Court Structure
What is the name of the trial court in the federal system?
What is a District Court?
What is the term for asking an appellate court to review a case?
What is an appeal?
What is the "supreme law of the land"?
The Constitution
What type of case involves someone accused of a crime?
What is a criminal case?
A person is accused of violating a state traffic law
What is a state trial court?
How is a state court system similar to the federal court system?
What is that both systems have trial and appellate courts?
What are the three possible actions an appellate court can take?
What are affirm, reverse, and remand?
What is a statute?
What is a law passed by a legislature?
In a civil case, what is the goal of the court?
What is to decide which side’s version of the story is correct?
A company is suing another company for patent infringement under federal law
What is a federal district court?
What is the highest court in the United States, and what is unique about how it was created?
What is the Supreme Court, and it was created by the U.S. Constitution?
Describe the role of a panel of judges in the appellate court.
What is that a panel of judges (usually three) reviews the case to determine if legal errors occurred in the lower court's decision?
Explain the function of "precedent" in the legal system.
What is that a precedent is a court decision that serves as a guide for how similar legal issues should be decided in the future?
Explain the role of the "plaintiff" and the "defendant" in a civil case
What is that the plaintiff is the party who initiates the lawsuit, claiming to have been harmed, and the defendant is the party against whom the lawsuit is filed?
A person is appealing their conviction in a state court, claiming their constitutional rights were violated.
What is a state appellate court, and potentially the state supreme court?
Explain the main difference in the types of cases heard in federal courts versus state courts.
What is that federal courts hear cases involving federal laws and the U.S. Constitution, while state courts hear cases involving state laws?
What does it mean when an appellate court "reverses" a decision?
What is to reject the lower court’s verdict?
How are state constitutions limited by the U.S. Constitution?
What is that state constitutions cannot violate the U.S. Constitution?
Give an example of a type of case typically handled by state courts.
What are family matters, accidents, or traffic violations?
Two states are in a dispute over their shared border.
What is the U.S. Supreme Court?
Besides the Supreme Court, where did the rest of the federal courts come from?
What is Congress?
What is a significant characteristic that distinguishes the U.S. Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction from that of most other appellate courts?
What is that the Supreme Court gets to choose which cases it hears?
Explain the difference between statutes and regulations.
What are statutes are laws passed by Congress or state legislatures, while regulations are rules made by government agencies?
Describe how the outcome of a civil case typically differs from the outcome of a criminal case.
What is that civil cases usually result in a judgment of liability and an award of damages (money), while criminal cases aim to determine guilt or innocence and may result in fines or imprisonment?
A member of the military is accused of violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ
What is a military court (court-martial)?