In the United States ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language, a state court has jurisdiction Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility. The term is also used to denote the geographical area or subject-matter to which such authority over disputes with some connection to a U.S. state A U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of commonwealth rather than state. State citizenship is, as opposed to the federal government. State courts handle the vast majority of civil and criminal cases in the United States with minimal federal court supervision.

Types of state courts

Cases in state courts are heard before and evidence The law of evidence governs the use of testimony and exhibits (e.g., physical objects) or other documentary material which is admissible (i.e., allowed to be considered by the trier of fact, such as jury) in a judicial or administrative proceeding (e.g., a court of law) is presented in a trial court A trial court or court of first instance is a court in which trials take place. Such courts are said to have original jurisdiction, which is usually located in a courthouse A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In some other English speaking countries buildings which house courts are simply called "courts" or "court building" in the county seat A county seat is a term for an administrative center for a county or civil parish, primarily used in the United States. In the Northeast United States, the statutory term often is shire town, but colloquially county seat is the term in use there. Parts of the Canadian Maritimes also use the term shire town. In England, Wales and Ireland, the term, often after extensive pre-trial procedures that in more than 90% of cases lead to a default judgment Default judgment is a binding judgment in favor of the plaintiff when the defendant has not responded to a summons or has failed to appear before a court of law. It can be compared to a forfeit victory in sports in a civil case, an agreed resolution settling the case, or pre-trial resolution of the case by a judge on the merits. Territory outside of any state in the United States, such as the District of Columbia Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790. The City of Washington was originally a separate municipality within the Territory of Columbia until an act of Congress in 1871 effectively merged the City and the or American Samoa American Samoa /əˈmɛrɪkən səˈmoʊə/ (Samoan: Amerika Sāmoa or Sāmoa Amelika) is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa (formerly known as Western Samoa). The main (largest and most populous) island is Tutuila, with the Manuʻa Islands, Rose Atoll, and, often have courts established under federal or territorial law which substitute for a state court system, distinct from the ordinary federal court system.

Even when start trial courts include more than one county in a judicial district, it isn't uncommon for the state trial court to hold regular sessions at each county seat in its jurisdiction and function from the point of view of litigants as if it were a county based court.

If one of the litigants A lawsuit, or "suit in law", is a civil action brought before a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have received damages from a defendant's actions, seeks a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint. If the plaintiff isn't successful, judgment will be given in the is unsatisfied with the decision of the lower court, the matter may be taken up on appeal The specific procedures for appealing, including even whether there is a right of appeal from a particular type of decision, can vary greatly from country to country. Even within a jurisdiction, the nature of an appeal can vary greatly depending on the type of case (but an acquittal In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the innocence of the accused, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi. Under the rules of double jeopardy and autrefois acquit, an acquittal operates to bar the retrial of the accused for the same offense, even if new in a criminal trial may not be appealed by the state due to the Fifth Amendment The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. Its guarantees stem from English common law which traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215. For instance, grand juries and the phrase "due process" both trace their origin to the protection against double jeopardy Double jeopardy is a procedural defense that forbids a defendant from being tried twice for the same crime on the same set of facts. At common law a defendant may plead autrefois acquit or autrefois convict , meaning the defendant has been acquitted or convicted of the same offense. If this issue is raised, evidence will be placed before the court,). Usually, an intermediate appellate court, if there is one in that state, often called the state court of appeals, will review the decision of the trial court. If still unsatisfied, the litigant can appeal to the highest appellate court An appellate court is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In most jurisdictions, the court system is divided into at least three levels: the trial court, which initially hears cases and reviews evidence and testimony to determine the facts of the case; at least one intermediate appellate in the state, which is usually called the state supreme court In the United States, the state supreme court is the highest state court in the state court system. Appellate courts in the United States, unlike their civil law Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law, the primary feature of which is that laws are written into a collection, codified, and not determined by judges. Conceptually, it is the group of legal ideas and systems ultimately derived from the Code of Justinian, but heavily overlaid by Germanic, ecclesiastical, feudal, and local practices, as counterparts, are generally not permitted to correct mistakes concerning the facts of the case on appeal, only mistakes of law, or findings of fact with no support in the trial court record.

Many states have courts of limited jurisdiction Limited jurisdiction, or special jurisdiction, is the courts' jurisdiction only on certain types of cases such as bankruptcy, family matters, etc (inferior jurisdiction), presided over by (for example) a magistrate A magistrate is a judicial officer; in ancient Rome, the word magistratus denoted one of the highest government officers with judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a magistrate has limited law enforcement and administration authority. In civil law systems, a magistrate might be a judge in a superior court; the magistrate's or justice of the peace A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions. Justices of the peace are appointed or elected from the citizens of the who hears criminal arraignments Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea. Acceptable pleas vary among jurisdictions, but they generally include "guilty", "not guilty", and the peremptory and tries petty offenses A misdemeanor, or misdemeanour in many common law legal systems, is a "lesser" criminal act. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions . Many misdemeanors are punished with monetary fines and small civil cases Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals and/or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim. For instance, if a car crash victim claims damages against the driver for loss or injury sustained in an accident, this will be a civil law case. Appeals from courts of limited jurisdiction are frequently sent to state trial courts of general jurisdiction rather than to an appellate court.

