an appeal from a lower court
Cases involving state laws or disputes that occurred within the state's jurisdiction would typically be heard in a state's district or appellate court. These courts have authority to rule on matters related to state law, appeals from lower courts, and to interpret and apply state statutes and regulations.
US Territorial CourtsFederal courts that perform the function of US District Courts, but that are located in US territories outside the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are called US Territorial Courts. These were established as Article I tribunals, not Article III courts, like standard US District Courts.Examples of the US Territorial Courts include:US District Court for the Northern Mariana IslandsUS District Court for the District of GuamUS District Court for the US Virgin IslandsThe US Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction over many cases heard in US Territorial Courts.US Territorial Courts.
The four levels of state court are: trial courts (where cases are initially heard), intermediate appellate courts (where decisions from trial courts can be appealed), supreme courts (the highest state court that hears appeals from intermediate appellate courts), and specialty courts (such as family court or probate court that handle specific types of cases). The jurisdiction of each court varies, but generally trial courts have original jurisdiction over most cases, while appellate courts have jurisdiction to review decisions made by trial courts. Speciality courts have jurisdiction over specific types of cases assigned to them.
Cases from the Internal Revenue Service are often heard by the United States Tax Court, which is a federal court that specializes in tax disputes. Taxpayers can also appeal IRS decisions to federal district court or federal court of appeals.
The federal court system has three levels to provide a hierarchy for handling cases. District courts are the trial courts where cases are initially heard, circuit courts are the intermediate appellate courts, and the Supreme Court is the highest court that reviews decisions made by the lower courts.
A discretionary docket allows the appellate court to select cases according to importance or need for review, which helps manage the caseload efficiently and focus resources on issues of significant legal or public interest. It also gives the court flexibility to prioritize cases based on their merit and impact.
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.
Appellate court.
In the federal court system, the US Courts of Appeals Circuit Court typically have appellate jurisdiction over cases heard in US District Court. The US Supreme Court may exercise appellate jurisdiction over either the US Courts of Appeals Circuit Courts or the US District Courts, but in most cases District Court appeals are first filtered through the Circuit Courts.
Not all cases appealed to an appellate court are heard by the appellate court. In such cases the verdict delivered by the lower court of original jurisdiction will stand.
Just one: the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. It has territorial jurisdiction over cases heard in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
Centarori
Lower Courts or District Courts. In a nutshell original jurisdicition, the first to claim power, is given to Supreme court because those guys are big. But the lower courts first get the case and if someone is not satisfied then they appeal to supreme court which is known as appellate jurisdiction. Most cases that supreme court get are appellate jurisdiction which means they have already been heard in lower courts.
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.
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 appellate court with jurisdiction over cases heard in the relevant trial court.
US Territorial CourtsFederal courts that perform the function of US District Courts, but that are located in US territories outside the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are called US Territorial Courts. These were established as Article I tribunals, not Article III courts, like standard US District Courts.Examples of the US Territorial Courts include:US District Court for the Northern Mariana IslandsUS District Court for the District of GuamUS District Court for the US Virgin IslandsThe US Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction over many cases heard in US Territorial Courts.US Territorial Courts.
Appellate jurisdiction