Federal Court System
Rawan Ajeen
Federal Court System
District Court
-District Courts have "original jurisdiction" meaning that they get to hear a case first.
Picture is of the Wilmington, NC courthouse
Court of Appeals
-has the authority to hear a case once it has been appealed from a lower court, this authority is known as "appellate jurisdiction".
-Court of Appeals cover a certain geographic area which is known as a circuit
-NC is in the Fourth Circuit
Picture is of the Eastern District of NC and areas that it serves
What Happens at the Court of Appeals
-Court of Appeals is a panel of judges:
-one judge is in charge of writing an opinion, which would explain the legal reasoning behind the court's decision
-A precedent starts to develop as other judges use similar opinions in similar cases seen in the Court of Appeals.
Federal Court Judges
-Judges serve life terms, which means they get to serve for as long as they want
US Marshal
-US Marshal's are the people who arrest, collect, and take convicted criminals to prison
-A part of a US Marshal's job is to keep order in court, order people to court, and protect the jurors.
Picture is of a US Marshal protective vest that serves as part of the their uniform.
US Attorney
-A US Attorney is a lawyer that prosecutes people accused of breaking federal laws
-Present evidence in court
Picture is of the Department of Justice seal the executive branch that the US Attorney works for.
Magistrate Judge
-View evidence to see whether a case should go to trial or not