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Precedents
Court decisions that may be guidelines for later decisions.
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Appellate Courts
- Cases are appealed to them from trial courts.
- Appellate cases are decided by judges alone, unassisted by a jury- both in state and federal level.
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Trial Courts
- Responsible for deciding factual issues.
- Guilt or Innocence of a person accused of a crime.
- Sets no precedents.
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U.S. District courts
- they handle federal civil and criminal matters.
- civil disputes over copyrights, to people accused of terrorism.
- appeal to U.S. circuit courts.
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U.S. Courts of Appeals
Circuit Courts (12*)
- Hear appeals from Federal Regulatory Agencies, special-purpose courts and the District Courts.
- Their decisions produce precedents, they are second to the decisions of the Supreme Court.
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U.S. Supreme Court
- Highest court.
- 9 justices- 4 must agree on a case for it to be heard by the court.
- Majority rule
- Sets precedents.
- Original jurisdiction.
- hear appeals from highest state courts and lower federal courts when federal questions arise.
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Supreme court has original jurisdiction...
- They are the first to hear certain cases.
- example cases: involving international ambassadors, disputes between states and when lower federal courts or highest court in a state rules an Act of Congress unconstitutional.
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S.C. Process when cases are not chosen for review but may raise important cases.
- Writ of certiorari:
-Certiorari Granted:
-Certiorari Denied:
- -an order from the Supreme court to a lower court to send up the records of the case.
- -agreed to hear the case
- -denied to hear the case.
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State Courts
- Each state has one.
- Larger states have more than one state appellate courts and various trial courts.
- Handle smaller cases, have various courts.
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State courts of appeals
hear cases that the state supreme courts have no time to consider.
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State Supreme Courts
Hear only the most important cases from states appeals courts in larger states and sometimes straight from trial courts.
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State courts have residual jurisdiction...
- they have the authority over all legal matters that are not specifically placed under federal control. Anything that is not in federal question.
- - Federal courts intervene if the state court ruling conflicts with the constitution.
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Diversity of Citizenship
Diversity of Jurisdiction
- -when a citizen of one state sues a citizen of another state.
- - federal courts right's to hear the case. May still be heard in the state but at a federal level.
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