Unit VI Lesson 2

Structure of the Federal Court System

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Essential Question:

• What are the basic civil rights and liberties of Americans?

• How have significant decisions of the Supreme Court affected our basic rights?

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of court decisions as instruments of social change?

Federal State“Dual Court System”

Structure

FederalCourt

…the power to create “inferior”

(lower) courts under the Supreme

Court

Other Than

Congress has the power to create additional federal courts AND the power to assign the number of judges who will preside over

them

“Enumerated Powers” “Inferior” Courts”

(Federal courts under the Supreme Court)

Appoints

Confirms

FederalJudges

Structure

“Appoints”

There are THREE levels to the U.S. Federal Court System:

1) U.S. District Courts, 2) U.S. Courts of Appeal, and 3) The U.S. Supreme Court

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U.S. District Courts have “original jurisdiction” (The right to hear a court case first)

“Original Jurisdiction”

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“Original Jurisdiction”

“Appellate Jurisdiction”

“Appellate Courts”

“District Court”

U.S. Courts of Appeal have “Appellate Jurisdiction” (They ONLY hear cases which have been APPEALED from a

lower court)

“Courts of Appeal”

Appeals Courts>5% 2

Which of the following has the responsibility of creating additional federal courts and assigning the number of judges who will

preside over them?

A.The Executive Branch

B.The Legislative Branch

C.The Attorney General

D.The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

Nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court or any other federal court must be approved

by:

A.A majority vote in the Senate

B.A majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate

C.A two-thirds vote in the House of Representatives only

D.A two-thirds vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate

Which of the following courts hear only “original jurisdiction” cases?

A.U.S. Courts of Appeal

B.The U.S. Supreme Court

C.U.S. District Courts

D.State Supreme Courts

The difference between an “appellate court” and a “district court” is that an appellate

court:

A.Conducts trials by jury

B.Has original jurisdiction

C.Reviews previous court decisions

D.Hears civil cases but not criminal cases

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