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United States Court System Hierarchy Paper

1236 Words5 Pages

The United States Court system much reflects the historic roots of the country, differing from state to state, while evolving and reforming as time goes on. The court systems in the United States are organized in a hierarchy. Approximately 50% of the states have a unified court system; meaning that the court system in a state operates as a single administrative unit. The other half of the states do not follow this unified system. Some have as many as 9 different trial courts combined with appellate courts and operate with separate administrations. The lowest level of the court system hierarchy consists of the “trial courts of limited jurisdictions.” This level handles involving traffic violations, probate, family law, small claims, juveniles, and other minor issues. …show more content…

In the second level up in the court’s system hierarchy are the major “trial courts of general jurisdiction.” These courts preside over felony criminal cases and important civil cases. The third level up in the courts system hierarchy are the appellate courts. These courts are in approximately half of the states. At the top of the court’s hierarchy is the state supreme court. Also referred to as, “the court of last resort”, the state supreme court holds the highest authority and is the last state court a case can go to. Appeals from the state supreme court may go directly the U. S. Supreme Court provided that the appeal is based on federal constitutional grounds, (Dye & MacManus, 2014, pg. 258). Judges preside over the major trial courts of general jurisdiction, appellate courts and the state supreme court. There are five methods of selecting judges. These methods differ from state to state and often times states use more than one

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