Unit 19 The U.S. Court System

Before you read

Discuss these questions.

1 What is the general meaning of the word “court”?

2 Comment on this statement “I must speak the truth, and nothing but the truth.”

Text A

Understanding the U.S. Court System

When a cause of action occurs, the plaintiff, or injured party, files a complaint [petition] with the court having jurisdiction over the matter. The petition requests a review of the facts by the court. Every plaintiff who follows the procedure for submitting a peti­tion receives his or her day in court regardless of the merits of his or her claim. However, trial judges may almost immediately dismiss cases they deem to be friv­olous, or the matter may be settled out of court prior to or even during the actual trial of the case itself.

In a civil case, the losing party may appeal at least once as a matter of right. The court that has power to hear that appeal is called the appellate court. Nor­mally this is the intermediate appellate court since most states and the federal system have three-tiered systems. Since the facts are considered to have been de­termined by the trial court, the appellate court will only hear questions of law. In other words, the question becomes whether the trial court understood and acted in accordance with the law in the jurisdiction.

The following chart will help you visualize how the cases move from court to court.

Level 1 Trial Court à	Level 2 Appellate à	Level 3 Court of Last Resort
State system: e.g., Circuit Court of Shelby County, Tennessee	e.g., Court of Appeals of Tennessee	e.g., Supreme Court of Tennessee
Federal system: District Court	U.S. Court of Appeals	U.S. Supreme Court

State Courts

There are two main court systems in the United States, the federal and the various state systems.

Each of the fifty states and several territories has its own system so the chart above and the explanations below are very generalized overviews.

Level 1: Trial Court

• Also referred to as the court of general jurisdiction, the court of record, or the court of original jurisdiction

• Plaintiff versus defendant: Johnson v. Pletnikoff

• Issues of fact: what happened?

• Jury is presented with evidence and renders verdict

• Issues of law: was the defendant's action legal or illegal?
judge presides over case, instructs jury on law, enters judgement

• The losing party has appeal as a matter of right to the next level.

Level 2: Appellate Court

• Intermediate appellate jurisdiction

• Appellant versus appellee or petitioner versus respondent

losing party versus winning party in the previous trial or sometimes appellee versus appellant depending on the trial court designation

• Only issues of law may be considered by the appellate court.

a. prejudicial error – remand for new trial: start over

b. reverse trial decision – judgement for appellant: loser in Level 1 becomes winner

c. affirm trial court decision – judgement for appellee: winner in Level 1 stays winner

• An appeal from this level is normally at the discretion of the next higher court.

Level 3: State Supreme Court

• Appellate jurisdiction or the court of last resort

• Appellant and appellee/petitioner and respondent

• Unless there is a conflict with the U.S. Constitution or federal law, no appeal is possible.

• The state supreme courts are the final arbiters of state law.

Examine the diagram showing the structure of a typical state judicial system.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14