The US Court System

A court is an agency of government that provides authoritative decisions in legal disputes brought to it for resolution. Courts are required not merely to decide disputes, but to decide them fairly, in accordance with the law – hence the phrase ‘courts of justice’. Courts fulfill three important functions:

a. they resolve disputes which, while often routine, are crucial to those involved;

b. they provide protection from illegal actions of government and individuals;

c. and sometimes they resolve disputes of great political and social significance.

The courts are the overseers of the law. They administer it, they resolve disputes under it, and they ensure that it is and remains equal and impartial for everyone.

In the United States each state is served by the separate court systems – state and federal. Both systems are organized into three basic levels of courts — trial courts, intermediate courts of appeal and a high court, or Supreme Court. The state courts are concerned essentially with cases arising under state law, and the federal courts with cases arising under federal law. The state court system includes trial courts, courts of appeal, the State Supreme Court and several special courts.

Trial courts bear the main burden in the administration of justice. Cases begin there and in most instances are finally resolved there. Civil and criminal cases are heard by twelve members of the jury and a judge, the trial is held. The trial courts in each state include common pleas courts, which have general civil and criminal jurisdiction and smaller in importance municipal courts, county courts and mayors’ courts.

The common pleas court is the most important of the trial courts. It is the court of general jurisdiction — almost any civil or criminal case, serious or minor, may first be brought there. In criminal matters, the common pleas courts have exclusive jurisdiction over felonies. In civil matters it has exclusive jurisdiction in probate, domestic relations and juvenile matters. The probate division deals with wills and the administration of estates, adoptions, guardianships. It grants marriage licenses to perform marriages. The domestic division deals with divorce, alimony, child custody. The juvenile division has jurisdiction over delinquent, unruly or neglected children and over adults, who neglect, abuse or contribute to the delinquency of children. When a juvenile (any person under 18) is accused of an offence, whether serious or minor, the juvenile division has exclusive jurisdiction over the case.

The main job of courts of appeal is to review cases appealed from trial courts to determine if the law was correctly interpreted and applied. The State Supreme Court of each state is primarily a court of appeal, as there appealed cases of possible reversal are heard, and the court of last resort. There is no jury and no trial is held. The State Supreme Court has the power to declare State laws and interpret State Constitutional laws.

The legal state system also includes some special courts, such as: the Court of Small Claims which deals with small property damage, and the Traffic Court.

The federal court structure is similar to the structure of the state court system. The trial courts in the federal system are the United States district courts, which are 94 in number. They also include criminal and civil jurisdiction. The criminal jurisdiction deals with felonies which are committed across the state borders, such as arm trafficking, drug smuggling. The civil jurisdiction has probate, domestic and juvenile divisions. District courts settle routine cases where there are no Constitutional cases at stake. The civil or criminal cases are heard by one judge and twelve members of the jury.

The United States courts of appeal are intermediate courts of appeal between the district courts and the United States Supreme Court. A very good example of such type of courts was the Federal Circuit Court of Appeal existed till 1948. Now there are 13 courts of appeal. They review appeals from district courts. The appealed cases are heard by a group of 3 judges, a so-called ‘three-judge panel’, there is no jury and the trial is not held.

The US Supreme Court is the highest court in the nation and the court of last resort. It consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices, all of whom are appointed for life by the President with the Advice and. Consent of the Senate. The duty of the Supreme Court is to decide whether laws passed by Congress agree with the Constitution. The great legal issues facing the Supreme Court at present are Government involvement with religion, abortion and privacy rights, race and sex discrimination. There is no jury and no trial is held, the decision is final.

The federal court system also includes some special courts, such as the US Tax Court, the US Court of Claims, the US Court of Customs and the Court of Patent Appeals. They handle cases which are difficult for judge to understand unless he devoted his whole time to this one type of problem. The special courts are on the borderline between strictly ‘judicial courts’ and the administrative agencies with practically judicial powers, through which the government regulates certain kinds of business.

1. As you read the text a) look for the answers to these questions:

1. What is the dual court system existing in the USA? 2. Is the federal court structure similar to the structure of the state court system? 3. Why doesthe US court system include both state and federal courts? 4. What three levels of courts does the US court system consist of? 5. What is the jurisdiction of trial court? Name them in both structures. 6. What do you know about the jurisdiction and structure of common pleas court? 7. What kind of civil and criminal matters are brought to common pleas courts? Elaborate on probate, domestic relation and juvenile matters. 8. Where are the cases appealed from trial courts reviewed? 9. What are the duty and the structure of the US Supreme Court? 10. Name the special courts in the federal and state court systems and explain why they are created in the USA. Can the special courts be called judicial courts? Why?

B) Summarize the text in 4 paragraphs specifying the following: 1) the dual system of the US courts; 2) trial courts – courts of general jurisdiction; 3) the US Supreme Court – the court of last resort judging the most explosive issues in American life; 4) special courts – the courts hearing special cases.

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