Judges, Justices, and Jurors

Key Players in the Court System: Judges and Justices

• Judges preside over trials and pre/post-trial activities Served in the first level of appellate courts in most states and the federal system
• Referred to as "Justice" in the supreme courts of the United States and each state
• Trial level judges preside over litigation, interpreting/enforcing procedural rules
• Judges rule on legal issues in jury trials but juries decide on the facts
• A judge decides the facts and legal issues in a bench trial, where there is no jury
• Appellate level judges/justices hear arguments about disputed legal issues
• Appellate judges/justices review the rulings of the trial court judge on those issues
• Appellate judges/justices issue orders explaining the rationale for their decisions, an example of common law creation

Key Players in the Court System: Jurors

• Jurors serve on either a petit jury or a grand jury
• A petit jury of 6-12 jurors decides guilt or liability in a criminal or civil trial
• Petit jurors assess admitted evidence using legal standards and instructions provided by the judge

Key Players in the Court System: Jury Trial

• The U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to a jury trial
• The Sixth Amendment ensures criminal defendants the right to a speedy trial by an impartial jury
• The Seventh Amendment ensures the right to a trial by jury in civil cases
• State constitutions also routinely provide for jury trials

Key Players in the Court System: Grand Jury

• A petit jury may be used at trial in civil and criminal cases
• A grand jury is not part of a civil or criminal trial, and it not used in civil litigation
• A grand jury plays an important role in the criminal process prior to trial
• The Fifth Amendment states that, with exceptions, no one may be tried for a capital or infamous crime without a grand jury indictment
• The grand jury determines if there is probable cause that a crime was committed, but does not decide guilt or innocence
• If probable cause exists, the grand jury issues an indictment of the defendant, who is then bound over for trial
• Grand juries consist of 16-23 people
• A grand jury is not open to the public, there is no judge, and the only lawyer present is often the prosecutor

Key Players in the Court System: Lawyers

• Lawyers play many roles in the resolution of disputes
• Lawyers represent clients and help facilitate the adversarial legal process
• Lawyers are limited by ethics rules and procedural rules of courts
• Lawyers have independent obligations to the Court to act according to certain rules

Organization of the Court System: State Courts

• States have a three-tier court system. The tiers are:
  • Trial Courts
  • Appellate Courts
  • State Supreme Court
• Trial courts are where parties:
  • File lawsuits
  • Conduct discovery
  • Conduct a trial
• The name of trial courts varies by state:
  • District Court
  • Circuit Court
  • County Court
  • Superior Court
• Subject matter jurisdiction determines the subjects over which the court has power
• State trial courts are usually courts of general jurisdiction, meaning they hear cases on any subject matter
• A party dissatisfied with a trial court outcome typically has the right to appeal
• The appellate court does not conduct a new trial but appellate court proceedings are limited to lawyers presenting their legal arguments to the appellate judges.
• Appellate courts use the factual record as developed in the trial court and focus on legal issues
• A court of appeals typically consists of a three-judge panel that hears the arguments of the lawyers about the disputed legal issues
• Most, but not all, states have two levels of appellate courts
• States are free to call their courts whatever they want
• A party dissatisfied with a Court of Appeals decision may request the State Supreme Court to review the case
• In general, there is no right to appeal to the State Supreme Court
• The State Supreme Court has discretion to grant or deny the request to review a case
• State Supreme Courts focus on legal issues and decide them according to the factual evidence introduced in the trial record
• Each state decides the number of Justices on its Supreme Court
• Kansas Supreme Court has seven Justices
• A party dissatisfied with a State Supreme Court decision may ask SCOTUS (United States Supreme Court) to review the case
• There is no right to appeal to SCOTUS, as SCOTUS has discretion to grant or deny such a request
• Typically, SCOTUS will not grant review of a case unless:
  • It involves a novel and important question of federal law
  • There is a split among the federal courts of appeal on a question of federal law
  • There is a dispute between states

Organization of the Court System: Federal Courts

• Federal Courts are authorized by Article III of the U.S. Constitution
• The Federal Courts follow a three tier structure:
  • United States District Courts (trial courts)
  • United States Courts of Appeal
  • United States Supreme Court
• Each state has at least one district court:
  • More populous states have multiple
  • Courts are named after the district
  • United States courts of limited subject matter jurisdiction
• A federal district court serves the same role as a trial court in the state court system if there is subject matter jurisdiction
• A party dissatisfied with a U.S. District Court outcome typically has a right to appeal to the United States Courts of Appeal
• United States Courts of Appeal, like state courts, focus on legal issues and do not retry cases
• There are thirteen different U.S. Courts of Appeals
• The country's geography is broken into twelve regions, each with its own U.S. Court of Appeals
• There is a specialized U.S. Court of Appeals that handles certain appeals on certain subjects across the country
• A U.S. Court of Appeals handles appeals from U.S. District Courts in its geographic region
• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia serves the smallest geographic region
• D.C.'s court of appeals handles many federal government issues because Congress and many U.S. government agencies are in D.C.
• The remainder of the country besides D.C. is divided into eleven regions, each served by a court of appeals with a numeric designation
• Appeals from the federal district court in Kansas go to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit hears appeals on specific subject matters such as patent cases, from any district court
• Appeals of certain subject matters are heard exclusively by the Federal Circuit
• A party dissatisfied with a U.S. Court of Appeals decision may file a petition for a writ of certiorari to SCOTUS
• SCOTUS has discretionary power to grant or deny certiorari
• The party who files the initial appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals is the appellant and the other party is the appellee, regardless of whether that party was the plaintiff or defendant at the trial level
• The party applying to the U.S. Supreme Court is the petitioner and the other party is the respondent