| STATE OR FEDERAL COURT
Q. If small claims court is not an option, how will my lawyer
determine which court is the one for me?
A. After identifying the nature of the claims you may have and
the remedies you are seeking, your lawyer will guide you to the court
with the proper jurisdiction and venue.
Q. What is jurisdiction?
A. When we say a court has jurisdiction to hear a case, we mean
it has the authority to decide the kinds of issues raised in the case.
Not every court has jurisdiction to hear every kind of case. One of the
first questions to answer before filing a lawsuit is whether to bring
the suit in state or federal court.
Why Isn't There Just One Court System?
The United States Constitution provides for a dual system of government,
with both state and
federal sovereigns. While Article III of the U.S. Constitution contemplates
a federal judiciary
operating as a co-equal branch of our national government, each state
is expected to establish and operate its own court system as part
of its own government. (The District of Columbia courts have a mixed
state/federal quality in administering justice in our nation's capital.)
If there were no state or local courts, many cases could not be heard
at all, for the
Constitution limits the cases that can be brought in federal courts.
A dual court system makes
sense philosophically because it respects a state's right to establish
and enforce the law with
respect to its unique problems and concerns. It also makes sense practically
because, as a general rule, a state's own courts are more familiar
with state and local law. |
Q. What kinds of cases can federal courts decide?
A. The jurisdiction of most federal courts is determined by Article
III of the United States
Constitution, which limits the kinds of cases federal courts can hear.
These include, foremost,
cases involving issues of federal law. This so-called "federal question
jurisdiction" authorizes
federal district courts to decide both civil and criminal cases in which
federal law must be
interpreted or applied. The federal law at issue may have arisen out of
a federal statute or
regulation, treaty, or a provision of the Constitution itself.
Another category of cases that Article III has placed within the federal
courts' jurisdiction
can be thought of as cases in which the Constitution's framers feared
that an out-of-state party
might not trust the local courts to provide him or her with a neutral
forum. Thus, Article III gives
federal courts "diversity jurisdiction" over controversies:
• between citizens of different states;
• between two or more states; and
• between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants
of different states.
Similarly, federal district courts have jurisdiction over any suit to
which the United States
or one of its officers is a party.
Cases involving ambassadors, consuls, and other public ministers (in other
words, cases
that might affect America's relations with other countries) are also entrusted
to the federal courts, as are cases involving the laws relating to navigable
waters (the oceans, Great Lakes, and most rivers) and commerce on those
waters. In addition, Congress has created specialized courts such as bankruptcy
courts and tax courts.
Other Federal Courts
There are several specialized courts--Tax Court, the Court of Federal
Claims, the Court of
Veterans Appeals, Courts of Military Review, and the Court of International
Trade. Each United States District Court also has a United States Bankruptcy
Court unit as well as one or more magistrate.
In addition, Congress has created other courts under its Article I powers
to serve the people
in the United States territories of Guam, the United States Virgin Islands,
and the Northern
Mariana Islands. These "legislative courts" operate much like
the Article III courts, but the
presiding officers of these courts do not have the constitutional protections
accorded to Article III judges such as life tenure and the prohibition
against reducing judicial salaries.
In every instance, a party to a federal lawsuit will have an opportunity
to proceed through
two levels of decision: the United States District Court or other specialized
trial court and a court of appeals. In rare cases, a party may receive
a third level of decision from the United States Supreme Court if, for
example, the Court believes that the case presents an important question
of constitutional law.
Q. What sorts of cases are decided by state courts?
A. Most states have two levels of trial courts—special
jurisdiction courts with jurisdiction limited to specific types of cases,
and general jurisdiction courts with jurisdiction over all other cases.
Special jurisdiction courts are dominated by traffic cases but also hear
relatively minor civil and
criminal disputes. Special jurisdiction courts often have exclusive jurisdiction
over juvenile cases.
These courts are variously called district, justice, justice of the peace,
magistrate, county,
municipal, or police courts.
Courts of general jurisdiction hear most of the serious criminal and civil
cases and are
sometimes divided into subject areas such as domestic relations, probate,
and state and local tax.
These courts are variously called circuit courts, courts of common pleas,
and, in New York State, the supreme court.
Unlike the federal courts, state courts are not limited to hearing only
the kinds of cases
listed in Article III of the United States Constitution.
Q. Do I ever have a choice of whether to sue in state or federal
court?
A. Yes. Although some cases are exclusively within the jurisdiction
of one or the other court
systems (juvenile cases, for example, are adjudicated in state juvenile
courts, while all
bankruptcies are filed in federal bankruptcy court), the state and federal
courts have "concurrent jurisdiction" over many cases. A typical
example would be a case involving a state law that is being litigated
by a plaintiff from one state and a defendant from another state. The
state courts would have jurisdiction because of the state law issues.
But, if the case involves an "amount in controversy" of more
than $50,000, the federal courts would have jurisdiction as well because
the parties are citizens of different states. This is known as diversity-of-citizenship
jurisdiction or, more commonly, diversity jurisdiction. Article III of
the Constitution gives federal courts concurrent jurisdiction over these
cases.
