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GENERAL COURT INFORMATION

What is a court?
What is a federal court?
How were the federal courts established?
What kinds of federal courts are there?
How many federal district courts are there?
What does the United States Supreme Court do?
How many courts of appeals are there?
How does a case come into a federal court?
What is the purpose of a trial?
What types of cases are tried in federal court?

FEDERAL JUDGES

Who appoints federal judges?
How are new judgeships created?
What are the qualifications for becoming a federal judge?
How is a chief judge selected?
What is a senior judge?
What are bankruptcy judges? How are they appointed?
What are federal magistrate judges?
What are the responsibilities of a federal judge?

GENERAL COURT INFORMATION

Q: What is a court?

A court is an institution that is set up by the government to settle disputes through a legal process. Disputes come to court when people cannot agree about what happened: Did Joe run a red light before his car ran into Jim's, or was the light green, as Joe says it was? Was a bank robbed by the person the police think, or was it someone else? Courts play an important role in our society for many reasons. For example, they decide what happened in a case and what should be done about it. They decide how much money one person should pay to another for the damage the first person did to the other. They decide how someone who is found guilty of a crime should be punished. Sometimes a court decision affects more people than those involved in the case. For example: In 1954, the Supreme Court, in Brown v. Board of Education, settled a dispute between the parents of a girl named Linda Brown and the local board of education in Topeka, Kansas. The court decided that requiring black and white children to go to separate public schools violated our Constitution. This decision affected millions of children throughout the United States.

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The federal courts form the Judicial Branch of the federal government.

There are both federal and state courts. The two kinds of courts are the result of a feature in the Constitution called federalism.

Federalism gives some functions to the United States government, while leaving the other functions to the states. The functions of the U. S. - or federal - government, concern the whole nation and included such tasks as cleaning up our national waterways, providing for national defense, and supervising our national parks. State and local governments perform functions like running public schools, managing police departments, and paving streets.

Federal courts are created by the U. S. government. State courts are established by a state, or by a county or city within the state.

Federal courts usually hear only cases in which the United States is a party (participant), cases involving violations of the Constitution or federal laws, cases involving foreign diplomats, and some special cases such as bankruptcy cases and cases concerning incidents at sea. Federal courts also hear cases based on state laws that involve parties from different states. Federal courts are also authorized to admit foreigners to U. S. citizenship (naturalization).

State courts handle the kinds of cases the public is most likely to be involved in, such as robberies, assaults, and traffic violations. The general, unlimited jurisdiction of state courts allows them to decide almost every type of case.

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The Constitution of the United States was approved by Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787, and declared ratified on July 2, 1788. Its Article III created a federal "judicial power" and defined it in very broad terms: "The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish."

The Constitution left it to the First Congress to decide how to interpret Article III and establish a functioning federal court system.

In April 1789, the Senate began its work by appointing a committee of ten to prepare a draft bill. The draft was first read to the full Senate on June 12, 1789. Debate in the Senate began on June 22, and the bill was signed into law on September 24, 1789. The act bears the signatures of President George Washington, Vice President John Adams, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Frederick Muhlenberg.

The act provided for a Supreme Court consisting of a Chief Justice and 5 associate justices; 13 district courts; and 3 circuit courts, each to be presided over by no more than two justices of the Supreme Court serving with a district court judge. Although there has been amendment over time (such as in the number of Supreme Court justices), the federal court system still reflects the basic principles of the Judiciary Act of 1789.

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Federal courts consist of the U. S. Supreme Court, the U. S. courts of appeals, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U. S. district courts, and a number of special courts like the U. S. Claims Court and U. S. Court of International Trade.

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There are 89 districts in the 50 states, which are listed with their divisions in Title 28 of the U. S. Code, Sections 81-144. District courts also exist in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. In total there are 94 U. S. district courts. Some states such as Alaska and New Hampshire, are composed of a single judicial district. Others, such as California, are composed of multiple judicial districts. The number of judgeships allotted to each district is set forth in Title 28 of the U. S. Code, Section 133.