Larger cities often have city courts which hear traffic offenses Traffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel. Traffic laws are the laws which govern traffic and regulate vehicles, while rules of the road are both the laws and the informal rules that may have and violations of city ordinances In the United States, these laws are enforced locally in addition to state law and federal law. Other courts of limited jurisdiction include alderman's An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, or denote a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote courts, police court A magistrates' court or court of petty sessions, formerly known as a police court, is the lowest level of court in England and Wales and many other common law jurisdictions. A magistrates' court is presided over by a tribunal consisting of two or more justices of the peace or by a district judge (formerly known as a stipendiary magistrate), and, mayor's In many countries, a mayor is the highest ranking officer in a municipal government of local town or large urban city courts, recorder's courts The Recorder's Court, in Detroit, Michigan was a state court of limited jurisdiction which had, for most of its history, exclusive jurisdiction over traffic and ordinance matters, and over all felony cases committed in the City of Detroit. Its jurisdiction did not extended to civil suits, county courts A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions within a country, probate courts A probate court is a specialized court which deals with matters of probate and the administration of estates, municipal courts In the United States, a state court has jurisdiction over disputes with some connection to a U.S. state. Cases are heard before and evidence is presented in a trial court, which is usually located in a courthouse in the county seat. Territory outside of any state in the United States, such as the District of Columbia or American Samoa, often have, juvenile courts A juvenile court or young offender ' is a court of law having special authority to try and pass judgments for crimes committed by children or adolescents who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal systems, crimes committed by children and minors are treated differently and differentially regarding the same crimes committed by, courts of claims, courts of common pleas, family courts A family court is a court convened to decide matters and make orders in relation to family law, such as custody of children. In common-law jurisdictions "family courts" are statutory creations primarily dealing with equitable matters devolved from a court of inherent jurisdiction, such as a superior court, small claims courts Small-claims courts have limited jurisdiction to hear civil cases between private litigants. Courts authorized to try small claims may also have other judicial functions, and the name by which such a court is known varies by jurisdiction: it may be known by such names as county court or magistrate's court. Small claims courts can be found in, tax courts Tax courts are courts of limited jurisdiction that deal with tax issues, water courts (present in some western states such as Colorado and Montana), and workers' compensation Workers' compensation is a form of insurance that provides compensation medical care for employees who are injured in the course of employment, in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her employer for the tort of negligence. The tradeoff between assured, limited coverage and lack of recourse outside the courts. Many states follow the federal government practice of having one or more separate systems of administrative law judges in the executive branch in addition to judicial branch judges.

All these courts are distinguished from courts of general jurisdiction A court of general jurisdiction is one that has the authority to hear cases of all kinds - criminal, civil, family, probate, and so forth (superior jurisdiction), which are the default type of trial court that can hear any case which is not required to be first heard in a court of limited jurisdiction. Most such cases are civil cases involving large sums of money or criminal trials arising from serious crimes like rape and murder Murder, as defined in common law countries, is the unlawful killing of another human being with intent , and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide (such as manslaughter). As the loss of a human being inflicts enormous grief upon the individuals close to the victim, as well as the fact that the.

A few states like California have unified all courts of general and inferior jurisdiction to make the judicial process more efficient. In such judicial systems, there are still departments of limited jurisdiction within the trial courts, and often these departments occupy the exact same facilities they once occupied as independent courts of limited jurisdiction. However, as mere administrative divisions, departments can be rearranged at the discretion of each trial court's presiding judge in response to changing caseloads.

State court judges

Unlike federal courts, where judges A judge, or arbiter of justice, is a lead who presides over a court of law, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is like an umpire in a game and conducts the trial impartially and in an open court. The are Presidential appointees confirmed by the U.S. Senate serving life terms of office, the vast majority of states have some judges who are elected, and the methods of appointment for appointed judges vary widely. State court judges are usually distinguished attorneys who have had some political involvement, who are pursuing second careers on the bench. But, a small number of state court judges, particularly in limited jurisdiction trial courts, are non-lawyers, who are often elected to their posts.

A disproportionate share of state court judges previously served as prosecutors, or less commonly as criminal defense attorneys or trial lawyers, although no particular background as an attorney is required to serve as a judge. The judiciary is not a separate profession in the American legal system as it is in many civil law jurisdictions.

State court judges are typically paid less, have smaller staffs available to them, and handle larger caseloads than their federal judge counterparts.

