By The Issue Wonk

The federal Judicial Branch is the court system of the United States. There are two (2) kinds of courts in the federal court system: the trial court and the appellate court. The trial court resolves disputes by determining the facts and applying legal principles. The appellate court determines whether the law was applied correctly in the trial court.

The federal court jurisdiction is limited to cases listed in the Constitution and specifically provided for by Congress. In general, federal courts only deal with cases (a) in which the United States is a party to the action, (b) involving violations of the U.S. Constitution or federal laws, (c) between citizens of different states if the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000, or (d) involving bankruptcy, copyright, patent, and maritime law.

Supreme Court of the United States

   John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice

   Anthony M. Kennedy

   Antonin Scalia

   Samuel Alito, Jr.

   Clarence Thomas

   Ruth Bader Ginsburg

   Stephen G. Breyer

   Sonia Sotomayor

   Elena Kagan

U.S. Federal Courts

U.S. Courts of Appeals

© The Issue Wonk, 2012