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State Courts Essay

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State courts are courts of general jurisdiction; they hear the cases on the federal level. It is broken down between for layers; lower courts, major trial courts, intermediate appellate courts, and state high courts. Although they all work differently and independently, they all have the same goal, which is serving justice. Lower courts, also known as trial courts of limited jurisdiction, are courts of lesser rank; for example municipal or justice court below a superior or county court, a superior or county court below an appeals court, or a federal District Court of Appeals below the U. S. Supreme Court. Lower courts are “responsible for responsible for handling the early stages of felony criminal cases” (page 93). After an arrest, the judge …show more content…
Major trial courts have legal authority to decided matters that the lower court could not have decided on. For example, they hear cases of all kinds such as criminal, civil, family, probate, etc., as lower courts only hear non-felony criminal cases, traffic offenses and small claims civil cases. Due to the growth and threats of appellate cases to the court of last resort, intermediate courts of appeals were implemented to relieve the workload of the higher courts. Intermediate courts of appeals sit between local trial courts and the court of last resort. Forty out of the fifty states have at least one intermediate appellate court, but their jurisdiction varies from state to state. After a case is taken to trial, the defendant has the right to file an appeal if he or she does not agree with the decision made in the previous court. Intermediate appellate courts do not conduct trials, they review any papers, evidence and transcripts given to the trail courts. Once judges from appellate courts review all that is necessary, they hear arguments from attorneys and then make a decision; they can agree with the trial courts decision, reverse the decision if they disagree, or remand the case which is sending the case back to trial court for further action or a new

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