The court system of the USA
The American court system is complex, mainly because of the federal system of government in the USA. Each state runs its own court system, and no two are identical. In addition, there is a separate system of federal courts which coexists with the state courts.
In its broadest sense, law is interpreted and understood through the courts. The American court system is complex as a dual Court system operates in the United States. The federal government and each of the 50 state governments have separate court systems. The federal court system includes district courts established by Congress, federal courts of appeals, and the Supreme Court (created by the U.S. Constitution). The federal courts are organized in three tiers, like a pyramid. Federal trial courts where litigation begins are known as U.S. District Courts. They are at the bottom of the pyramid. The US Circuit Courts of appeals are in the middle and the US Supreme Court is at the top. District courts and courts of appeals have somewhat less political importance, since their principal duty is to settle cases where no constitutional question is at stake. Each state has at least one district court; a few have as many as four. The decision revolving the case is made by a jury, or by the judge if each party waives the right to a jury trial. The losing party can appeal the case to the U.S. court of appeals for that region, one of 13 federal courts of appeals.
The court system in the United States, judicial branches of the federal and state governments charged with the application and interpretation of the law. The U.S. court system is divided into two administratively separate systems, the federal and the state, each of which is independent of the executive and legislative branches of government. Such a dual court system is a heritage of the colonial period. By the time the U.S. Constitution had first mandated (1789) the establishment of a federal judiciary, each of the original Thirteen Colonies already had its own comprehensive court system based on the English model. Thus, the two systems grew side by side and came to exercise exclusive jurisdiction in some areas and overlapping, or concurrent, jurisdiction in others.
The Federal Court System
Of the two systems, the federal is by far the less complicated. According to Article III of the Constitution, "The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." In accordance with this directive, the federal judiciary is divided into three main levels.
At the bottom are the federal district courts, which have original jurisdiction in most cases of federal law. Made up of 92 districts, the federal district court system has at least one bench in each of the 50 states, as well as one each in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. There are from 1 to more than 20 judges in each district, and, as with most federal jurists, district court judges are appointed by the President and serve for life. Cases handled by the federal district courts include those relating to alleged violations of the Constitution or other federal laws, maritime disputes, cases directly involving a state or the federal government, and cases in which foreign governments, citizens of foreign countries, or citizens of two or more different states are involved.
