Courts cover broad perspectives (Gifis 1998). First, the court is a part of the judicial branch of the government consisting of a judge or a few judges responsible for adjudging disputes under the laws. Second, the court represents a judge or judges on the judicial bench. Third, the court is a legislative assembly that interprets laws. Fourth, the court stands for a legal system or process.
There is variation and diversity in respect to courts globally. This entry focuses on the court system of the US, which has a dual court system which includes the federal and state courts. There was a major debate between anti federalists and federalists after the American Revolution concerning whether it was necessary to have a federal court system separate from the state systems. As a result of compromise, the federalists finally were able to have the federal courts with a minimal supervision system along with the state court systems (Neubauer 1984). Rapid population growth and industrialization after the Civil War resulted in the increased volume of litigations on the local and state levels. Many states expanded their state and local courts, and this kind of expansion created a very complex American legal system.
In general, the federal courts have the authority to decide controversial cases related to the US Constitution, and disputes between citizens of different states as well as between a state and citizens of another state (Lectric Law Library 2002). The federal court system includes the US Supreme Court, Courts of Appeals, Courts of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, District Courts, and Magistrate’s Courts. The US Supreme is the highest court, consisting of nine justices appointed for life by the president, with the approval of the Senate. The role of the Supreme Court is to maintain the order of the US Constitution, resolve disputes between states, and guarantee the uniform enforcement of all federal laws (Freund 1961). The Supreme Court hears appeals from US circuit courts and state supreme courts which involve questions of the Constitution and violations of federal laws. A writ of certiorari will be processed to the Supreme Court. Then justices will determine whether the laws were applied appropriately. The US Supreme Court is the court of last resort.
The next level of the federal court system is US courts of appeals, also referred to as circuit courts. There are 12 courts of appeals consisting of 11 circuits and the District of Columbia. Generally, each circuit court includes three or more states. Judges of courts of appeals are also appointed for life by the president with the consent of the Senate. Courts of appeals have the jurisdiction to review the appeals from district courts. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit was created by the merging of the US Court of Claims and the US Court of Customs as well as Patent Appeals in 1982 (Lectric Law Library 2002). Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has the specialized jurisdiction over appeals from specific federal agencies, which includes the US Court of International Trade, the US Court of Veterans Appeals, the US Court of Federal Claims, the US Tax Court, the Patent and Trademark Office, the Board of Contract Appeals, and the US Courts of Military Appeals (Lectric Law Library 2002).
Historically, under the courts of appeals are district courts which are trial courts of the federal court system. Most federal criminal and civil cases are tried and adjudicated in the district courts. Each state at least has one district court, while New York, California, and Texas have the exceptions of four district courts each. Currently, there are 94 district courts in 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Territories of Guam, the US Virgin Island, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Judges of district courts are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Federal district courts have jurisdiction over civil cases involving more than $10,000 and criminal cases dealing with federal agencies. Each district court has a bankruptcy court that hears bankruptcy petitions of individuals and business.
The purpose of magistrate judges is to assist district court judges. Magistrate judges are authorized to hear civil cases of less than $10,000. Felony charges will only be heard by district courts judges. However, magistrate judges deal with pretrial work in many district courts, such as bail and counsel appointment.
State courts handle the vast majority of cases and have a more complex structure than the federal courts. Some states, such as Texas and New York, have numerous levels of lower courts. Although no two state courts are alike, there are four basic levels of state courts: lower court, superior court, intermediate court of appeals, and supreme court. Lower court, also referred to as inferior court, is the first level of the state court system. It has limited jurisdiction. There are more than 13,500 lower courts and they constitute more than 75 percent of the judicial courts in the US (Neubauer 1984; Abadinsky 2003). Lower courts include various types of courts: city court, county court, justice of the peace court, magistrate court, municipal court, city magistrate, justice court, traffic court, and probate court. Generally, lower courts only handle traffic violations, misdemeanor criminal cases, and civil disputes under $5,000. Due to the limited jurisdiction, lower courts are responsible for criminal preliminary hearings, such as arraignments, setting bail, and appointing public counsels. Lower courts are generally authorized to impose a maximum fine of $1,000 and no more than one year in prison. Appeals from lower courts will be heard in state superior courts.
The next level of the state court system is the state superior court, sometimes referred to as trial court, district court, circuit court, and court of common pleas. Superior court is a major trial court with authorization to hear all types of criminal and civil cases. Typically, superior court handles civil cases and criminal cases at the felony level as well as criminal and civil appeals from lower courts. Some superior courts also hear misdemeanor cases if joint jurisdiction existed with lower courts. There are multi divisions existing in some superior courts, including criminal, civil, family, and juvenile cases.
