Учебный год 22-23 / the organization of courts in the US
.docDasha Filchenkova, group 218
The Organization of Courts in the United States
Two separate court systems
The Structure of American Courts
Consequences of the Dual Court System
The structure of courts in the United Stales is complicated. Two separate court systems — federal and state — operate side by side. The structure is decentralized.
The relationship between state and federal courts was complex from the beginning. The Constitution provided that state judges should obey its provisions regardless of the constitution or laws of their own state. Section 25 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 gave the Supreme Court authority to review state court decisions that had ruled against a claim based on the federal Constitution, a treaty, or a federal statute. Moreover, the United States Supreme Court held that state courts were bound by federal interpretations of state laws when the constitutionality of those laws was questioned.
Despite such provisions, that appeared to make state judges subordinate to the federal judiciary, state courts retained most of their autonomy. The vast majority of cases decided by the state courts did not involve federal questions. And state judges ruled upon them according to their own traditions.
From the beginning both the states and the federal government have maintained trial courts throughout the country. Each state possesses several sets of trial courts.
Minor trial courts handle minor criminal and civil matters, such as traffic fines, local ordinance violations, and suits involving small amounts of money. These courts often exist in every large town of a county. Where the office of the justice of the peace (an elected untrained layperson) still exists, he often remains in charge of these minor courts. In some states his functions have been limited to still more minor matters, and a professional magistrate or judge has been installed to hear criminal and civil suits. In most states, courts of minor jurisdiction may not hold jury trials. All matters that come before them are settled by the judge alone.
Major trial courts hear more important matters — felony trials where the defendant may be sentenced to a long prison term and civil suits that involve a greater sum of money, usually more than $1,000. Such courts are generally located only at the county seat. In some states several counties share a single court, which normally sits in one and visits the other counties of the circuit for short periods each year. Judges of these courts are always lawyers and normally serve for relatively long terms. All jury trials take place in these courts.
On the state level there are 24 state appellate and supreme courts and 36 supreme courts only.
Finally, many states have a set of specialized courts, that fit somewhere between the major and minor trial courts. Some of these deal with family matters, such as divorce and juvenile delinquency. Most larger cities have special traffic courts to handle the thousands of parking and driving violations that occur each year. Some cities also possess small-claims courts to handle monetary claims of less than $500. Finally, larger cities often have special probate courts to handle the administration of wills and estates.
Federal trial courts are much more simply organized. There are relatively few courts — 94 in the entire country. Each state has at least one. These courts are called district courts. The court usually travels to the more important cities, visiting each for two weeks twice a year. Many district courts have several judges, each operating his own branch of the court. The court hears criminal matters involving the violation of a federal law, such as taking a stolen car across state boundaries or illegal dealing in narcotics. Civil matters heard in federal court range from large suits involving the citizens of two states to complicated antitrust complaints. A single judge presides over each case. Although the Constitution guarantees the right to a jury trial for all criminal prosecutions and for many civil cases involving more than $20, only criminal trials make extensive use of juries.
There are also specialized courts on the federal level. They have quasilegislative functions such as custom and patent appeals and appellate jurisdiction. Ad hoc tribunals are courts of law established for a special purpose. Litigants who wish to use this court must make a special application to the senior judge of the district court. It consists of three judges: at least one must be a district judge, and at least one must be a judge of the court of appeals. The appeal goes directly to the Supreme Court of the United States.
The federal judiciary has 11 intermediate appellate courts as well as its Supreme Court. In almost all cases the litigant has the right to appeal. There is no jury and the suit is heard by 3 or more judges. Unlike most trial judges appellate judges give reason for their decision.
The existence of the dual system of courts has some consequences.
It supplies alternative tribunals to that cases may be brought.
It leads to different interpretation of law from state to state – different conditions and attitudes toward similar problems.
States continue to keep their independence.
Federal government extends the scope of its power.
State courts are almost completely independent of each other.