THE STRUCTURE OF THE AMERICAN JUDICIARY
I. Intro
--Court organization CAN become the focus of political battles. --e.g. There are 12 circuit courts (federal courts of appeals). The 9th circuit is the largest as it includes 9 states and two territories. It stretches from Alaska to Arizona and from Montana to Hawaii and then to Guam.
-- 28 full time judges and several more retired judges who help out part time.
--Hears over 5000 cases a year.
-In 1990 the U.S. Senate considered a bill to split the 9th circuit into 2 circuits. California, Arizona and Nevada would make up one circuit while the other states and territories would make up a second circuit.
-to some this division made sense since the circuit was considered too large to handle business efficiently. However, this seemingly routine matter of administration met intense opposition.
--The bill was sponsored by Senators from the northwestern states and was opposed by senators from California. Interest groups were also involved: The Sierra Club and other environmental groups argued fiercely against the proposal.
--Why would the division of a judicial circuit into two parts stir up such political controversy? -->The 9th Circuit had a majority of judges from California which gave broad interpretations to environmental protection laws.
--People from the Northwest saw these decisions as damaging to their timber industries.
--So splitting the circuit would prevent California judges from ruling on environmental cases in the Northwest, while judges who came from the Northwest would be more sympathetic to the industries that were important to the region's economy.
--According to the bill's sponsor one 9th circuit was unacceptable as "Northwestern states are dominated by California judges and California attitudes."
--According to California Senators the bill to divide the circuit was merely an effort at environmental gerrymandering.
--Although that proposal for dividing the 9th circuit failed, this is still a live issue
--Thus, something as facially uninteresting as federal court organization can have very real and important political consequences II. GENERAL COURT ORGANIZATION A. The U.S. Has Multiple court systems
--Each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the territories and the federal government all have a court system.
--Cases usually stay within one court system so that cases brought to a federal court almost always remain in federal courts and cases in a state court system primarily stay there as well.
--Each system is managed by its own government and there is tremendous variety in systems, such as the structure of their trial courts and the way judges are selected
B. Jurisdiction of the Courts
--JURISDICTION refers to "the power of a court to hear cases"
--Rules of jurisdiction are set by constitutions and statutes which determine the kinds of cases each court can hear;
General Types of Jurisdiction: * Geographical Jurisdiction: e.g. Calif. Courts only can hear cases arising in California * Subject Matter Jurisdiction: jurisdiction restricted by type of case; e.g. courts of limited jurisdiction such as bankruptcy courts can only hear bankruptcy cases, whereas courts of general jurisdiction such as federal district courts have a wide range of types they can hear * Original and Appellate Jurisdiction: trial courts are courts of original jurisdiction—i.e. cases originate there; appellate courts review appeals of decisions of trial courts and have appellate jurisdiction 1. The Jurisdiction of the Federal Cts: a. Three categories of Federal Jurisdiction:
(1) Federal question jurisdiction (based on the subject matter of cases)
--Federal courts are entitled to hear all cases, both civil and criminal, that are based on the US Constitution, and on federal statutes.
(2) Federal party jurisdiction
-- this gives federal courts the general power to hear cases where the federal government is participating as a party. Thus nearly every case brought by or against the federal government, a federal agency, or a federal officer can be heard in federal court.
(3) Diversity jurisdiction
-- Federal courts have the authority to hear cases in which there is a diversity of citizenship between the parties (i.e. if they are citizens of different states or if one is a citizen of a foreign nation), and if the suit is for $75,000 or more.
--In the case of diversity jurisdiction there is often concurrent jurisd'n betw. the states and the fed'l cts.
--The plaintiff has the option of filing a case in either federal or state court. But if the plaintiff chooses state court, the defendant can have the case removed to federal court. -- either party can take an appropriate case to federal court.
--Federal judges tend to dislike diversity cases and wish to eliminate diversity jurisdiction because it increases their workload.
-- In response, Congress periodically raises the minimum monetary amount for bringing the case at federal court. (eg.$10k-$20k-$50k-$75k)
--Diversity Cases: about 68,000 filed in 2004; Total fed'l ct case load in 2005: 960,959
-- Rationale: Fed'l Diversity jurisdiction was intended to prevent state bias so that state courts would not rule for their own citizens.
--Lawyers want to retain the option of bringing diversity cases to federal court.
