10 Law and Judicial System in USfull text.docx

10 Law and Judicial System in USfull text.docx

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10LawandJudicialSysteminUSfulltext

Lecture10

LawandJudicialSysteminU.S.

APanoramicView

●USgovernment:

governmentoflaw（theruleoflaw）;

●TheblueprintsfortheU.S.judicial:

laidoutin1789whentheU.S.Constitutionwasformallyadoptedbythestates;

●Today,theU.S.judicialsystemcomprisesasystemofstateandfederalcourts,administrativebodies,aswellasthejudgesandotherjudicialofficialswhopresideoverthem.

3principalcharacteristicsofthejudicialsystem

●Aspartofafederalistsystemofgovernment,theU.S.judiciaryistheonlybranchofgovernmentsupposedtobetotallyimpartialandhenceapolitical.

●Ithasaspecificroleundertheseparation-of-powersdoctrine.Itformsasystemofcourtsthatinterpretsandappliesthelawspassedbythelegislativebranchandenforcedbytheexecutivebranch.

●TheAmericanjudicialsystemisorganizedinahierarchicalfashion.

TheU.S.CourtSystem:

OrganizationandJurisdiction

●Dualcourtsystem:

themoststrikingfeature

–Thereisonecourtsystemforthenationalgovernmentandoneineachofthestates.

–Thefederalandthestatesystemsusuallyoperateindependentlyofeachother.

StructureoftheCourtSystem

TheU.S.CourtSystem:

OrganizationandJurisdiction

●2basictypesofcourtsineachsystem:

1）trialcourts:

courtsoforiginaljurisdiction,wheremostcivil&criminalcasesbegin;

2）appellatecourts:

reviewtrialcourtproceedingswithrespecttoissuesoflaw,suchaswhetherthetrialcourtjudgefailstoobservetheconstitutionalrightsoftheaccused.

Thefederalcourtsystem

●ThefederalcourtscomprisethejudiciarybranchofgovernmentorganizedaccordingtotheConstitutionandlawsofthefederalgovernment.

●Thejurisdictionoffederalcourts:

casesarisingundertheU.S.Constitution,treatiesorfederallawandanydisputesinvolvingthefederalgovernment;maritimecases,mattersinvolvingforeigncitizensorgovernments,andcasesinwhichthefederalgovernmentitselfisaparty.

FederalCourt-Levels

Ahierarchicalsystemofcourts

●Acaseisfiledandheardfirstbeforeadistrictcourt;

●ThelosingpartyofacaseheardanddecidedinadistrictcourtcanfurtherappealthedecisiontotheCourtofAppeals;

●Whenstillnotsolved（intheCourtsofAppeals）,thecasemaybebroughttotheSupremeCourtasthelastresort.

Judgesofthefederalcourts

●Thejudgespresidingoverthefederal（orconstitutional）courtsarenotelectedtooffice.Instead,theyareappointedtoofficebythepresidentofU.S.withtheadviceandconsentoftheSenate.

●Thejudgesholdofficeforlife,unlesstheyresignorareimpeachedfor“treason,bribery,orothermisdemeanors”.

Specialcourts

●Alsoknownaslegislativecourts;

●SetupbyCongressgenerallyforspecialpurposes

theU.S.TerritorialCourts

theU.S.CourtofInternationalTrade

FederalDistrictCourts—TrialCourtsofOriginalJurisdiction

●Mostcasesinthefederalcourtsystemarefirstheardinoneofthe94districtcourts,andmostofthebusinessofthefederalcourtstakesplaceatthislevel.

●Grandjuriesareusedtoindictadefendantincriminalcases.

●Thisistheonlyleveloffederalcourtthatusesjuriesandwitnesses.

●Somecasesareheardbypetit（trial）jurieswhilesomeareheardbyajudge（benchtrial）.

●94U.S.districtcourts.

●Arrangedgeographically;atleastonewithineachstate&morethanoneinlargerstates;

–ButNOTconnectedwithstategovernment.

U.S.DistrictCourts

●TheUnitedStatesdistrictcourtsarethetrialcourtsofthefederalcourtsystem.WithinlimitssetbyCongressandtheConstitution,thedistrictcourtshavejurisdictiontohearnearlyallcategoriesoffederalcases,includingbothcivilandcriminalmatters.

●Everydayhundredsofpeopleacrossthenationareselectedforjurydutyandhelpdecidesomeofthesecases.

●Thereare94federaljudicialdistricts,includingatleastonedistrictineachstate,theDistrictofColumbiaandPuertoRico.ThreeterritoriesoftheUnitedStates--theVirginIslands,Guam,andtheNorthernMarianaIslands--havedistrictcourtsthathearfederalcases,includingbankruptcycases.

Casesheardatafederalcourt

●Casesinvolvingthefederalgovernment;

●Civilsuitsunderfederallaw;

●Civilsuitsbetweencitizensofdifferentstatesiftheamountismorethan$75,000;

●BankruptcyandothermattersassignedbyCongress.

U.S.CourtsofAppeal—IntermediateAppellateCourts

●Alsoknownascircuitcourtsofappeals

●HearappealsfromtheU.S.districtcourtsandsomeadministrativeagencies（e.g.theNationalLaborRelationsBoard,theSecuritiesandExchangeCommission）

●TheUnitedStatesisdividedinto12geographicregions（circuits）tohearappealsfromthedistrictcourts.Thereisalsoathirteenthappealscourt,calledtheU.S.CourtofAppealsfortheFederalCircuit,locatedinWashington,D.C.

