Chapter 5 – Courts

Courts

• Trial courts search for truth and appellate courts search for error.  –  Unknown

 Courts

• Units of the judicial branch with authority to decide legal disputes
• Court’s ability to hear a type of case depends on whether it has jurisdiction

Trial Courts

• Actions begin in trial courts
• Trial courts determine the facts and apply the law to the facts

Trial Courts Determine

• Questions of Fact
  • Questions relating to the interpretation or application of the law
• Questions of Law
  • Questions relating to the interpretation or application of the law

Appellate Courts

• Trial court losing party appeals decision to appellate court
• Appellate court determines whether lower court made errors of law
• Appellate court review limited to “legal” issues
• Appellate court relies on trial court’s written record
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Parties

• Appellant or Petitioner
  • Party who initiated an appeal
• Appellant or Respondent
  • Party against whom an appeal is filed

What Appellate Court May Do

• Determine harmless error and let decision stand
• Reverse trial court decision
• Remand case to trial court

The Opinion

• Majority Opinion
  • Majority of court joins
• Concurring Opinion
  • Agrees with majority’s result not reasoning
• Dissenting Opinion
  • Disagrees with majority’s decision and reasoning

Comparison of Trial and Appellate Courts

• Evidence introduced
  • Trial Court – Yes 
  • Appellate Court – No
• Questions of Fact Decided
  • Trial Court – Yes
  • Appellate Court –  No
• Questions of Law
  • Trial Court – Yes
  • Appellate Court –  Yes
• Parties’ Names
  • Trial Court – Plaintiff/Defendant
  • Appellate Court –  Appellant/Appellee; Petitioner/Respondent
• Decision Maker
  • Trial Court – Judge and sometimes a jury
  • Appellate Court –  Majority vote of three or more judges
• Attorney Arguments
  • Trial Court – Yes
  • Appellate Court –  Yes
• Witness Testimony
  • Trial Court – Yes
  • Appellate Court –  No

Federal Court and State Courts Systems

• Federal system was established by Article III of U.S. Constitution
• Each state established own system
• All systems have trial courts, intermediate appellate courts, and one appellate court of last resort

Federal Court System

• U. S . Supreme Court  hears appeals from both federal and state courts
• U.S. courts of appeals act as  intermediate appellate courts
• U.S. district courts act as general jurisdiction trial courts

U.S. District Courts

• Most cases begin in district court
• District courts considered courts of general jurisdiction
• Number of judges in district varies from 1 to 27

U.S. Courts of Appeal

• District court losing party appeals decision to appropriate court of appeal
• Number of judges in each circuit varies from 4 to 23
• Judges hear appeal as a panel
• Judges reach decision by majority vote

U.S. Supreme Court

• Supreme court sits atop the federal system
• Court composed of nine justices
• Justices reach decisions by majority vote
• Court grants most appellate reviews through a writ of certiorari

State Court Systems

• State courts hear more than 98% of legal business
• Cases begin in trial court
• Appeals proceed to intermediate court and then state’s highest appellate court
• Cases involving a federal issue may be appealed to U.S. Supreme Court

Jurisdiction

• Exclusive jurisdiction
  • When only one court has the power to hear a case
• Concurrent jurisdiction
  • When more than one court has jurisdiction to hear a case

Two Major Forms of Federal Jurisdiction

• Federal question jurisdiction requiring a federal statute, a federal regulation, or the U. S. Constitution
• Diversity jurisdiction requiring opposing litigants come from two different states and amount in controversy exceeds $75,000

Does State or Federal Law Apply?

• Federal Law:  
  • Restricted to issues arising  from U. S. Constitution, statutes Congress enacts pursuant to U.S. Constitution, or agency regulation
• State Law:
  • Unless preempted by federal law, generally anything states deem to be in best interests of their citizens

Do the State or Federal Courts have Jurisdiction?

• Federal Court:
  • Only if case involves federal law or if state law and parties are from different states and amount in controversy is over $75,000
• State Courts:
  • Generally any type of case unless Congress has provided for exclusive federal jurisdiction

Court Personnel

• Judges
• Justices of the peace
• Court commissioners
• Magistrates
• Court clerks
• Court reporter
• Bailiffs

The Role of Judges

• As part of their judicial duties, both trial and appellate court judges apply the law to the facts in the cases before them. 
• However, before the law can be applied, judges must determine the law’s scope and meaning.
• When the law contains ambiguous language, judges must choose between competing interpretations that often lead to differing outcomes.

