Trials
US District Courts are the trial courts of the Judicial Branch of the Federal government. Appellate courts, like the US Court of Appeals Circuit Court and the US Supreme Court, only consider the question or questions raised on appeal and do not retry the case or make determinations of guilt.
Trial by jury is a right in the lower courts that does not apply in appeals courts or the Supreme Court. The jury makes findings of fact and fact is no longer in issue on appeal.
The US Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in the United States.
The Judicial Branch doesn't have branches, it has courts:US District Courts (trial courts)US Court of International Trade (trial court)US Court of Appeals Circuit Courts (appellate courts)Supreme Court of the United States (final appellate court)
Technically, the Constitution does not specifically provide for federal district and appellate courts in the sense that it createsthem. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution vests the judicial power of the United States in one supreme Court and in such inferior courts as Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.
Criminal cases heard at the Federal District Court level may be "appealed" to one of the Federal Appellate Courts based on an error that the District Court made. The Federal Appellate courts must hear cases appealed from the District Courts (in other words, you are guaranteed at least one appeal), however the Supreme Court is not required to hear cases appealed from the Appellate Court. After an unfavorable ruling at the Appellate Court level, the criminal defendant (or the United States/Prosecution) may seek a writ of certiori in order to appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court will grant or deny the writ of certiori depending on several factors in the case (how notable is this case, is it a good "vehicle," is this an important issue, is it very contentious, is there a circuit split, is the decision patently wrong?). If the Court grants certiori, that means that they will hear it. If it denies the writ, the Appellate Court's judgment is final. Keep in mind that only a very small potion of cases make it to the Supreme Court level (less than one percent), so the cases that the Court decides to hear are always notable.
The US Supreme Court (formally: The Supreme Court of the United States)
Supreme, Appellate, District
Three:Trial level (primarily US District Courts)Appellate level (US Court of Appeals Circuit Courts)Supreme Court (US Supreme Court)
The US Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in the United States.
The Judicial Branch doesn't have branches, it has courts:US District Courts (trial courts)US Court of International Trade (trial court)US Court of Appeals Circuit Courts (appellate courts)Supreme Court of the United States (final appellate court)
At a local level, there are local trial courts, the only courts that don't act as appellate courts. Above the local trial courts are intermediate appellate courts, above which is the State Supreme Court. At a federal level, there are circuit and district courts, with the Federal Supreme Court at the top.
Appellate courts are created to review decisions of lower courts. They promote efficiency at the federal judicial level by serving as an in between step between district courts and the Supreme Court.
The federal judiciary is devised of 3 levels. They are as follows: U. S. District court - original jurisdiction. U. S. Circuit court of appeals - appellate jurisdiction. U. S. Supreme court - both original and appellate jurisdiction.
Technically, the Constitution does not specifically provide for federal district and appellate courts in the sense that it createsthem. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution vests the judicial power of the United States in one supreme Court and in such inferior courts as Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.
In the US federal court system, you may be referring to the US Court of Appeals Circuit Courts, which are sometimes called intermediate appellate courts because they are between the US District Court (trial court) and the Supreme Court of the United States (final appellate court).
Not specifically. Article III, Section 2, of the Constitution includes this passage: "In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make." This clearly indicates that Congress can change the Supreme Court's and other federal courts' appellate jurisdiction, either by stripping (removing) jurisdiction over certain types of issues, or by assigning jurisdiction over a class of cases to a particular federal court. For example, the Bush administration stripped appellate jurisdiction (including writs of habeas) over Guantanamo detainees' grievances from the US Supreme Court and assigned it to the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
All article III federal (constitutional) courts, except lower courts of limited jurisdiction (for example, the Court of International Trade), have appellate jurisdiction. Although US District Courts are primarily courts of original jurisdiction (trial courts), they are also used sometimes used as appellate courts for Article I tribunals, such as Social Security Disability appeals. Most federal appellate cases are heard by the US Court of Appeals Circuit Courts; a few are heard by the Supreme Court of the United States.
Federal appellate cases