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Three Tier Of The Court System Essay

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The three tiers of the American Federal Court System consist of Trial Courts, the Appellate Courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court. The Trial Courts tier is made up of 94 Federal Judicial Courts, U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, Court of Federal Claims, and the Court of International Trade. The majority of cases involving federal law or code violations will be heard in a trial court first as they have jurisdiction over most of the federal cases. This includes cases involving drug trafficking, habeas corpus, identity theft, RICO, misdemeanors on federal property, hate crimes, computer fraud, and credit card fraud. Non-criminal cases involving debt repayment and other issues with the parties are heard by the bankruptcy courts. Cases involving customs issues or international trade are handled by The Court of International Trade. Cases involving eminent domain by the federal government, federal contracts, or claims against the U.S. that involve money are heard by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (Hogan, 2010). …show more content…

This is made up into 12 districts within the trial courts with one appeal court in each district. The cases they hear are appeals from the trial courts in their district, specific federal administrative agencies, as well as any appeal in the U.S. concerning patent laws or cases from The Court of International Trade or the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. They will address a case that has been decided by the trial court when one of the parties disagrees with the ruling and file an appeal. Three judges will take another look at the trial with out any new evidence. They will either affirm or reverse the decision by issuing a written order or opinion, and in rare cases remand the case back to the original court with instructions (Hogan,

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