7.3: Court Structure

Court Structure

The criminal court structure can be thought of as being arranged like a pyramid. The largest layer of courts is the bottom base layer and these courts are often referred to as lower courts, or inferior courts, or courts of limited jurisdiction. Above this layer would be a slightly smaller layer of courts which are referred to as higher courts, superior courts, felony courts, or courts of general jurisdiction. Above this layer of courts would be the appellate courts and ultimately the court structure does in with one court of “last resort” for the entire nation. There may also be some specialty courts such as gun court or drug court but these are usually found at the lower levels of the pyramid. In each instance, it is not the victim or defendant that chooses what court they want to go into but rather, the law defines which jurisdiction a particular case will fall under.

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Courts of Limited Jurisdiction

There are approximately 13,500 courts of limited jurisdiction most of which are organized at the town, municipal, or county level. The jurisdiction is determined in part by the type of offense as well as the jurisdiction along town or county lines where the crime took place. These courts are referred to as lower courts, misdemeanor courts, or municipal court depending on what area of the country you are in. These courts typically handle cases involving misdemeanor crimes, minor civil lawsuits and they may occasionally handle the preliminary steps of a felony hearing that will then be heard in a higher-level court. Given the smaller nature of the crimes that are typically dealt with at this level of court, the maximum sanctions are usually fines of $2,500 or less and possible jail terms of one year or less. This level of court is the largest level since it is at the bottom of the pyramid and it is typically this level of court that is the most run down in terms of appearance and over docketed in terms of scheduling. Some critics argue that given the backlog of cases at this level of court, and how long it takes for a case to get settled, that the process is often more punishing than the punishment itself. If in fact the “process is the punishment” then the question arises are we punishing only those who are guilty or are we also punishing those who are innocent and wish to have their rights upheld within the courts?

Some criticisms of the American courts are the overcrowded dockets or in other words the inability to schedule cases quickly, as well as the critiques that there are too few jury trials, too many inducements to plead guilty, that we are experiencing assembly-line justice, and speedy trials are unattainable. Despite the criticisms of this level of court this is where majority of cases are handled. If you recall the wedding cake model shared in an earlier chapter you will see how since most crimes are of a minor or misdemeanor nature as illustrated by the bottom layer of the wedding cake, so too most crimes will be heard at the lower level of the pyramid court structure.

Courts of General Jurisdiction

As we move up the pyramid structure of the courts, this higher level of court is fewer in number. There are about 2,000 general jurisdiction or felony courts in the United States. Given the serious nature of the crimes referred to as felonies, the crimes typically are in violation of state law not a simple city ordinance and so these courts are controlled by state law. At this level of court, we see both the preliminary activities for felonies and serious civil cases, if this was not taken care of at the lower level of court, as well as the trial for both felonies and serious civil cases.

Appellate Courts

In order to ensure that, the rights of the defendant are upheld and not violated within the court room, it is possible to appeal a case if it is determined that the defendant’s constitutional rights were violated or the judge made a grievous error in the handling of the case within the court room. A person cannot appeal their case simply because they did not like the outcome, there must be an allegation that constitutional rights were violated.

An appeal is typically not a new trial. Rather a higher-level court reviews the proceedings from the previous court and looks through the written documentation for procedural errors, judicial errors, or other violations of constitutional rights. Just like a consumer might ask to talk to a workers supervisor if they feel that they are not being treated fairly by the worker, in order to ensure fairness a defendant can petition the court to have their case reviewed in an appellate court. The appellate court has several different options for decision. If they feel that justice was not served they can order a new trial to be held at the lower-level court. Depending on what the appellate court finds they may decide to allow the defendant to go free without redoing the trial. The appellate court could instead decide to sustain or uphold the original verdict if they did not find any errors or violation of rights.

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Within some states and at the federal level there are actually two levels of appeals courts. At the state level, the highest level of appeal court is usually the state Supreme or state Superior Court. At the federal level, there is a circuit Court of Appeals with the second level being the US Supreme Court. Some people think that a solution to how long court cases can take and to rid the backlog in the docket is to get rid of the appellate courts. It is important however that our court system is careful not to violate the constitutional rights of citizens thus necessitating an appeal process. Additionally, only about 17% of the appeals at the federal level are criminal in nature or criminals trying to get out of their charges. The vast majority of appeals which are taking up the court’s time are civil in nature and pertaining to lawsuits. This fact is part of the argument in saying that America is a lawsuit happy society.

Federal Court Structure

There are three basic levels to the federal court structure. At the bottom level are the US District Courts, above that are the US Courts of Appeal, and ultimately the pyramid ends with US Supreme Court.

United States District Courts

There are 94 districts throughout the United States so each state is covered by at least one Federal District Court. This is the primary trial court of the US federal system. These courts have jurisdiction over federal cases, disputes between states, and cases involving aliens or persons from another country. At the federal level these courts are usually operated by a judge with no jury. In complex civil cases, there may be a three-judge panel.

United States Courts of Appeal

At this level of court there are 13 jurisdictions. Multiple states may fall within a single jurisdiction but every state does fall within a jurisdiction. This level of court was traditionally called a circuit court as the federal judges would ride in a circuit to get to the various court houses in their jurisdiction. In modern times with our large number of cases judges no longer ride in a circuit but instead they are headquartered at a particular court which is usually housed in one of the major cities within their jurisdiction. Since this is an appellate level court they typically do not try cases but instead review the transcript from the lower courts. In particular, the appellate judges are looking for violations of citizen’s constitutional rights within the lower courts.

United States Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court is referred to as the highest court in the land since it stands at the top of the pyramid and it is a citizen’s last chance to obtain justice if they feel it has been denied them in the other courts. Typically, the US Supreme Court serves as an appellate court but there have been moments in US history when it has served as a trial court instead. Given the important nature of the cases at this level and the fact that a decision by the Supreme Court affects not only the case it is looking at but all similar cases housed anywhere in the country these decisions do not rest in the hands of the single judge. Instead, the Supreme Court is served by nine justices one of which is referred to as the Chief Justice and the other eight are referred to as Associate Justices. All justices are entitled to one vote regardless of their rank and all justices serve for “life.”

Given the large volume of cases that rise to this level the justices do not hear all cases. In fact, they do not hear most cases. The full court hears on average about 100 cases per year which they deemed to be of national significance. If they choose not to hear a case that in a way is a decision as what ever the last decision was on the case stands, even though the Supreme Court did not look at it. In order for a case to be selected to be heard by the court four justices must vote in favor of hearing the case. If there are not four judges which agree to hear the case, then the case is not heard, and the previous decision stands. The Supreme Court issues a writ of certiorari when a case is selected to be heard.  When the judges write out their decisions on a case all points of view are represented within either the majority, the minority, or the dissenting opinions.  It is important to understand the justices’ rationales as these decisions become precedents for future cases. These decisions also leave their mark across the country and so key decisions are often referred to as “landmark” decisions.

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