POLS 354 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Voting Rights Act Of 1965, Appellate Jurisdiction
Document Summary
Part 1: u. s. federal court system: history, operation, and function. Key levels of the federal courts: supreme court, court of appeals (1891, district courts (1789, state courts (dual court system in u. s. ) Jurisdiction: authority given to the court to oversee a particular case: geographic (for example, the texas supreme court cannot take a case from. Not an issue for the supreme court: over certain types of legal cases. Original jurisdiction authority to try first instance of a case. First instance of a case means that no other court has seen this case. Appellate jurisdiction authority to review, sustain, or reverse the decision of a lower court. Reviews prior rulings, so no first instance of cases. The supreme court has both original and appellate jurisdictions, and can set its own agenda. 94 district courts (one or more per state) 2-28 judges in each district for a total population of approximately 649.
