Life at Federal Court System
Doug Howard
The story
In my first experience in the district court, I got the chance to hear original jurisdictions, or cases that had come out for the very first time! But this was only the first part, as I later went on to visit a case that was given to a lower court, or as they call it a court of appeals. They had to get the appellate jurisdiction to continue the case, which is approval from the higher up courts. These courts of appeal are placed in what i refer to as a circuit in terms of geography. In the case i watched, the end turned into a remand, which meant it would be tried again in a lower court. The judge later went on the write an opinion on why the case ended up like it did, and I know that other judges can use that opinion to help with other cases these other judges are faced with. It is now that i realised the true extent to the life term that every judge is faced with and how hard it can be to stay in that position. I later visited a district court in which i saw a magistrate judge, a judge that does the majority of the work in any case. Although i did not find them as interesting as the US attorneys who provided evidence to the case and helped whichever side they were on. Lastly, one of the most important people in the cases i visited were the US Marshalls, who were appointed to the job of protecting the jurors and making the arrests once the case was settled. This experience taught me the true keys to a Federal Court System and taught me a lot about the courts rules.