--They like to have choices between courts -- to be able to conduct "forum-shopping" by choosing the court whose judges seem more likely to favor their clients, the best judge, or the quickest forum. * e.g: the dispute between pete rose (then manager of the cincinnati reds) and the commissioner of baseball over allegations of rose's gambling.
--Rose filed suit charging bias by Giamatti. The case arose under Ohio state law, but under the diversity jurisdiction Rose could have brought it to Federal court.(he was a citizen of Ohio, while Giamatti was a citizen of New York).
-- Rose chose to bring the case in Ohio state court to have it heard by an elected judge in Cincinnati where Rose was very popular.
--He brought the case at a time when it would go to a judge facing reelection
--The judge scheduled the announcement of the decision for a Sunday, allowed it to be televised, and ruled in favor of Rose issuing a temporary restraining order to delay the commissioner's discipline of Rose.
--Giamatti asked to remove the case to federal district court--the case was transferred from Cincinnati to Columbus where a non elected judge would hear it.
--The federal district court accepted jurisdiction.
--Rose saw the writing on the wall and reached an agreement with the Commissioner which included a prohibition on participation in baseball
--An interesting aftermath was that Nadel (the Cincinnati judge) was reelected in 1990 by the largest margin of any judge facing opposition in that county. III. THE FEDERAL COURTS
A. FEDERAL DISTRICT CTS
--District courts serve as the primary trial courts in the federal system.
-- There are 94 federal district courts which cover the fifty states and the District of Columbia and some of the territories. There are a total of 678 judgeships.
--They are the point of entry into the federal judicial system and most of these cases do not go any further.
1. Geographic division of District Courts
--Each state has at least one district of its own and 26 states have only one.
--The other 24 states are divided into two or more districts. California, New York and Texas have the most: four districts each.
--Oklahoma has 3 districts (Northern, Eastern, and Western)-Ohio has two districts;
--All of the district courts fall within state boundaries -- none cut across state lines
--the size and population of these districts vary widely from district to district.
--the districts vary in population from <1million to >10million
--the population per judge varies from over a million and a half to under half a million
--The case load per judge varies from over 400 cases per year to approximately 150
--Judges assigned to each state reflects past partisan choices of Congress as much as it does contemporary needs.
--E.g: in 1990, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee was from Texas and his efforts produced an increase from 5 to 11 in the number of new judgeships for Texas.
--No clear system or rhyme or reason: e.g. Ohio has 2 districts and 19 judgeships; Oklahoma has 3 and 11 judgeships;
--However, # of judges is roughly based on population and political clout: e.g. Wyoming, eastern Oklahoma each have 2; Manhattan and central California each have 28 2. Personnel of District Courts
--Cases are tried before a single judge with or without a jury (like other trial cts).
--Each district is staffed by at least one district judge bringing the current total to 649 judges in the 94 districts.
--The Southern District of New York, (Manhattan and the Bronx)is the largest: 28 judges
--District courts often get help with their excessive workloads from visiting judges -- judges from other federal courts and retired judges.
--Distr. cts also employ bankruptcy and magistrate judges to help with their caseload. (1) Magistrate judges are attorneys who are appointed to their posts by district judges in their districts for either 4 or 8 year terms.
--These judges help ease the workload by conducting pretrial proceedings and (with the permission of the parties) by trying and deciding civil cases and criminal misdemeanor cases.
(2) Bankruptcy judges also help ease the burden.
--As bankruptcy business grew, district judges increasingly delegated the actual processing bankruptcy cases to referees 3. Jurisdiction and business of District courts --Nearly all federal cases are tried in district courts (the remainder going to specialized courts). Thus the business of district courts is quite diverse.
Example: 1999
Type of Case Number _ %
By source of jurisdiction
Federal party cases 65,443 20.4
Federal question cases 204, 821 64.0 diversity cases 49,793 15.6 other 137 0
By subject matter
Criminal prosecutions 45, 735 18.7
Prisoner petitions 42, 262 17.7 civil rights 19, 340 12.9 labor laws 14, 686 4.5 social security laws 7, 692 4.3 torts 37, 309 13.9 contracts 42, 418 15.8 other 44, 035 12.2
Total cases filed 320,194 (1999) Examples of Sample Years 1971-2005, # of Cases Filed:
Year # Cases Filed
2005 407,690
1999 320,194
1995 295,000
1991 253, 477
1981 211, 863
1971 136, 553
--Faced with the increasing number of cases, district cts have turned to Congress for help to increase number of judges etc.
a. Although cases are typically heard by one judge, occasionally they are heard by 3-judge district courts
--Infrequently, (2 distr. and 1 appell. Judge) 3-judge distr. cts hear reapportionment of state legislatures, congressional redistricting, and some cases under the Civil Rights Act.
