LESSON 6.1: APPEALS & LOCAL, STATE & FEDERAL COURTS

Appellate Court
Appellate court judges do not retry cases, and they do not hear new evidence. Rather, they review decisions made by the trial court. They are usually limited to reviewing only the arguments that were made in the trial court and raised by the parties.

Trial Court
The trial court is the initial court a case moves through based on jurisdiction. In the trial court, both sides present evidence to show their version of what happened. Most of the evidence presented in the trial court comes from witnesses

Federal courts
Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction, meaning they can only hear cases authorized by the United States Constitution or federal statutes. The federal district court is the starting point for any case arising under federal statutes, the Constitution, or treaties.

STRUCTURE OF FEDERAL COURTS

• The federal court system has three main levels: U.S. District Court, U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Each level of court serves a different legal function for both civil and criminal cases.

State Court
A court in the state judicial system, rather than the federal judicial system, that decides cases involving state law or the state constitution. State courts are often divided according to the dollar amount of the claims they can hear.

STRUCTURE OF STATE COURT

• Each state has its own system but most states operate similarly to the Federal Court System in that there are several levels of courts including trial courts, intermediate appellate courts and supreme courts.

Local Court
Local courts refer to courts whose jurisdiction is limited to a particular territory. In the U.S., it is the courts of the states. The term local courts is defined as courts established by local law."