U.S. JUDICIAL BRANCH
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.
John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice
Anthony M. Kennedy
Antonin Scalia
Samuel Alito, Jr.
Clarence Thomas
Ruth Bader Ginsberg
Stephen G. Breyer
Sonia Sotomayor
© The Issue Wonk, 2010
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