How does the Federal System work?
By: Camryn Ellis
US Marshall
Every Federal Judicial District court has a US Marshall. This person contributes to the Federal System by making the arrests, collecting fines, takes convicted people to prison, protects jurors, keeps order in court, and orders people to appear in court.
US Attorney
Every Federal Judicial District has a US attorney. A US Attorney is a government lawyer who prosecutes people accused of breaking federal laws. Attorney's look at charges present in cases, as well presenting evidence in civil cases to solve disputes.
Life terms
Life terms involve federal judges. Federal judges once in position can hold that position until they decide not too, or are impeached. People become judges by being appointed by the president and then approved by the senate.
Precedent
A precedent is a model of decisions from a higher court that help lower lower courts reach a decision when dealing with similar cases. A precedent is made up of a variety of opinions from justices. The opinions that make up a precedent are majority opinion, concurring opinion, and dissenting opinion.
Opinion
An opinion is the explanation for why the justices made a certain decision. There are three types of opinions known as majority opinion, concurring opinion, and dissenting opinion. Majority opinion explains why the majority voted for or against the petitioner. Concurring opinion gives additional reasons for why the majority of judges voted for or against a petitioner. The last form of opinion is dissenting which explains why some judges may disagree with the majority opinion.
Remand
A remand is one of the three ways that an appeals court can decide on how to deal with a case. A remand is where the appeals court sends back the case to a lower court to be heard again.
Magistrate Judge
Magistrate judges hear preliminary evidence and decide whether accused people should be held in jail or released on bail. Each district court has magistrate judges that do a lot of work to help court judges.
Circuit
A circuit occurs in the appeal courts. It's where each of the twelve US court of appeals cover a particular geographic area.
Appellate Jurisdicition
Appellate Jurisdiction occurs in the appeals court. This is the authority to hear a case appealed from a lower court.
Original Jurisdiction
Original Jurisdiction occurs in the lowest level court known as the district court. This is the authority to hear a case for the first time.
District Court
District Court is the lowest level court in the federal system. This is where trials are held and law suits will begin. All states have at least one, but bigger states have two or three.
Court of Appeals
If a person doesn't get the result they desire from district court, they go to the next highest level, known as the Court of Appeals. This is where the court review decisions made by district courts and decide whether the decision was fair and protected the citizens rights.