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In the United States, all courts have appellate jurisdiction except the trial courts.

The federal court system is divided into three layers. First is the US District Court (trial court) hears the original case; if one of the parties believes the decision is wrong, the case is then appealed to the US Court of Appeals Circuit Court (intermediate appellate court) with jurisdiction over the original trial court. If the party that loses at the Circuit level believes the decision is wrong, the case may be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States (highest appellate court). The chance of being heard by the Supreme Court is very small due to the number of cases submitted to them each year.

Most state court systems follow a similar pattern, but the name of the trial and appellate courts vary by state. Some states have more than one level of trial court, divided by seriousness of crime.

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14y ago

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