| The structure of the Federal courts:
The Constitution clearly places the Supreme Court at the head of the federal judicial system in America. Congress does have the right to establish inferior courts and it has taken the opportunity to do this. Originally, Congress established three circuit courts of appeal and thirteen district courts. Since then, the federal court system has expanded to eleven circuit courts of appeal plus one for Washington DC, and ninety four district courts. Under Article 1 of the Constitution, Congress has also established four legislative courts. They are those of the District of Columbia, territorial courts, tax courts and the Court of Military Appeals. District courts are courts of original jurisdiction. That is, they are the basic trial courts of the federal system. Most decisions taken in these courts are usually final but they can be reviewed by the Courts of Appeal. The Courts of Appeal are organized into circuits and they may only hear appeals from within their own circuits. The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal. It can hear cases from the inferior federal courts and from state courts when a federal issue is involved. Federal issues include crimes against America, disputes between citizens of different states, disputes between US citizens and a foreign nation and actions arising under the Constitution. There are two ways in which a case can be referred to the Supreme Court. The first is a direct appeal from the lower federal courts if a constitutional issue is deemed to be involved. The second way is by petitioning for a writ of certiorari. This means that the records of a case in a lower federal court are sent to the Supreme Court for review. Such a writ can only be granted with the agreement of four justices of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court acts as a court of original jurisdiction in very rare cases only. It would be extremely unlikely that a case would go straight to the Supreme Court and bypass the lower federal courts. Article III, Section 2 is very clear when it states that this only happens in:... "cases affecting Ambassadors, public ministers and consuls and those in which a state shall be a party." The Founding Fathers were determined to create a judicial system that was independent of political pressure. This was in keeping with their desire to keep a ‘checks and balance’ system by splitting government into three. It also fitted in with their desire to see America governed by the so-called Rule of Law. The Rule of Law states categorically that: .....all people are
subject to the law of the land and shall be treated equally
regardless of color, status or creed In view of the Rule of Law, every effort is made to distinguish between judicial decisions and political decisions. wiki.answers.com |