10 Law and Judicial System in USfull textWord文档格式.docx
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TheU.S.CourtSystem:
OrganizationandJurisdiction
●Dualcourtsystem:
themoststrikingfeature
–Thereisonecourtsystemforthenationalgovernmentandoneineachofthestates.
–Thefederalandthestatesystemsusuallyoperateindependentlyofeachother.
StructureoftheCourtSystem
●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