Q. How is the federal court system structured?
A. Rather than prescribing any one rigid structure for the federal
courts, Article III merely requires that the judicial power of the federal
government "be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior
courts as Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." Pursuant
to this authority, Congress has created ninety-four United States District
Courts (the trial courts in the federal system) as well as other specialized
trial courts. Sandwiched between these trial courts and the Supreme Court
are the intermediate appellate courts—twelve regional United States
Courts of Appeals plus the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and
the Court of Military Appeals.
Q. How are the state court systems structured?
A. State courts are the product of the individual state's constitution
and legislation. The resulting
court systems vary in particulars. In addition to the two-tiered trial
courts mentioned earlier, most states have an intermediate appellate court
in addition to a state supreme court analogous to the United States Supreme
Court.
Q. How are judges selected?
A. This is another important difference between the state and
federal systems. All 649 federal
district court judges are appointed for life by the president with the
advice and consent of the
United States Senate. The nine seats on the United States Supreme Court
and the 179 seats on the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals are
filled in the same way.
The states, on the other hand, have a variety of procedures for filling
judgeships. While
many state judges are appointed by the governor for a term of years, many
others are required to run for election.
Q. Which method is better?
A. As the variety of different state procedures would indicate,
there is no consensus answer to this question. Generally, supporters of
the electoral method believe that elected judges are more likely to be
responsive to the needs of the everyday citizen, while critics argue that
the appointment method is better able to identify good judges rather than
good politicians. In some states, judges are initially appointed, but
then must win periodic retention elections in which voters simply vote
"yes" or "no" to retain that particular judge.
No One Legal System
Our American "legal system" is really composed of a number
of different court systems and
procedures. Although all American courts share certain attributes,
how a given court will work in a particular case depends on the type
of court it is and the type of dispute it is being asked to resolve.
The fifty state-court systems differ from one another and from the
federal courts. Civil
cases are adjudicated according to different rules than criminal cases.
Appellate courts play a
different role than the trial courts and specialized courts, such
as bankruptcy and tax courts, and, accordingly, have their own customized
procedures. Native American tribal courts, which
generally have jurisdiction to hear cases originating on reservations,
determine disputes based on Indian law, customs and codes, as well
as federal law.
On the other hand, all American courts bear some resemblance to the
federal courts
established by Article III of the United States Constitution. Therefore,
this chapter will primarily
focus on the workings of the federal courts in general and on civil
cases in particular. The
criminal justice system is discussed in a separate, later section. |
Most Cases Decided in State Court
The fifty state-court systems together handle the overwhelming majority
of all legal disputes.
According to annual reports of the Conference of State Court Administrators,
the State Justice
Institute, and the National Center for State Courts, about 100 million
new cases are filed in state trial courts each year. Of this enormous
volume of cases, about a third are civil and criminal cases, about two
percent are juvenile cases, and the remainder—about two thirds,
are traffic cases.
By contrast, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts reports
that annually the
United States District Courts receive well under half a million cases,
80 percent civil and 20
percent criminal. Among the types of civil suits entering the federal
courts are civil rights actions, cases concerning personal injury and
damage to property, and prisoner petitions. Of the federal criminal cases,
70 percent were felonies. They included: homicide, tax fraud, robbery,
forgery and counterfeiting, and drug offenses, the largest and fastest
growing category of cases.
The Judiciary as a Co-equal Branch of Government
First, it is important to note that a federal court's power to declare
what the law means and to strike down congressional enactments as unconstitutional
is in itself a powerful check against any attempt to diminish the role
of the federal judiciary. In addition, federal judges enjoy two specific
constitutional protections designed to maintain their independence from
the executive and legislative branches. First, although Congress does
have the power to determine the structure of and funding for federal courts,
judges, once confirmed by the United States Senate, have life tenure—they
cannot be fired except by "Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason,
Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." Second, Congress
cannot reduce the pay of federal judges.
Q. How much time do I have to decide whether to file a civil
law suit?
A. It varies depending on the kind of suit it is. An important
element of all federal and state
lawsuits is the "statute of limitations" that governs the amount
of time you have in which to sue
after the incident takes place. The concern is that it is unfair to summon
a defendant into court
long after the incident occurred, when memories may no longer be fresh
and evidence no longer
available. Thus, after the time limit has run out on the applicable statute
of limitations, the plaintiff is forever barred from bringing suit--no
matter how meritorious the case might be.
Q. What begins a lawsuit?
A. A lawsuit begins when the plaintiff files a document with
the court called a "complaint." The
complaint recounts what happened to the plaintiff, what the plaintiff
wants the court to do about it, and the legal reasons why the court ought
to do what the plaintiff asks. The various wrongs the plaintiff claims
to have suffered are listed in separate "counts" of the complaint.
The complaint also sets forth the remedy the plaintiff is seeking from
the court. The remedy requested is called a "prayer for relief."
Q. How does a defendant find out that he or she is being sued?
A. The clerk of the court in which the complaint is filed will
issue a "summons" to the defendant.
The summons tells the defendant that a suit has been filed against him
or her, who filed it, and the time and place to appear in court. This
summons, along with the complaint, must then be "served" into
the defendant's hands. A sheriff or marshal may deliver it, or a private
process server may be hired. In some instances, it may be sufficient to
mail the summons and complaint by certified or registered mail.
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