Areshia Streams
JUS - 261 - J1122
Southern New Hampshire University
September 17, 2021
3-2 Final Project Milestone One: Draft of the Judicial Systems
In the hierarchical structure of the federal, state, and local court system there are three
tiers: the U.S. District Courts, the Courts of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. There are 94
federal judicial districts, including one or more in each state. The U.S. District Courts are the
principal trial court of the federal system. It has jurisdiction over nearly all categories of federal
cases. District Court proceedings are usually conducted by a single judge or with a jury. The U.S
Constitution provides the right to a trial by jury in many categories of cases including all
criminal prosecutions except petty offenses, civil cases in which the right to a jury trial applied
under the English law at the time of American independence, and cases in which the Congress
has expressly provided for the right to trial by jury. The 94 federal judiciary districts are
organized into 12 regional circuits, in which each circuit has a Court of Appeals. The Appellate
courts hear appeals from district courts within their circuit as well as appeals from certain federal
administrative agencies. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the federal circuit has nationwide
jurisdiction to hear appeals in specialized cases such as those involving patent laws and cases
decided by the U.S. Court of International Trade or Federal Claims. There are 13 appellate courts
that sit below the U.S. Supreme Court. Appeals courts consist of three judges and does not use a
jury. The supreme court is the highest court of the United States. It consists of a Chief Justice of
the U.S. and eight Associate Justices.
The U.S. Constitution creates a federal system of government that is shared between the
federal and state governments. The federal court system was granted judicial power of the United
States through Article III of the Constitution. Section one of Article III specifically establishes
the U.S. Supreme Court and grants Congress authority over the creation of lower federal courts
Whereas, the state court system is established by both the Constitution and the laws of each state
The Supreme Court of the state is usually known as the last resort court and is the highest court
of all the courts. Some states court system may also have an intermediate court of appeals and
trial courts which is often referred to as circuit or district courts. The importance of having these
different levels is that both systems hear different types of cases as set forth by the Constitution
and their laws. Therefore, they can reside over the punishments sentenced to fit the crimes
committed. The subject matter jurisdiction for federal, state, and local courts is that they must
have jurisdiction to enter a valid, enforceable judgment on a claim. If there is a lacking of
jurisdiction, then through a variety of procedural mechanisms, a litigant may challenge the
validity of a judgment. The impact that