Federal Court System Essay

CIVICS AND ECONOMICS
JUDICIAL BRANCH GUIDED NOTES

I. The Federal Court System
a. What Article of the Constitution outlines the Federal Judicial Branch?

b. When was the Judiciary Act passed?

i. What did it establish?

c. What did Congress create in 1891?

d. What are the 3 levels of the federal court system?
i.

ii.

iii.

e. Jurisdiction-

f. Cases Heard in Federal Courts
i. The Constitution
1. When is a case involving the Constitution heard?

ii. Federal Laws
1. What are some examples of federal laws?

iii. What is the third type of jurisdiction a federal court has?

iv. Citizens from

v. Give an example of when the federal government may take a company to court.

vi. Foreign Governments and Treaties

1. In

any between a government and the US , an American , or an citizen, the case will be in court.
vii. What do admiralty and maritime laws involve?

viii. What is the final type of case that federal courts would have original jurisdiction over?

g. exclusive jurisdiction-

h. concurrent jurisdiction-

II. District Courts
a. A district court is where trials are and are begun.
b. District Courts have
i. Original jurisdiction-

c. Who do the US Attorneys work for? As what?

d. What does the federal magistrate do?

III. US Appeals Court
a. What is the job of the Appeals Court?

b. appellate jurisdiction-

c. There are US Court of Appeals.

d. Each one covers a particular geographic area called a .

e. How many judges do each court have? How are these cases decided?

f. Three ways a court can decide a case:
1.

2.

3.

g. opinion-

h. precedent-

IV. US Supreme Court
a. How many justices are on the Supreme Court? Appointed by whom? Approved by whom? How long do they serve?

b. Who is the senior member of the US Supreme Court?

c. He serves as the court and the court .

d. What is the Supreme Court 99.99% of the time?

e. When does the Supreme Court have appellate jurisdiction?

f. Judicial review-

g. Constitutional-

h. What did Marbury v. Madison do?

i. Types of opinions:
1. concurring opinion-

2. dissenting opinion-

3. stare decisis-

V. Due Process of Law
a. What is the federal magistrate’s job?

b. Who indicts a suspect if there is enough evidence against them?

c. What is an arrest warrant?

d. White collar crime involves large sums of money through activities.

e. What 3 purposes does booking serve?
1.

2.

3.

f. What 3 functions does arraignment serve?
1.

2.

3.

g. Who are the people in a trial?

h. A trial’s procedures must be .

h. How many people are there on a jury?

i. What is the role of the Prosecution?

j. What is the role of the Defense?

k. Why do witnesses have to be subpoenaed (ordered to come to court)?
1.

2.

3.

l. brief-

m. motion-

n. injunction-

o. A hung jury/mistrial occurs if a decision is not completely .

p. It takes a to decision by a jury to come to a verdict.

i. Verdict-

q. Types of Sentencing
i. Capital punishment-

ii. Probation-

iii. Suspended sentence

r. What are the goals of sentencing?