif Justice The Supreme Court gets to choose what cases they do and don't listen to. On average, they only hear less than 1% of all cases! The rule is, you need 4/9 to agree to hear the case. They usually pick cases because:
The Process It is not like a normal court case; the process is very different. First, the two sides submit briefs. Then, there is a 1 hour oral argument (each side has 30 min.). The Supreme Court then conferences to dicuss, vote, and then write the two opinions. This is not final though! The votes can change after the opinion is written. It is important to understand that it is the opinion that matters, not the actual vote so much because Supreme Court rulings set presidence. It is an example to go by for all the lower courts in cases that follow. The decision is then announced. The downfall of the Supreme Court is that they cannot enforce their decisions. They must rely on other parts of the government to enforce their rulings. *IMPORTANT CASE* Marbury vs. Madison: Established judicial review. Judicial review is the right for the Supreme Court to determine if something is unconstitutional. |