--they were intended to take issues of great importance out of the hands of single judges. However, today the number of cases heard per year by these courts is under 20.
--Appeals from these courts go directly to the Supreme Court B. FEDERAL COURTS OF APPEALS (also called "Circuit Courts")
--Most appeals from federal trial courts go to the court of appeals.
--Since the Supreme Court accepts only a small number of cases, these courts represent the final stop for nearly all litigation that makes it past the trial level.
**Thus these courts are significant policy makers.
1. Geographic division --The Circuit Courts were originally composed of Supreme Court and District Court members; and Supreme Court justices literally "rode the circuit."—i.e. rode horses from Washington D.C. to the circuits to hear cases—very tough for them.
--The Circuit Courts as we know them today were established in 1891.
--However, each Supreme Court Justice still has administrative responsibilities for a circuit (or in some cases two).
--Generally this just means that Justice is the first to deal with applications arising from their circuit.: e.g. applications for a stay of execution. --Usually the Justice decides the application on his own. However, sometimes the Justice may refer it to the whole court.
--Today there are 12 circuits with the District of Columbia being a circuit in itself.
--The 9th circuit is the largest (28 judges), 1st circuit is smallest (6 judges) --Oklahoma is in the 10th Circuit, along with Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Utah, & Wyoming
--cf Ohio is in the 6th Circuit, along with Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee.
--States within the circuit may not have much in common: e.g. Michigan has industry concerns while Kentucky and Tennessee have rural concerns. --The number of judges in the circuits ranges from 6 in the 1st circuit (New England and Puerto Rico) to 28 in the 9th circuit.
--Cases are decided by panels of three judges
--Panels are rotated for each set of cases.
--By majority vote, a Circuit court can hear a case en banc (by the court's full membership)
--However this occurs in less than 1% of cases;
--When it does occur it is usually for important or controversial cases and the decision coming out of the en banc process usually sets the precedent for the circuit.
--For large circuits, like the 9th, en banc would be a random drawing of 11 judges. 2. Jurisdiction and business
--Most of the Cases heard by the Cts of Appeals arise from their appellate jurisd'n over the distr. Cts—i.e. appeals stemming from the decisions of the lower distr. Cts..
--Cts of Appeals also hear appeals from decisions of the Tax Court and from Fed'l regulatory agencies.
--the caseload of the Appel. cts have grown even faster than those of the district courts.
--In 2004, 62,762 cases filed in U.S. Courts of Appeals
--As a result of appeals to Congress the number of judges have been expanded to the current number of 179.
--Malapportionment occurs here as well as in the district courts.
--Thus some circuits are 30 times as large as others in population. Circuits range from 90,000 people per judge to 4 million people per judge. C. THE SUPREME COURT
1. Intro:
--The Supreme Court stands at the very top of the federal judicial system.
a. It has the final word in the interpretation of the Constitution, acts of legislative bodies unless the Court's decision is altered by a constitutional amendment, or (in the case of statutes) by an act of Congress. b. The size of the Court is determined by Congress and the number of justices was changed several times in the 1800s
--However, since 1869 the Court has been composed of 9 justices and this is unlikely to change. (think of the controversy that surrounded FDR's proposal to enlarge the court). c. Terms: Justices (and judges) serve life terms (some have served into their 90s; Holmes for example -- by end he slept during oral arguments). d. All cases in the Supreme Court are heard en banc (i.e. all 9 justices) e. Staff: All the courts we've discussed have staffs and the Supreme Court has a large one of more than 300 people.The most important of these are the justices' law clerks. Justices typically have 4 clerks who help them draft opinions and screen requests to hear cases.
2. Jurisdiction
a.The Court's jurisdiction is almost entirely appellate.
--The two primary sources of cases are the: 1) federal courts of appeals; & 2) the state supreme Courts
--But a case can be brought from a state system to the Supreme Court only if it contains an issue of federal law.
b.Original Jurisdiction=Cases which may be brought directly to the Court.
