POL 1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Curium, United States Capitol, Mandamus
Document Summary
The judicial power of the united states, shall be vested in one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the congress may from time to time ordain and establish. Jurisdiction: a court"s authority to hear certain cases. Original jurisdiction: the authority of a court to hear a case first. Appellate jurisdiction: the authority of a higher court to review decisions by lower courts. Appeal: rehearing of a case because the losing party in the original trial argues that a point of law was not applied properly. Each of the states have a court system established under their state constitutions. Some states do not have an intermediate level, though all have the lowest and highest levels called a supreme court. State court jurisdiction: most criminal, probate (wills and estates) contract, tort (personal injuries), and family law (marriages, divorces, adoptions). Most decisions are resolved by they state"s supreme court. If the decision involves federal law, or constitutional.