Three Tiers of the Federal and State Court Systems

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Both the State and federal United States court systems are divided into three tiers. Beginning with the state court system, the first tier is the Municipal, city, or regional courts. These trial courts (courts of "limited jurisdiction") are usually confined to civil suits involving relatively small amounts of money and to minor violations of the law. For instance, cases involving minor traffic violations are heard in these trial courts. The Second tier would be District, superior, or circuit courts. These courts (courts of "general jurisdiction") are distributed geographically throughout the state for convenience and usually involve more serious civil and criminal claims such as felony prosecutions and major civil trials. Last but not least are the Appellate courts. These courts, known as the "courts of last resort," do not re-try cases, but rather review the record of the proceedings from earlier trials to determine whether or not the lower court made an error with its decision. State supreme appellate courts typically consist of five to nine members who rule as a panel. The first tier of the U.S. federal court system is District courts. The United States is divided into 91 federal judicial districts (excluding the District Courts of the Virgin Islands and Guam). Every state has at least one federal district. The cases typically include those in which (a) the United States is a party; or (b) a federal or constitutional issue is brought. Trials are presided over by individual judges. The parties in most federal civil trials are entitled to juries. The second tier of the U.S. federal court system is the courts of appeals. The United States Court of Appeals is made up of 94 judicial districts which are divided into 12 regional circuits, each of which has a United States Court of Appeals. Each United State Court of Appeals branch has

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