--Cases of original jurisdiction include cases involving ambassadors and cases involving a conflict between 2 states.
--the courts original jurisdiction has been of little consequence and only minimally employed over the years.
--In the Court's entire history, less than 200 cases have been decided under this jurisdiction—less than 1% of its cases are orig'l jurisd'n cases.
c. Congress regulates the Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction.
--The Constitution declares that "the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction.. under such regulations as the Congress shall make."
--Theoretically Congress can take away jurisdiction, i.e. remove issues from the Court.
--After Roe vs. Wade, proposals arose to take away the Court's jurisdiction over abortion. However the constitutionality of such action has been the subject of controversy and such proposals have not been passed.
d. Discretionary Jurisdiction
--Since 1888, with the minor exception of cases decided by the 3 judge district courts, the Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction has been discretionary, i.e.the Court has the freedom to choose which cases it will hear.
--Typically, cases come to the Court as a petition for a writ of certiorari (cert petition)-a legal device which is in effect an order from the Supreme Court to a lower court demanding that it send up a complete record of a case so that the Supreme Court can review it.A cert petition must be approved by at least four of the nine justices for it to be granted. * Cert petitions are granted less than 2% of the time. If a case is denied cert, the lower court decision is left standing 3. Workload
--Like other federal courts, the Supreme Court has faced a drastically increasing caseload.
--It was not until 1961 that the # of cases brought to the Supreme Court reached 2000. By 1972 the number of cases filed reached 4600, by 1996 it has reached over 7000. Today, it is over 10,000;however, roughly 80% are in forma pauperis (IFP) filings
--This increase in certiorari petitions had added a considerable burden on the Court -- one they are still trying to remedy.
--A 1988 act of Congress which limited its mandatory jurisdiction helped to reduce their caseload.
--In recent years the court has reduced drastically the number of cases it accepts.
--While in 1982 the Court wrote 174 full signed opinions, it wrote only 82 in 1994. 69 cases were decided with signed opinions in 2006 was the lowest since 1953.
--Today the court may accept roughly 200 cases for review but only decide 75 with full, signed, detailed written opinions.
--The rest of the cases are disposed of through brief, unsigned memoranda or through per curium opinions
--Because the Court has the ability to screen its cases, its agenda looks different from other federal courts. In the last few decades the Supreme Court has concentrated mostly on civil liberties cases. D. SPECIALIZED COURTS --The federal system also includes specialized courts, which have narrower jurisdiction. --I'll briefly mention them but other than recognizing their existence they won't be of concern to us here—the primary focus of this class is on the typical courts, which hear the vast majority of cases.
--Specialized courts include: (a) the Court of Federal Claims (monetary claims against the fed'l govt); (b) Court of International Trade (deal w/customs matters) (c) the Court of Veterans Appeals (created by bill signed by Reagan in 1988; has exclusive jurisd'n to review decisions of the Bd of Vetereans' Apeals; (d) Tax Court (examines fed'l tax issues) (e) U.S. Ct of Military Appeals (reviews court-marshall cases). --Some of the Courts (e.g. the ct of international trade) are established under Art. III of the Constitution. This means that their judges have lifetime appointments and their salaries may not be reduced. --Others (tax court, claims court, court of veterans appeals) are called Article I or legislative courts because they are established under Article I which deals with Congress -- consequently their judges lack the same protections as Art. III courts.
--Art. I Sect. 8 states: "Congress shall have the power to constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme court.
--Because of their narrow issue focus, the specialized courts resemble administrative agencies to some extent.
IV. STATE COURT SYSTEMS
A. Intro:
State Courts are the Workhorses of the American Judiciary: * Over 98% of cases filed are in the state courts * State courts of general jurisdiction heard roughly 85 times as many criminal cases and 27 times as many civil cases as federal district courts while operating with only 14 times as many judges * Traffic cases comprise roughly 60% of the state courts dockets 1. DIVERSITY AND FRAGMENTATION OF STATE COURTS --The state court systems are very diverse since each state created its own structure through statutes and state constitutions.
a. Multiplicity of trial courts:
--The most notable feature of state ct systems is the multiplicity of trial cts.
--Historically, new courts were set up by both state and local governments on an ad hoc basis to serve specific needs.
-- With industrialization and rapid urban growth came an increase in the type and number of legal disputes
--A typical response was to create new courts to handle the increased volume of cases.
