Judges, Justices, and Jurors

Key Players - Judges and Justices

• Judges preside over trials and pre- and post-trial activities.
• In most states and the federal system, judges serve in the first level of appellate courts.
• In the supreme courts of the United States and each state, a judge is referred to as a "Justice."
• At the trial level, judges preside over litigation, interpreting and enforcing procedural rules.
• In jury trials, judges rule on legal issues, while the jury decides the facts.
• In bench trials (no jury), the judge decides both facts and legal issues.
• At the appellate level, judges/justices hear arguments on legal issues and review trial court rulings.
• Appellate judges/justices issue orders to explain the rationale for their decisions, creating common law.

Key Players - Jurors

• Jurors are individuals who serve on either a petit jury or a grand jury.
• A petit jury consists of 6-12 jurors and decides guilt or liability in criminal or civil trials, respectively.
• Petit jurors assess evidence using legal standards and instructions given by the judge.
• The U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to a jury trial.
  • The Sixth Amendment grants criminal defendants the right to a speedy trial by an impartial jury.
  • The Seventh Amendment guarantees the right to a jury trial in civil cases.
• State constitutions also routinely provide for jury trials.

Key Players - Grand Jury

• Petit juries are utilized at trials in both civil and criminal cases.
• Grand juries aren't used in civil or criminal trials, they are not used in civil litigation.
• Grand juries play a role in the criminal process before trial.
• According to the U.S. Constitution, Fifth Amendment, with some exceptions, no one may be tried for a capital or infamous crime without a Grand Jury indictment.
• Grand juries do not decide guilt or innocence.
• Grand juries determine if there is enough probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed.
  • Subsequently they issue an indictment of the defendant, who is then bound over for trial.
• Grand juries typically consist of 16-23 people.
• Grand jury proceedings are not open to the public, and there is no judge.
  • Often, the only lawyer present is the prosecutor.

Key Players - Lawyers

• Lawyers play many roles in resolving disputes.
• In litigation, lawyers represent clients and facilitate the adversarial process.
• Rules of ethics and procedural rules limit the lawyer's actions.
• Lawyers have independent obligations to the Court to act according to certain rules.

Organization of the Court System

• State and federal courts form the court system.
• States have a three-tier court structure: trial courts, appellate courts, and a State Supreme Court.

State Court Structure - Trial Courts

• Trial courts, whether state or federal, are where lawsuits are filed, discovery takes place, and trials occur.
• The name of trial courts varies by state: District Court, Circuit Court, County Court, and Superior Court.
• A court's subject matter jurisdiction dictates the issues over which the court has authority.
• State trial courts usually have general jurisdiction, allowing them to hear cases on any subject matter from divorce to murder.

State Court Structure - Court of Appeals

• Parties dissatisfied with a trial court's outcome generally can appeal to a court of appeals.
• Appeals are not new trials, but lawyers present legal arguments to appellate judges.
• Appellate courts do not develop new facts, accepting the factual record from the trial court, and they focus on legal issues.
• A court of appeals typically consists of a three-judge panel.
• Most states have two levels of appellate courts.

State Court Structure - State Supreme Court

• States can name their courts as they choose.
• Parties dissatisfied with a Court of Appeals decision may request the State Supreme Court to review the case.
• Generally, parties do not have a right to appeal to the State Supreme Court.
  • The State Supreme Court can choose to grant or deny review.
• Like the Court of Appeals, the State Supreme Court emphasizes legal issues based on trial record evidence.
• Each state determines the number of Justices on its Supreme Court; for example, Kansas has seven Justices.

State Court Structure - State Supreme Court to U.S. Supreme Court

• Parties not satisfied with a State Supreme Court's decision may ask the United States Supreme Court ("SCOTUS") to review the case.
• Litigants do not have a right to appeal to SCOTUS, and SCOTUS has discretion to grant or deny review.
• SCOTUS typically grants review only when there is a novel and important question of federal law, a split among federal courts on a federal law question, or a dispute between states.

Federal Court Structure - Federal Courts

• Federal Courts are authorized by Article III of the U.S. Constitution and have a three-tier structure.
  • United States District Courts (trial courts)
  • United States Courts of Appeal
  • United States Supreme Court

Federal Court Structure - United States District Courts

• Each state has at least one district, and populous states have multiple districts.
• Courts are named after the district, such as the United States District Court for the District of Kansas.
• United States District Courts are courts of limited subject matter jurisdiction.
• Federal district courts serve the same role as trial courts in the state court system when they have subject matter jurisdiction.

Federal Court Structure - United States Courts of Appeal

• Parties dissatisfied with a United States District Court outcome typically can appeal to the United States Courts of Appeals.
• Like state courts of appeal, the United States Courts of Appeal focus on legal issues and do not retry the case.
• There are 13 different U.S. Courts of Appeals.
• The country is divided into 12 geographic 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 from all over the country.
• A U.S. Court of Appeals handles appeals from U.S. District Courts within its geographic region.
• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is the smallest geographic region; this court is the primary appellate court for federal government issues because Congress and many agencies are in D.C.
• The remainder of the country besides the District of Columbia is divided into 11 regions, each served by a court of appeals with a numeric designation.

Federal Court Structure - United States Courts of Appeal - Federal Circuit & US Supreme Court

• The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit only hears appeals on specific subject matters such as patent cases from any district court in the country.
• Appeals of certain subject matters are heard exclusively by the Federal Circuit.
• Parties not satisfied with a U.S. Court of Appeals decision may file a petition for a writ of certiorari to SCOTUS.
• Granting or denying certiorari is discretionary by SCOTUS.

Federal Court Structure - Appellate Terminology

• The party who files the initial appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals is the appellant.
  • This is regardless of whether that party was the plaintiff or defendant at the trial level.
  • The other party is the appellee.
• If a party seeks to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the party applying to the U.S. Supreme Court is the petitioner
  • The other party is the respondent.