Roles and Functions of Law
“A generally accepted generic definition of the law is a body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by controlling authority, and having legal binding force.” (Melvin, 2011). There are two different courts within the US that instate these laws, these are: the federal and state courts. These courts are different in many ways but also have their similarities.
The laws present within today’s legal system have many different influences and effects on the business industry. The effects that laws have on businesses varies dependant on the industry and the business itself.
Federal Court Structure and State Court Structure
The California court structure is very similar to that of the federal courts. They both consist of three different courts, although they go by different names. In California, there are: “Trial Courts, Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court” (California Courts, 2015). Comparing this to the federal court structure of: “The Supreme Court of the United States, District (Trial) Courts and Appellate Courts” (United States Courts, 2015). After doing the research this was the main similarity that I observed, this makes it abundantly clear that the state courts base themselves on the same structure as the federal courts.
One of the main differences between the state and federal court structures is jurisdiction, the state courts have a broad jurisdiction, meaning that the cases individual citizens are most likely to be involved in -- such as
The federal courts interpret federal laws and state courts interpret state laws, which helps Nevada retain power and assists on making sure the national government does not become too strong. Close to ninety percent of cases heard in the American court system happen at the state level. Examples include: A crime that is a violation of state law such as murder, traffic violations, assault, robbery, family cases and most drug-related crimes. State courts are the final mediators of state laws and constitutions, but their interpretation of federal laws or the United States Constitution could be appealed to the United States Supreme Court. http://judiciallearningcenter.org/state-courts-vs-federal-courts/
Each state has their own specific unique laws established individually for their state. In conjunction with those laws that exist over the people in their specific state there are also federal laws that govern the states as well as the people who live in them. These laws that govern the people are known as state laws and federal laws. The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land in the United States. “It creates a federal system of government in which power is shared between the federal government and the state governments. Due to federalism, both the federal government and each of the state governments have their own court systems (Comparing
The difference between federal courts and State courts is that State courts are usually established by a state themselves and Federal courts are established under the U.S. Constitution to decide disputes involving the Constitution and laws passed by Congress.
Basically, there are two types of federal courts: constitutional and legislative. Constitutional courts are presided over by the Supreme Court and
The U.S. Constitution created a strong government structure for the United States known as federalism. Both the federal and state governments must have their own court systems to apply and interpret their own specific laws. Both federal and state constitutions attempt to do this by specifically spelling out the jurisdiction of their own court systems. For example, U.S Constitution gives Congress the power to make uniform laws concerning bankruptcies, a state court would lack jurisdiction in this matter. Since the Constitution does not give the federal government authority in most matters concerning the regulation of the family, a federal court would lack jurisdiction in a divorce case. This is the main reason why there are two separate court systems in America. The federal court system deals with issues of law relating to those powers implicitly granted to them by the U.S. Constitution. The state court systems deal with issues of laws relating to those matters that the U.S. Constitution did not give to the federal government or deny to the states.
The dual court system permits the federal administration restricted access into each jurisdiction problems and state law is not allowed to be involved in the federal judicial system, without there being some type of encounter at the state or federal stages. Federal courts have the authority to resolve only the cases in which the Constitution allows them to have power over. These types of courts are to be found in the bigger only; specific cases are allowed to be received within the federal courts. For instances, the cases that are allowed to be viewed in the federal courts are cases that include the United States government and other officers that are being sued. The dual court system is not the only part of the story, each level there is a different court chain of command. States often have limited jurisdiction courts, such as traffic courts, trial courts and appellate courts, and supreme courts (Siegel, Schmalleger, & Worrall, 2011). Each trial court adjudicates different offenses. Appellate courts consider different matters depending on where they lie in the court hierarchy. Appeals from state courts can sometimes be heard in the federal courts. Higher-level courts can control the actions and decisions of lower courts, but not the other way around. Despite the apparent complexity, each court has its place. The main focus of the court system is to uphold the law, protect citizens and their rights and resolving
In the United States of America the California State courts have broad jurisdiction. Which a lot of state courts are mainly defined by jurisdiction, they have to hear all cases besides the cases that are again the United States. In the cases heard in state court are usually state level crimes. For example thing such as violation of state law,robbery, assault many drug related crimes, real estate cases, personal injury cases, divorces, custody, heritance, traffic and juvenile cases, copyright, and drunk driving defenses. When state cases get big enough and get out of the local area which rarely even happens but when it does it is most likely because of the party involved such as O.J. Simpson case which was followed closely and broadcasted for the whole country to see. In my opinion state courts have more one on one contact with the people because they deal with 29,000,000 more cases than the federal system has to deal with which is a big margin between each other. Just as the federal court make their own laws state courts make their own laws which retains power and make sure
In addition to the contrasts between the state court system and federal court system, there are also similarities which are; the federal district
The American court system has two different components: the court systems of the various states and territories and then the federal court system. Each state's court system is unique, but most of them generally follow the same basic structure as the federal court system. The first level of court is the trial court. In the United States these are the U.S. District Courts. There are also a variety of trial-level courts with specialized purposes, such as tax courts and admiralty courts.