--Courts often piled on top of one another handling similar issues.
--Also, often new courts were created with special jurisdiction in terms of:
1)geographic area
--e.g. county
2)types of cases.
--specialized courts arose to handle one particular type of case: e.g. small claims courts, juvenile courts and domestic relations courts arose.
--The proliferation of state courts was confusing, as it was done on an ad hoc basis
--many states had multiple sets of trial cts -- often with narrow jurisd'n.
--the jurisdictions tended to overlap in confusing ways
--management and financing of these courts was divided between state and local governments --Early in the 20th Century efforts were made to streamline state court systems.
Arguments regarding multiplicity of local cts:
1. Con: inefficiency
2. Pro: more responsive to the needs of local areas; *The reforms showed mix success: some states streamlined sharply, while others didn't b. The Basic Structure of State Courts
--State courts are of 4 varieties: two types of trial and two types of appellate courts. * trial cts are either major or minor trial courts * appellate courts are either supreme or intermediate appellate courts 2. MAJOR TRIAL COURTS
-- Major trial courts conduct trials involving serious criminal offenses (felonies not misdemeanors); and in civil cases involving large sums of money.
--Number of Major Trial Courts: about2000 major trial courts exist
3. MINOR TRIAL COURTS
-- handle less serious civil and criminal cases--e.g. misdemeanors and low dollar cases
4. INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURTS
-- about 3/4 states have them--Structures vary; typically 3-judge panels;
--Appellate Courts are designated for specific regions of the state
5. SUPREME COURTS
-- all states have one, usually called Supreme Court or Superior Court
--between five and nine justices
--usually sit en banc
--final appellate court within its system
--if there are intermediate appellate courts, they have considerable control over agendas
--hear less than 10% of cases; e.g. Michigan less than 3% V. THE OKLAHOMA COURTS
1. Oklahoma Major Trial Courts
--The District Cts are the Major Trial Cts
--They have original jurisd'n over all matters criminal and civil
--There are 26 judicial districts in the state, formed w/1 county or up to 9 contiguous counties based on population.
--The judges (and assoc. judges) are elected on a nonpartisan ballot & serve 4 yr terms.
--There are 71 judges, and 77 associate judges 2. Oklahoma Minor Trial Courts
a. Municipal Criminal Court of Record:
--2 Exist (1 in Tulsa and 1 inOKC)
--Appt'd by City for 2 yr terms
--8 full time and 14 part time judges
--Jurisdiction is minor city criminal law violations 90 days jail, $500 fine.
--Appeals go to court of criminal appeals b. Municipal Cts not of Record
--340 municipal criminal cts not of record
--350 full or part-time judges
--In towns less than 7,500 population, judges need not be attys
--Appt'd by Mayor
--Jurisd'n is minor City criminal law viol'ns 30 days jail, $200 fine.
--Appeals go to distr. ct. for trial denovo 3. Oklahoma Intermediate Appellate Court
--The Oklahoma Ct of Appeals is the only intermed. Appellate Ct.
a. Jurisdiction: Limited by statute to civil appeals only, which are filed w/the S.Ct and then assigned by the S.Ct to the intermediate appellate ct.
b. Criminal Cases: There is no intermed. Ct of appeals for criminal cases
c. 4 Divisions: 2 are in OKC and 2 in Tulsa
d. 3-Judge Panels: cases decided by 3 judge panels—2/3 vote needed to win.
e. Non-binding Authority: An opinion of the Ct of Appeals is not binding as law, nor can it be cited as precedent until a majority of the S.Ct justices approve for public'n
4. Oklahoma Courts of Last Resort
a. Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals
(1) Jurisdiction: All criminal appeals from district cts and municipal cts of record
(2) 5 judges; 3 required to hear cases; 3 votes needed to win b. Oklahoma Supreme Court
(1) Jurisdiction: Located in OKC, it has jurisdiction over all cases except criminal appeals
(2) S Ct also has control over all inferior cts and agencies, bds and commissions created by law.
(3) 9 justices
(4) Occasionally a court of first review; can decide to keep important cases & not send them to appellate court
c. Terms of Oklahoma Courts of Last Resort: All appellate judges & justices serve 6 year terms;
--A nominating commission nominates them based on merit: 3 nominees
--Governor chooses one of the 3 nominees
--Retained by majority vote.