C H A P T E R 18 - The Federal Court System
SECTION 2
The Inferior Courts
The District Courts
District Court Jurisdiction
•
District courts have ___________________ _________________________ over most cases that
are heard in federal courts.
•
The district courts hear a wide range of ______________________ cases and ______________
cases.
•
A __________________ case, in the federal courts, is one in which a defendant is tried for
committing some action that Congress declared by law to be a federal crime. A federal civil case
is one which involves ___________________________ matters.
•
The courts quickly became overran by cases so in 1981 Congress began to create the
__________________________ of ___________________ to alleviate the load. Prior to this the
only appeals court in the nation was the __________________ __________________.
The Courts of Appeals
The courts of appeals were created in ______________ by _____________________ to handle much of
the __________________ that the _____________________ _______________________ faced in
ruling on appealed cases.
Appellate Court Judges
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Altogether, 179 circuit judges sit in the _________ _____________________ _______________.
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A Supreme Court justice is also assigned to oversee each of the circuits.
Appellate Court Jurisdiction
•
The courts of appeals ___________ ________________ _________________
________________________, hearing cases on appeal from lower federal courts.
NO ORIGINAL JURISDICTION.
CASE LOAD
The list of cases a court is scheduled to hear is called a court _____________________.
Visual of How Federal Cases Are Appealed – PLEASE REFER TO CHART ON PAGE 514 of YOUR
TEXTBOOK.