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Nine justices, appointed for life by the President, with the "advice and consent" of the Senate, interpret and apply the Constitution and all federal statutes, usually after decision by federal courts of appeals and state supreme courts. The Supreme Court hears argument in about 170 cases each year. If you lose your case in the federal court of appeals (or, sometime, in the state supreme court as here in New Hampshire), you can ask the Supreme Court to hear your appeal. However, unlike a court of appeals, the Supreme Court doesn't have to hear it. In fact, the Supreme Court hears only a small number of the cases it is asked to take.

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There are 13 judicial circuits, each with a court of appeals. The smallest court is the First Circuit (of which New Hampshire is a part) with six judgeships, and the largest court is the Ninth Circuit, with 28 judgeships. A list of the states that compose each circuit is set forth in Title 28 of the U. S. Code, Section 41. The number of judgeships in each circuit is set forth in Title 28 of the U. S. Code, Section 44.

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CIVIL CASES: A civil case involves a claim by a party (person, government entity, or company), called the plaintiff, that another party, called the defendant, failed to carry out a legal duty and is suing for compensation for personal or economic damages. For example, you have a legal duty not to injure others through your own carelessness, or you have a duty to honor a legal agreement (contract). Breach of contract suits involving the U.S. government, disputes between citizens of different states, and civil rights violations are among the types of civil cases tried in federal courts. Most federal cases are civil cases.

A federal civil case begins when the plaintiff files a paper (complaint) with the clerk of court that states a claim against the defendant.

CRIMINAL CASES: A criminal case is one in which someone (the defendant) is accused of committing a crime. The individual(s) are charged with committing a crime in violation of federal law. Smuggling drugs into the country, stealing a car and driving it across a state line, fraud or theft from federally insured banks, interstate transportation of stolen property, and counterfeiting U.S. currency are examples of crimes that involve federal law. Most criminal cases, however, involve state law and are tried by state courts.

A federal criminal case begins when the U. S. Attorney tells a federal grand jury about evidence that indicates that a specific person committed a crime. If the grand jury agrees that there is enough evidence to show that the person committed the crime, it issues a formal accusation, called an indictment. The accused person appears at a hearing called a First Appearance wherein bail is established. The defendant may also be arraigned at this time -- at an Arraignment, the defendant will plead "not guilty" to the charges in the indictment. A trial date will then be scheduled within the speedy trial limit of 70 days.

If at some point during the criminal case an agreement has been reached between the government and the defendant(s), a plea hearing will be scheduled at which time the defendant will enter a "guilty" plea. A sentencing date will then be scheduled approximately 13 weeks thereafter.

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If the parties to a civil dispute can't agree on how to settle the matter on their own, a trial may be held to decide whether the defendant failed to carry out a legal duty to the plaintiff. If the person is criminally accused and pleads "not guilty," a trial will be held to find out whether the accused person committed the crime charged.

If the parties choose to have a jury trial, determining the facts is the task of the petit ("small") jury. If they decide not to have a jury and leave the fact-finding task to the judge, the trial is called a bench trial. In either kind of trial, the judge decides what legal standards to apply. If there is a jury, the judge tells the jury what the law is.

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The federal court's jurisdiction is limited to specific cases listed in the Constitution and specifically provided for by Congress. Generally, federal courts only hear cases in which the United States is a party, cases involving violations of the Constitution or federal laws, and cases between citizens of different states. Some cases are such that only federal courts have jurisdiction over them. In other cases, the parties can choose whether to go to state court or to federal court. In most cases, however, they can only go to state court.

Although the federal courts hear significantly fewer cases than the state courts, the cases they do hear tend more often to be of national importance, because of the federal laws they enforce and the federal rights they protect.

