Why is the court system arranged in a pyramid?

Answer 1

This is a practical matter related to how cases move through the Court. For example, in the federal system, the United States District Court is the point of entry into the federal judiciary. Any case that doesn't qualify to be heard in a special subject matter jurisdiction court (e.g., Bankruptcy court, Tax court) begins in District Court, at the base of the pyramid. There are 94 general jurisdiction District Courts.

The width of the base indicates that there are many District Courts to handle the volume of cases filed. A portion of these cases will be dismissed, another portion will be plea-bargained, and most of the remaining cases will go to trial.

According to the US Department of Justice (2005 statistics), about 79% of the cases that go to trial result in conviction. The percent of convicted defendants that appeal to the US Court of Appeals (Circuit Courts) is about 20%.

The intermediate level, above District Court but below the US Supreme Court, is the U.S. Court of Appeals Circuit Courts. The Circuit Courts have a far smaller caseload than the District Courts because only about one in five convictions (20%) will result in an appeal. There are thirteen US Court of Appeals Circuit Courts (only twelve hear general jurisdiction cases).

The US Supreme Court is at the top of the pyramid because it is the "court of last resort," the final avenue of appeal within the judicial system. At this level the Court has discretionary power over the cases it hears. Although the Supreme Court received more than 10,000 appeals in 2008, it only heard arguments in 83 of them. So the top of the pyramid is tiny.

If the Supreme Court refuses to hear a case on appeal, the decision of the last court (usually the U.S. Court of Appeals for the [X] Circuit) to rule on the case is final.