One of the many differences between the federal and state courts is regarding each court’s jurisdiction (the types of cases that a court is authorized to hear). California state courts have a much broader jurisdiction than federal courts. Most hearings (felonies, family law, civil cases, probate, etc.) fall under state law and thus are within the jurisdiction of the California judicial system. (Turner et al., 2016). The cases that California courts are not allowed to hear are anything regarding United States federal law, any violations of the US Constitution, cases involving different states, bankruptcy, copyright, etc. Federal courts are limited to these types of cases as well as anything explicitly spelled out by the US Constitution or by Congress.
There are three different tiers within the federal court system. There are only one Supreme Court. It is the highest court in the United States. The lower courts below the Supreme Court can actually have cases roll over to the Supreme Court. Then you have U.S. Courts of Appeals. There are thirteen Appellate courts. The appellate courts deal with making sure the law was applied correctly in trial court. Appellate court doesn’t have a jury all they have is three judges. Then there is District Courts, which there are ninety-four around the country. They try to resolve disputes between people and try to figure out which one if right and wrong. Trail courts have
The criminal justice system holds trials on cases. Most cases are dealt with outside of court. If a case is significant enough and is approved, then it goes to the state court. Most cases do not pass the state court, but if someone objects to the state court’s decision, then the case may go to the federal court. Another way a case is able to be held at the federal court is if the case involves two different states and involves over $70,000. According to crash course, there are four different scenarios in which the federal courts have original jurisdiction (case goes directly to federal court without the interaction of state or local courts). In all of these scenarios the cases must be brought in an original district court. The first scenario is in cases where the law at issue is a federal law. The
There are 94 different federal trial courts call District Courts. The role of these district courts are to hear civil and criminal cases. Those district courts are broken down into 12 different regional circuits, each of the 12 regional circuits have their own court of appeals. These court of appeals deals with appeals within their circuit. Those appeals are then heard and their fate is then decided based on the record that was given before the District Court. All the cases that involve juvenile issues, child custody and Dupree cases, inheritance/probate cases, real estate, as well as most cases that involve criminal prosecution, personal injury cases, disputes and contracts, as well as public health cases. Each state handle local laws, has its own police, and court system. Each court system has its own Supreme Court which is known as the court of last resort. Local crimes in cases go before their local courts and from there it's it is decided whether or not the case goes before the state, supreme, or federal court.
The United States court system is the institution were all the legal disputes in the american society are carryed out and resolved. However, one single court is not enough to resolve every single dispute in society and that is why the court system is made up of two different courts, the federal courts and the state courts. Moreover, the federal and state courts are made up of several divisions made to handle legal disputes differently depending on its seriousness. For example, the state court is made up of trial courts of limited jurisdiction and probate courts were cases and disputes originate and then move up to trial courts of general jurisdiction, intermediate apellate courts, and courts of last resort respectively depending on the case.In contrast, the federal court consists of district courts, territorial coutrs, tax court, court of international trade, claims court, court of veterans appeals, an courts of military review which then move on to courts of appeals respectively and may ultimately end up in the United States supreme court. In addition, cases from state court may also appeal into the federal court system but not the other way around.
When the United States Constitution was established, the founding fathers devised the core of the court system that is present in today’s society. The state and federal government each have a version of a Supreme Court which is typically led by a Chief Justice. The states level Supreme Court Justice governs the issues that pertains to the citizens within the respective state. These individuals will also take part in hearings or proceedings that impact of law of the state and hear constitutional cases with regards to the state. On the federal side, a Supreme Court Chief Justice will operates more on a national