●Donotholdtrialsoracceptnewevidence,butconsiderontherecordsofthetrialcourtsandoralandwrittenargumentssubmittedbyattorneys.

●Alltheseappellatecourtsarecomposedofcircuitjudges（almost180judgeshipsdividedamongthesecourts）.Thenumberofjudgeswithineachcircuitvaries.Inhearingappealsanddecidingcases,allthejudgesarenormallydividedintorotatingthreejudgepanels.

●Morethan90%ofthecasesdecidedbytheCourtofAppealsendedatthislevel.

●Onceadecisionismadebyafederalcourtofappeals,alitigantnolongerhasanautomaticrighttoafurtherappeal.

●ThelosingpartymaysubmitapetitiontotheU.S.SupremeCourttohearthecase,buttheCourtchoosestohearveryfewcaseseachyear.

U.S.SupremeCourt

●LoserinU.S.CourtofAppealsmayfileaPetitionforWritofCertiorari（诉讼文件调取令）.

●SupremeCourtdoesnothavetohearthecase.

●Ifitdoes:

–NineJUSTICESheartheappeal,includingtheChiefJustice&8associatejustices.

●EnsuresuniformityintheinterpretationofnationallawsandtheConstruction&maintainsthesupremacyofnationallawinthefederalsystem.

●Thehighestcourtinthefederalcourtsystem&theappellatecourtoflastresort.

●Reviewscasesfrom2sources–theCourtsofAppealsandstatesupremecourts.

●ActsasthefinalinterpreteroftheU.S.Constitution.

●Thespecialpowerofjudicialreview–itcanreviewanylegislationorexecutiveactionmadeatanylevelofthegovernment.

●Todecidetohearargumentsinacaseandrenderadecision,theSupremeCourtsreliesonitsruleoffour:

fourjusticesoutofninemustagreetodoso.

●Thedecisionsaremadeinprivateconferencesamongthejustices.Fivejusticesconstituteaquorumtohearacase,andamajorityisneededtodecidewhichwinsorloses.

●Intheeventofatie,thepreviousjudgmentmadeinalowercourtisaffirmed.

●Acourtofbothoriginaljurisdictionandappellatejurisdiction

●ThesizeoftheCourtisdeterminedbyCongress;thenumberhasbeensetatninesince1869.

●ThedecisionsandopinionsoftheSupremeCourtbecomethemostimportantsourcesofprecedentonfederalandconstitutionalquestionsforcourtsatalllevelsofjurisdiction.

●CongressdeterminestheappellatejurisdictionoftheSupremeCourt.

●TheSupremeCourtservesasanappellatecourtforthefederalappealscourtsandforthehighestcourtsofthestates.

●Appellatejurisdictionisdiscretionary;theSupremeCourtdecidesforitselfwhethertoacceptthecase.

ThejurisdictionoftheSupremeCourt

●TheConstitutionestablishestheoriginaljurisdictionoftheSupremeCourt.

●Disputesinvolvingambassadorsandotherdiplomaticpersonnel

●Casesinwhichtwoormorestatesarepartiestothedispute

●Disputesbetweenthefederalgovernmentandastate

●Disputesbetweenastateandacitizenfromanotherstate

9MembersoftheU.S.SupremeCourt

●ChiefJustice

●8AssociateJudges

AppointmenttotheFederalBench

●Theappointmentprocess

–Nominatedbythepresident

–Adviceandconsent—theSenate’spowertoconfirmorrejectpresidentialnominations

TheStateCourtSystem

●Incertainaspect,thestatecourtsarecloserandmoreimportanttoaverageAmericans.

●Thestatecourtshaveawiderjurisdictionthanthefederalcourts–theareaofauthorityoutsidethefederaljudicialcourtsarereservedtothestatecourts.

●Allstatecourtsystemsoperatewithinahierarchyof4basiclevels.

TrialCourtsofLimitedJurisdiction

●Authorizedtohearminorclaimsandtryingminoroffenses.

●Civilmatters:

onlysuitsinvolvingjuveniles,domesticrelationscases,suitswithalowamountincontroversy,andestatecases;criminalmatters:

limitedtoinfractionsandmisdemeanors.

●Casestriedintrialcourtsoflimitedjurisdictionmaynothaveajury.Judgesofsuchcourtsarecommonlyknownasjusticesofthepeaceormagistrates,whoarenotrequiredtohaveanyformallegaltraining.

TrialCourtsofGeneralJurisdiction

●Eachstatehassuchacourt.

●Authorizedtohearmoreseriouscivilorcriminalcasesthatarenotcommittedexclusivelytotrialcourtsoflimitedjurisdiction.

●Mayhearclaimswithoutanupperlimitontheamountincontroversy&tryalmostallcrimes.

●Mayalsohavesomepowerofappellatereviewoverthelowertrialcourts.

●BecausedifferentU.S.statesapplydifferentnamestotheircourts,itisoftennotevidentwhetheracourthasgeneralorlimitedjurisdiction.

IntermediateAppellateCourts

●Calledthecourtsofappealinsomestates&alsoknownastheappellatedivisionoftrialcourtsofgeneraljurisdictioninsomestates;

●Theirmajortask:

torelievemuchoftheburdenfromastatesupremecourtandleaveitfreetoconsideronlythosecasesitisrequiredtohear.

●Th