Intermediate courts of appeals are also known as courts of appeals, district courts of appeals, or appeal courts. A few states separate courts of appeals for civil and criminal cases, such as Alabama, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. All cases are typically heard by panels of three judges in intermediate courts of appeals. Although the lower and superior courts hear the largest volume of cases, inter mediate courts of appeals also handle a large volume of cases. Some states, because of small populations, do not have courts of appeal. These states are Maine, New Hampshire, North and South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming.
The court of last resort in the state court structure is the state supreme court. The num ber of supreme court judges per state varies from five to nine. State supreme courts handle limited cases of appeals and cases involving interpretations of state constitutions as well as state laws. Capital punishment cases are automatically appealed to state supreme courts. Briefs or petitions, written documents with legal arguments, will be sent to state supreme courts. Then, oral arguments are held before the final written statements are produced. Only appeals from state supreme courts involving the US Constitution and violations of federal laws will go on to the US Supreme Court.
According to the nature of courts, courts generally can be divided into criminal court, civil court, and juvenile court. The rule of nullum crimen sine lege, no crime without a law, is applied in the criminal process. It means courts have no jurisdiction to hear criminal cases unless a law has been broken. A defendant is entitled to have a series of due process rights that are guaranteed by the US Constitution. These guarantees include right to remain silent, right to counsel, right to bail, right to speedy and public trial, right to confront witness, and double jeopardy prohibition. Most misdemea nor cases begin and end in the lower courts in a process of rough justice (Abadinsky 2003). Due process is not the major focus in the process of rough justice due to the very large volume of misdemeanor cases handled by lower courts.
Most defendants quickly plead guilty to avoid trial or incarceration. The flow of felony cases in criminal trial courts is very complex. It includes initial appearance (counsel, charges, and bail are addressed), preliminary hearings (probable cause and bail are reviewed), arraignment (plea bargaining and bail are decided), trial (pretrial motions and hearing, open statements, cross examinations of evidence and wit nesses, trial motions, and closing statements as well as deliberations are included), and sentencing (Abadinsky 2003). Jury trial is indicated in the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution. However, only a small amount of criminal cases go through jury trial. Each state has its own standards and applications of a jury trial. The US Supreme Court ruled that jury trial is required in cases of capital crime. The burden of proving criminal conviction is beyond a reasonable doubt.
While the prosecutor charges the defendant in a state criminal court, an individual could file a civil action against another private party in a civil court. Civil court serves the purpose of adjudicating personal disputes. Cases handled by civil courts include disputes involving torts, personal properties, contracts, succession, family relations, and civil rights (Abadinsky 2003). A trial is not the major goal of civil courts. Most civil cases are settled in an informal setting when the plaintiffs are willing to accept settlements. The flow of a civil case includes filing a complaint from the plaintiff, filing a response by the defendant, pretrial activities (motions, discovery, and conferences are arranged), trial hearing (trial motions, opening statements, examinations of witnesses and evidence, and summations and deliberations are included), and judgment/verdict either for the plaintiff or the defendant (Abadinsky 2003). Small claim courts are designed to resolve civil cases that involve small amounts of money (less than $5,000) in a quick and inexpensive process. Only a small fee is required when a private party files a complaint in small claim courts. In addition, there is no attorney practice in small claim courts. Most civil cases are determined by bench trial instead of jury trial, just as in the criminal courts. The burden of proving civil liability is preponderance of evidence.
The first juvenile court in the US was established in Cook County, Illinois in 1899. The purpose of Cook County Juvenile Courts was designed to assist juveniles instead of punishing them. The nature of juvenile court has not changed over the years. Although the definitions of juvenile and the juvenile court process are different from state to state, the juvenile courts basically handle cases of juvenile delinquency, status offense, child neglect and abuse, and dependency. For the purpose of preventing labeling, juveniles enter the juvenile courts as the last resort after failing efforts from police, schools, families, and social agencies. The juvenile court process includes intake, petition, preliminary hearings (the waiver decision will be made if it is necessary to transfer delinquent juveniles to criminal courts), adjudication hear ing and dispositional decision.
Currently, almost all states allow juveniles to be tried as adults in criminal courts. This means laws allow juveniles to be waived/transferred to criminal courts because of the severity of crimes committed by juveniles and prosecutorial discretion. Delinquent juveniles will more likely receive harsher punishment in criminal courts than by remaining in juvenile courts.
- Abadinsky, (2003) Law and Justice: An Introduction to the Legal System. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
- Freund, (1961) The Supreme Court. In: Berman, H. (Ed.), Talk on American. Vintage Books, New York.
- Garner, (2001) A Handbook of Family Law Terms. West Group, St. Paul, MN.
- Gifis, (1998) Dictionary of Legal Terms. Barron’s Educational Series, New York.
- Lectric Law Library (2002). Online. https://www.lectlaw.com/
- Neubauer, (1984) America’s Court and the Criminal Justice System. Brooks/Cole Publishing, Pacific Grove, CA.
Back to Sociology of Law