Courts and Court Procedure
by
Charles Lamson
Each state has two distinct court systems---federal and state. Federal courts are part of the federal government headquartered in Washington, D.C. There are 50 different state court systems, each part of a state government headquartered at its state capitol. Although the federal and state court systems are largely independent of each other, they have similar functions.
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Function of the Courts
A court declares and applies judicial precedents, or case law, and applies laws passed by the legislative arm of government. However, this is not the whole story. Constitutions by their very nature must be couched in generalities. Statutes are less general than constitutions, but they could not possibly be worded to apply to every situation that may arise. Thus the chief function of the courts is to interpret and apply the law from whatever source to a given situation. For example, the U.S. Constitution gives Congress power to regulate commerce "among the several states." This is the power to regulate interstate commerce. Under this power Congress passes a law requiring safety devices on trains. If the law is challenged, the court must decide whether this is a regulation of interstate commerce.
Similarly, an act of Congress regulates minimum wages for the vast majority of workers. A question may arise as to whether this applies to the wages paid at a sawmill located in a rural section of the country. The court must decide whether or not the sawmill owner engages in interstate commerce. The court's decision may become a Judicial precedent that will be allowed in the future unless the court changes its decision in a subsequent case.
Jurisdiction of Courts
The power of authority of a court to hear cases is called its jurisdiction. Courts must have jurisdiction over both the subject matter of the case and the persons involved. If a claim is made for damages due to an automobile accident, a probate court does not have jurisdiction over the subject matter since a probate court deals with wills and the distribution of deceased persons' property. The damage action would have to be brought in a court of general jurisdiction. A court may have jurisdiction over the subject matter but not over the person. If a resident of Ohio is charged with trespassing on a neighbor's property in that state, the courts in Indiana do not have jurisdiction over the person of the accused. Nor does the Ohio court system have jurisdiction over the person of the accused if the accused has not been properly served with notice of the trial. Before any court can try a case it must be established that the court has jurisdiction over both subject matter and the person and the case at issue.
Venue
Once it is determined what court system has jurisdiction to decide a case, it must be decided at what location the case should be tried. Determining the location where a case is to be tried means determining the proper venue. Each state has trial courts throughout the state. Proper venue requires choosing the proper one of these courts. For example, if two citizens of San Diego have a controversy, proper venue would be in San Diego, not Sacramento. However, the right to a particular venue can be surrendered. In criminal cases, the court frequently changes venue to try to give the defendant a fair trial.
Classification of Courts
Courts are classified for the purpose of determining their jurisdiction. This classification can be made in a variety of ways. One classification can be made according to the governmental unit setting up the court. Under this classification system, courts are divided into (1) federal courts, (2) state courts, and (3) municipal courts.
The same courts may be classified according to the method of hearing cases. Under this system, they are classified as trial courts and appellate courts. Trial courts conduct the original trial of cases. Appellate courts review cases appealed from the decisions of lower courts. A losing party appeals to the higher court to review the lower court's decision by claiming the lower court made a mistake that caused the party to lose. Appellate courts include courts of appeals and supreme courts. Appellate courts exercise considerable authority over the courts under them. Lower courts are bound by the decisions of their appellate courts.
Federal Courts
The federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over such matters as bankruptcy, claims against the United States, and patent and copyright cases. Federal courts (see illustration 1) include:
 
Special federal courts. The special federal courts are limited in their jurisdiction by the laws of Congress creating them. For example, the Court of International Trade hears cases involving the rates of duty on various classes of imported goods, the collection of the revenues, and similar controversies. The U.S. Court of Federal Claims hears cases involving claims against the U.S. government. The Tax Court hears only cases involving tax controversies. Bankruptcy courts decide bankruptcy cases. Most bankruptcy appeals are to a three-judge appellate panel of bankruptcy judges.
Federal District Courts. By far the largest class of federal courts consists of the almost 100 federal district courts. These courts are strictly trial courts in which all criminal cases involving a violation of the federal law are tried. The district courts also have jurisdiction over civil suits that: (1) are brought by the United States; (2) arise under the U.S. Constitution, federal laws, or treaties; or (3) are brought by citizens of different states---called diversity jurisdiction---or between citizens of one state and a foreign nation or one of its citizens where the amount in controversy is $75,000 or more.
