Federal District Court

District Court

-lowest level of Federal Courts

-all federal cases must begin at thislevel

-Each court rules over a district. Atleast one court per state

-District Courts complete about 90%of the Federal case load

Federal District Court

Court’s Purpose

-District Courts handle cases thatfall under Federal jurisdiction

-District Courts use a jury trial todecide guilt or innocence

-Judges are to interpret the law anddetermine punishments

Court Officials

-Judges are appointed by thePresident w/ Senate approval

Judges serve a life-time term

-U.S. Attorneys represent thegovernment in all cases

-U.S. Marshals

-Magistrates

-Court Clerks

Federal District Court

Federal Appeals Court

Appeals Court

-Appeals Courts serve as the secondlevel in the system

-They have only appellatejurisdiction

-there are 12 Courts of Appeal inthe U.S. which supervise a district

-Cases are appealed to the Courtbecause of unfairness or error

Federal Appeals Court

Court Procedures-No juries are used in Appeals Courts

-No determination is made on guilt orinnocence

-Only decision is whether a fair trialwas given

-Written Briefs of the unfair ruling ortrial error are prepared and oralarguments are presented before thecourt

-Panels of 3 or more judges hear thecases and make decisions

Federal Appeals Court

Court Rulings-Appeals Courts can make three

decisions in a case

-Uphold

confirm the previous court’sdecision

-Overturn

-reverse the previous court’sdecision

-Remand

-send the case back down to alower court for retrial