Most cases in federal courts are civil rather than criminal. One type of federal case might involve a claim by a private citizen that a company failed to carry out its duty under the law - for example, that the company refused to hire the person simply because she was a woman or minority. Another kind of federal case might be a lawsuit by a private citizen claiming that they are entitled to receive money under a government program, such as benefits from Social Security. A third type of federal civil lawsuit might require the court to decide whether a corporation is violating federal laws by having a monopoly over a certain kind of business.

There are many more federal civil cases than criminal cases because more crimes concern problems that the Constitution leaves to the states. We all know, for example, that robbery is a crime. The Constitution does not say it is against the law to commit a robbery. By and large, state laws, not federal laws, make robbery a crime. There are only a few federal laws about robbery, such as the law that makes it illegal to rob a bank whose deposits are insured by a federal agency. Examples of other federal crimes are illegal importation of drugs into the country and the use of the U.S. mails to swindle consumers.

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Supreme Court justices, court of appeals judges, and district court judges are nominated by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate, as stated in the Constitution. The names of potential nominees often are recommended by senators or sometimes members of the House who are usually but not always of the President's political party. The Senate Judiciary Committee typically conducts confirmation hearings for each nominee. Article III of the Constitution states that these judicial officers are appointed for a life term. The federal Judiciary, the Judicial Conference of the United States, and the Administrative Office of the U. S. Courts play no role in the nomination and confirmation process.

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Court of appeals and district court judgeships are created by legislation that must be enacted by Congress. New judgeships were last created in December 1990, under Public Law 101-650, which established 11 new court of appeals and 74 new district court judgeships. The Judicial Conference (through its Judicial Resources Committee) surveys the judgeship needs of the courts every other year. A threshold for the number of weighted filings per judgeship is the key factor in determining when an additional judgeship will be requested. Other factors may include geography, number of senior judges, and mix of cases. The Judicial Conference presents its judgeship recommendations to Congress.

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The Constitution sets forth no specific requirements. However, members of Congress, who typically recommend potential nominees, and the Department of Justice, which reviews nominees' qualifications, have developed their own informal criteria.

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One is not nominated or appointed to the position of chief judge (except for the Chief Justice of the United States); they assume the position based on seniority. The same criteria exists for circuit and district chiefs. The chief judge is the judge in regular active service who is senior in commission of those judges who are (1) 64 years of age or under; (2) have served for one year or more as a judge; and (3) have not previously served as chief judge.

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The "Rule of 80" is the commonly used shorthand for the age and service requirement for a judge to assume senior status, as set forth in Title 28 of the U. S. Code, Section 371(c). Beginning at age 65, a judge may retire at his or her current salary or take senior status after performing 15 years of active service as an Article III judge (65+15=80). A sliding scale of increasing age and decreasing service results in eligibility for retirement compensation at age 70 with a minimum of 10 years of service (70+10=80). Senior judges, who essentially provide volunteer service to the courts, typically handle about 15 percent of the federal courts' workload annually.

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A U. S. Bankruptcy judge is a judicial officer of the U. S. district court who is appointed by the majority of judges of the U. S. court of appeals to exercise jurisdiction over bankruptcy matters. The number of bankruptcy judges is determined by Congress. The Judicial Conference of the United States is required to submit recommendations from time to time regarding the number of bankruptcy judges needed. Bankruptcy judges are appointed for 14-year terms.

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A U. S. magistrate judge is a judicial officer of the district court and is appointed by majority vote of the active district judges of the court to exercise jurisdiction over matters assigned by statute as well as those delegated by the district judges. The number of magistrate judge positions is determined by the Judicial Conference of the United States, based on recommendations of the respective district courts, the judicial councils of the circuits, and the Director of the Administrative Office of the U. S. Courts. A full-time magistrate judge serves a term of eight years. Duties assigned to magistrate judges by district court judges may vary considerably from court to court.

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A federal district court judge:

• Presides over the courtroom and keeps the proceedings orderly
• Determines whether the evidence the parties want to use is illegal or improper
• Explains the law to the jury
• Determines the facts of a case and renders judgment in those trials without a jury.

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