Federal Courts of Appeals. The United States is divided geographically into 12 federal judicial circuits. Each circuit has a court of appeals, which hears appeals from cases arising in its circuit. The federal courts of appeals hear appeals from federal district courts and from federal administrative agencies and departments. A decision of a federal court of appeals is binding upon all lower courts within the jurisdiction of that circuit.
It is possible that one court of appeals could decide an issue one way and another court of appeals could decide it in another way. Because the lower courts within each court of appeals jurisdiction must follow the decision of its court of appeals, courts in different circuits might decide similar cases differently. When this occurs, there is a conflict between the circuits. The conflict lasts until one circuit changes its decision or the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the issue.
There is also another court of appeals called the court of appeals for the federal circuit. It reviews decisions of special federal courts such as the Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, decisions of four administrative agencies, and appeals from district courts in patent and claims cases.
United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of the United States has original jurisdiction in cases affecting ambassadors, public ministers, and consuls, and in cases in which a state is a party. It has appellate jurisdiction in cases based on the U.S. Constitution, a federal law, or a treaty.
The majority of cases heard by the U.S. Supreme Court are cases appealed from the federal courts of appeals. Under certain circumstances a decision of a federal district court may be appealed directly to the Supreme Court. A state supreme court decision may also be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court if the case involves a federal constitutional question or if a federal law or treaty has been held invalid by the state court. Unlike the courts of appeals, the Supreme Court does not have to take all cases appealed. It chooses which appealed cases it will hear.
The normal way a case gets to the Supreme Court is by application for a writ of certiorari (to be more fully informed). The party asking for the Supreme Court review of a case asks the court to issue a writ of certiorari, which requires the lower court that has decided the case to produce the record of the case for the Supreme Court's review. The court issues a writ for only a small number of the requests.
The U.S. Supreme Court is the highest tribunal in the land, and its decisions are binding on all other courts. Its decisions are final until the court reverses its own decision or until the effect of a given decision is changed by a constitutional amendment or an enactment by Congress. The Constitution created the Supreme Court and gave Congress the power to establish inferior courts.
State Courts
State courts (see Illustration 2) can best be classified into the following groups:
Illustration 2 Typical State Court System
Inferior Courts. Most states have inferior courts that hear cases involving minor criminal offenses and minor disputes between citizens. The names of inferior courts vary greatly from state to state. These courts are most frequently called district, magistrate, county, municipal, small claims, justice, or even taxi courts. Some states have more than one of these named courts. Civil jurisdiction is limited to controversies involving a maximum amount of money which generally varies from $1,000 to $25,000, or to a particular type of controversy. In addition, these courts may try all criminal cases involving misdemeanors. The loser in any of these courts may normally appeal to a court of original general jurisdiction.
Courts of Original General Jurisdiction. Courts of original general jurisdiction are the most important courts of the state for the average citizen. These courts have broad jurisdiction over disputes between two or more parties as well as criminal offences against the state. They are called courts of original general jurisdiction because the case is first instituted in them. On occasion they hear appeals from inferior courts, but this does not make them true appellate bodies because the entire case is retried at this level. Thus, such an appeal is actually treated as a case of original jurisdiction. These courts are also called trial courts because they hear witnesses, receive evidence, and try the case.
An official, permanent record is kept of the trial showing the testimony, evidence, statements of counsel and the judge, the judgment, and the findings of the court. For this reason these courts are referred to as courts of record. The official name of such a court of original general jurisdiction varies from state to state, but in almost every state is one of the following: circuit court, district court, or superior court.
Appellate Courts. All states provide for an appeal to an appellate court by the party dissatisfied with the final judgment of the trial court or any of its rulings and instructions. Most states have a system of intermediate appellate courts, usually called courts of appeals, as well as one final appellate court. Decisions of the appellate courts bind lower courts. The state supreme court is usually the highest appellate court of a state.
Special courts. Many states have additional special courts, such as probate courts that handle wills and estates; juvenile courts that are concerned with delinquent, dependent, and neglected children; and domestic relations courts that handle divorce and child custody cases. These are not courts of general jurisdiction, but of special jurisdiction. In some states these courts are on the same level as the trial courts. If this is the case, they are properly called trial courts and are courts of record. In other states they are on the same level as the inferior courts and are not courts of record.
*SOURCE: LAW FOR BUSINESS, 15TH ED., 2005, JANET E. ASHCROFT, J.D. PGS. 11-17*
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