• What are the two basic functions of trial courts?
  • The main functions of trial courts are to hear questions of fact and law.  They hear questions of facts when they hear the case and listen to the parties’ evidence (Currier and Eimermann 110).  They also decide questions of law when they apply the law to the facts of the case.
• What is the difference between questions of law and question of fact? Why is it important to know the difference?
  • Questions of fact refer to the factual issues surrounding the case such as the what took place, where did it take place, when did it take place, and how did it take place.  Questions of law relate to the application of the law on the factual issues of the case such as what specific law is applicable and how should it be applied to the case (Currier and Eimermann 111). 
• Give an example of a question of fact that might arise during a murder trial. Give an example of a question of law that might arise in that same trial.
  • In a murder trial case, some of the questions of fact that might arise is the question on whether the defendant was indeed present at the time of the murder and what is the weapon used to commit the murder.  On the other hand, a question of law that might arise in the same trial is whether a piece of evidence admitted in the trial court hearing should be excluded from evidence, or whether the confession obtained by the police is admissible in evidence, or whether the testimony of the witnesses is admissible in evidence. 
• What is the difference between a bench and a jury trial?
  • Bench trials are trials that take place in front of a judge.  In these cases, the jury does not participate.  On the other hand, in a jury trial, a jury composed of the members of the community are asked to listen to the evidence and render a verdict.
• What will an appellate court usually do if it finds that the trial court made a harmless error?
  • There is a harmless error committed when the trial court commits a legal error that was minor and does not affect the outcome of the case (Currier and Eimermann 112).  In these cases, the appellate court will simply affirm the judgment of the trial court.
• what is the difference between reversing and remanding a case?
  • When the appellate court finds that the trial court committed a significant error that affects the outcome of the case, the appellate court will reverse the trial court’s decision (Currier and Eimermann 112).  The appellate court may also order that the case will be remanded to the trial court for further hearing. 
• How do majority, dissenting and concurring opinions differ from each other?
  • In appellate courts, there are several justices who decide on the case. The majority opinion is the opinion of the majority of the members of the appellate court.  In case where the decision is not unanimous, a justice of the appellate court may decide to write his dissenting opinion where he explains his stand on the issue and why he disagrees with the majority opinion.  In a concurring opinion, other members of the appellate court may decide to write their own opinion concurring with the majority opinion.
• List the major differences between trial and appellate courts.
  • In a trial court, the parties are plaintiff/defendant or state/defendant while in an appellate court, the parties are appellant/appellee or petitioner/respondent (Currier and Eimermann 113).  Insofar as the decision maker, the trial court is decided by a judge or a jury while in an appellate court, the case is decided by a majority vote of three or more judges.  There is a need for witness testimony in the trial courts but witness testimony is not entertained in the appellate courts.  Introduction of evidence is allowed in trial courts but it is not allowed in appellate courts.  In the trial court, questions of fact and law are among the issues decided but in appellate court only questions of law are decided. 
• In the federal court system what are the names given to 
  • the highest appellate court – US Supreme Court,
  • the intermediate appellate courts – U.S. Court of Appeals
  • trial courts – US District Courts
• Look at the map in figure 5-3. How many district courts are there in your state? In which circuit is your state located? 
  • Based on the map in figure 5-3, California is divided into four judicial districts which are the Northern, Eastern, Central and Southern Districts of California.  It is located in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
• If you hear that “cert.” has been denied in a case, what does that mean?
  • In the Supreme Court, at least four of the nine justices must agree to grant the cert.  If the petition for writ of certiorari is denied, then the Supreme Court may refuse to hear the case.   This is because the Supreme Court has the power to choose which cases it wants to hear.  (Currier and Eimermann 117)
• In the federal system, what are the inferior courts?
  • In the federal court system, the US District Courts and the Court of Appeals are considered as the inferior courts (Currier and Eimermann 114). 
• Describe a typical state court system. How is your state court system similar to or different from the typical state system?
  • In a typical state court system, the lowest court are the trial courts which have general jurisdiction over cases within its geographical area.  At the second level is the mid-level appellate court which are also known as the state appellate court followed by the high-level appellate court which are also known as the state supreme court.  In California, we also have courts which have general and limited jurisdiction over cases.  We also have the California Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of California. 
• True or False: In every state the highest appellate court is called the supreme court.
  • No. In some states such as New York and Maryland, the highest appellate court is called the court of appeals (Currier and Eimerman 120).
• How are state judges selected? How does that differ from how federal judges are elected?
  • State judges are selected in a variety of ways.  In some states, they can be appointed by the state chief executive.  In some states, state judges are appointed by the state legislature.  In some states, they are chosen in an election.  On the other hand, federal judges are nominated by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate.
• Jurisdiction refers to the power a court has to hear a case. Define each of the following types of jurisdiction:
  • general jurisdiction – Courts of general jurisdiction have the power to hear any type of cases within their geographical area.
  • limited jurisdiction – Courts of limited jurisdiction have the power to hear only those special cases such as probate, domestic relations and traffic.
  • original jurisdiction – Courts of original jurisdiction are the courts where cases are first filed such as the trial courts.
  • appellate jurisdiction – Courts of appellate jurisdiction are courts where cases are filed on appeal from the trial courts.
  • exclusive jurisdiction – A court has exclusive jurisdiction when there is only one court that has the power to hear a case to the exclusion of others (Currier and Eimermann 122).
  • concurrent jurisdiction. – There is concurrent jurisdiction when more than one court has the power to hear the case (Currier and Eimermann 122).
• What are the two major grounds for gaining federal court jurisdiction?
  • In order to obtain federal court jurisdiction, the case should have a federal question or it involves diversity citizenship (Currier and Eimermann 121).