court of appeals

(noun)

A court of appeals decides appeals from the district courts within its federal judicial circuit. There currently are thirteen United States courts of appeals.

Related Terms

Examples of court of appeals in the following topics:

  • U.S. Court of Appeals

    • The U.S. federal courts of appeals, also known as appellate courts or circuit courts, hear appeals from district courts as well as appeals from decisions of federal administrative agencies.
    • The thirteenth court of appeals hears appeals from the Court of International Trade, the U.S.
    • Decisions made within courts of appeals, unlike those of the lower district courts, establish binding precedents.
    • Courts of Appeals, with the exception of one, are divided into geographic regions known as circuits that hear appeals from district courts within the region..
    • Discuss the role of the U.S. federal courts of appeals in the judiciary

  • The Judicial Branch

    • It consists of a court of final appeal in addition to lower courts.
    • The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system .
    • There currently are thirteen United States courts of appeals.
    • The thirteenth court of appeals is the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which has nationwide jurisdiction over certain appeals based on their subject matter.
    • Map of the geographic boundaries of the various United States Courts of Appeals and United States District Courts.

  • Types of Courts

    • The federal court system has three levels: district courts, courts of appeals, and the Supreme Court.
    • The federal court system is divided into three levels: the first and lowest level is the United States district courts, the second, intermediate level is the court of appeals, and the Supreme Court is considered the highest court in the United States.
    • The United States courts of appeals are the federal intermediate appellate courts.
    • They operate under a system of mandatory review which means they must hear all appeals of right from the lower courts.
    • There is generally no right of appeal to the Supreme Court.

  • Basic Judicial Requirements

    • In federal legislation, regulations governing the "courts of the United States" only refer to the courts of the United States government, and not the courts of the individual states.
    • The trial courts are U.S. district courts, followed by United States courts of appeals and then the Supreme Court of the United States.
    • For most of these cases, the jurisdiction of the federal district courts is concurrent with that of the state courts.
    • Generally, a final ruling by a district court in either a civil or a criminal case can be appealed to the United States court of appeals in the federal judicial circuit in which the district court is located, except that some district court rulings involving patents and certain other specialized matters must be appealed instead to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and in a very few cases the appeal may be taken directly to the United States Supreme Court.
    • Courts of Appeals, with the exception of one, are divided into geographic regions known as circuits that hear appeals from district courts within the region..

  • The Supreme Court and the Burden of Proof

    • The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States and has ultimate jurisdiction over all courts that involve a contest of federal law.
    • The Supreme Court is the highest court in all of the United States.
    • Any lower (more local) court can appeal a ruling to the Supreme Court.
    • But for a small set of limited exceptions, the Court only hears cases that have already been reviewed by a lower court, meaning that the Supreme Court is a court of appeal.
    • The names of all of the cases that come before the court are structured as Petitioner v.

  • Establishing Justice

    • State courts, which try 98% of litigation, may have different names and organization; trial courts may be called "courts of common plea", appellate courts "superior courts" or "commonwealth courts. "
    • The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state.
    • It usually consists of a court of final appeal, together with lower courts.
    • State courts, which try 98% of litigation, may have different names and organization; trial courts may be called "courts of common plea," and appellate courts may be "superior courts" or "commonwealth courts. " The judicial system, whether state or federal, begins with a court of first instance, is appealed to an appellate court, and then ends at the court of last resort.
    • The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States .

  • The Powers of State Government

    • The legislative branch of the states consists of state legislatures.
    • A supreme court that hears appeals from lower state courts heads the judicial branch in most states.
    • Each state's court has the last word on issues of state law and can only be overruled by federal courts on issues of Constitutional law.
    • The structure of courts and the methods of selecting judges are determined by each state's constitution or legislature.
    • Most states have at least one trial-level court and an intermediate appeals court from which only some cases are appealed to the highest court.

  • The Supreme Court

    • The Supreme Court is the first court to hear certain kinds of cases in accordance with both Article III and the Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution.
    • However, only about 1% of the Supreme Court's cases consist of these cases.
    • Most cases reach the Supreme Court as appeals from civil and criminal cases that have been decided by state and lower federal courts.
    • Cases that come to the Supreme Court as appeals begin as a writ of certiorari, which is a petition to the Supreme Court to review the case.
    • The Supreme Court can also grant cert if the decision made in a lower court conflicts with a previous decision of the Supreme Court.

  • Two Judicial Revolutions: The Rehnquist Court and the Roberts Court

    • William Rehnquist served as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States, and later as the 16th Chief Justice of the United States.
    • Under this view of federalism, the Supreme Court, for the first time since the 1930s, struck down an Act of Congress as exceeding federal power under the Commerce Clause.
    • He also successfully lobbied Congress in 1988 to give the Court control of its own docket, cutting back mandatory appeals an certiorari grants in general.
    • One of the Court's major developments involved reinforcing and extending the doctrine of sovereign immunity, which limits the ability of Congress to subject non-consenting states to lawsuits by individual citizens seeking money damages.
    • The Roberts Court refers to the Supreme Court of the United States since 2005, under the leadership of Chief Justice John G.

  • Federal Jurisdiction

    • The Federal Courts are courts of limited jurisdiction, meaning that they can only exercise the powers that are granted to them by the Constitution and federal laws.
    • Court[s] must take great care to 'resist the temptation' to express preferences about [certain types of cases] in the form of jurisdictional rules.
    • If the non-governmental party loses, the constitutional issue may form part of the appeal.
    • The federal district courts represent one of the ways federal jurisdiction is split.
    • Discuss the different levels of jurisdiction by state and federal courts in the American legal system