The Federal Courts

Terms

• Jurisdiction – The ability of a court to hear a case• There are many things that influence when

a particular court can hear a case.• When the case starts or later, after another

court has already heard the case• Is the “subject matter” of the case appropriate

for that court?• Does the court have the right to decide this

case between these parties?

• Original v Appellate Jurisdiction• Original Jurisdiction – The court that has

the right to hear case for the first time• Appellate Jurisdiction – A court that

decides whether the court that heard the case first made a mistake

• Subject Matter Jurisdiction• Must involve a ‘case or controversy’ That

is, two parties must have a real interest in having the case decided.

• Must involve a federal law OR• Be between parties who are residents of

different states (i.e. MD and VA) (Also known as “Diversity Jurisdiction”)

• AND involve an amount over $50,000.00

• Personal Jurisdiction – • Individuals must live in a geographic area

the court has been assigned to cover OR• The incident between the parties

happened within that geographic area.

The Federal Courts

• US Supreme Court• Has Original and Appellate Jurisdiction• Appellate is most important• The court only hears about 80 cases a year• You have to apply for leave to have your

case heard in the Sp Ct: If the Court give you leave, they Issue a writ of certiorari. This is an order to the lower court to send them the court record

• US Court of Appeals-Has “Appellate Jurisdiction” only-The major appellate court in the federal system-Also known as “Circuit Courts” because they are divided into 13 Circuits that handle particular geographic areas of the country

• Federal District Courts• These courts are the major trial level

courts (Original jurisdiction)• Each District Court has a particular

geographic area it covers that feeds into one of the “Circuits”