Differences among the states

• Delaware Delaware is located in the northeastern portion of the Delmarva Peninsula and is the second smallest state in area . Estimates in 2007 rank the population of Delaware as 45th in the nation, but 6th in population density, with more than 60% of the population in New Castle County. Delaware is divided into three counties. From north to south, these, Mississippi Mississippi is bordered on the north by Tennessee, on the east by Alabama, on the south by Louisiana and a narrow coast on the Gulf of Mexico and on the west, across the Mississippi River, by Louisiana and Arkansas, New Jersey The area was inhabited by Native Americans for more than 2,800 years, with historical tribes such as the Lenape along the coast. In the early 1600s, the Dutch and the Swedes made the first European settlements. The English later seized control of the region, naming it the Province of New Jersey. It was granted as a colony to Sir George Carteret, and Tennessee The State of Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association, a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachians. What is now Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, and later part of the Southwest Territory. Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th state on June 1, 1796. In the make a distinction between a "court of law" and a "court of equity A chancery court, equity court or court of equity is a court that is authorized to apply principles of equity, as opposed to law, to cases brought before it" (chancery court The Chancery Court of York is an ecclesiastical court for the Province of York of the Church of England). For the most part in the American legal system, while the distinction between law and equity Equity is the name given to the set of legal principles, in jurisdictions following the English common law tradition, which supplement strict rules of law where their application would operate harshly. In civil legal systems, broad "general clause" allow judges to have similar leeway in applying the code still has some legal consequences, separate court systems are not maintained at the federal level or in other states.

• Texas Houston is the largest city in Texas and the fourth-largest in the United States, while San Antonio is the second largest in the state and seventh largest in the United States. Dallas–Fort Worth and Greater Houston are the fourth and sixth largest United States metropolitan areas, respectively. Other major cities include El Paso and Austin—the and Oklahoma A major producer of natural gas, oil and agriculture, Oklahoma relies on an economic base of aviation, energy, telecommunications, and biotechnology. It has one of the fastest growing economies in the nation, ranking among the top states in per capita income growth and gross domestic product growth. Oklahoma City and Tulsa serve as Oklahoma's have separate courts of last resort for criminal cases and other cases. In all other states, there is a single court of last resort. While collateral attacks on criminal convictions, such as state level habeas corpus petitions, are usually considered to be technically civil cases, because they are not brought by a prosecutor and do not seek to convict someone of a crime, these suits are, in both states, appealed to the criminal court of last resort, rather than the civil court of last resort.

• In Maryland and New York, the Court of Appeals is the highest state court, and in New York the Supreme Court, Civil Court, and Criminal Court collectively are lower.

• The courts of Louisiana and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are organized under a civil law model with significantly different procedures from those of the courts in all other states and the District of Columbia, which are organized on an American version of the common law system established originally in England. The court process used in these jurisdictions differs considerably from that used in the federal courts and the courts of other states in non-criminal cases. But, the U.S. Constitution requires these jurisdictions to use procedures similar to those of other U.S. jurisdictions in criminal cases.

• The courts of one state are generally not required to follow the decisions of the courts of another state, but in the common law legal system it is customary for the courts of one state to look to decisions of other states as persuasive statements of what the law should be in the state making the decision, where express statutory provisions do not control.

• Many states lack an intermediate appellate court. In these cases, litigants in general jurisdiction courts have the right to appeal their cases directly to the state supreme court. Many states have rules that permit certain cases such a death penalty cases and election cases directly to the state supreme court, even though most civil cases must be appealled first to an intermediate appellate court.

• In Utah, civil cases are appealed directly to the state supreme court, which then has the power to refer the case instead to an intermediate appellate court, rather than being appealled first to an intermediate appellate court and then to a state supreme court.

Nature of matters handled in state courts

Civil cases

The vast majority of non-criminal cases in the United States are handled in state courts, rather than federal courts. For example, in Colorado, in 2002, which is typical, roughly 97% of all civil cases were filed in state courts and 89% of the civil cases filed in federal court were bankruptcies. Just 0.3% of the non-bankruptcy civil cases in the state were filed in federal court.

Many state court civil cases produce quick default judgments or pretrial settlements, but even considering only cases that actually go to trial, state courts are the dominant forum for civil cases. In Colorado, in 2002, there were 79 civil trials in federal court (41 jury and 38 non-jury), and 5950 civil trials in state court (300 jury and 5650 non-jury). [1] [2] Essentially all probate and divorce cases are also brought in state court, even if the parties involved live in different states. In practice, almost all real property evictions and foreclosures are handled in state court.

State courts systems always contain some courts of "general jurisdiction." All disputes which are capable of being brought in courts, arising under either state or federal law may be brought in one of the state courts, except in a few narrow case where federal law specifically limits jurisdiction exclusively to the federal courts. Some of the most common cases exclusively in federal jurisdiction are suits between state governments, suits involving ambassadors, certain intellectual property cases, federal criminal cases, bankruptcies and most securities fraud class actions. There are also a handful of federal laws under which lawsuits can be pursued only in state court, such as those arising under the federal "junk fax" law.^[1] There have been times in U.S. history where almost all small claims, even if they arose under federal law, were required to be brought in state courts.

State court systems usually have expedited procedures for civil disputes involving small dollar amounts (typically under $5,000 to $25,000 depending upon the state court in question), most of which involve collection of small contractual debts (such as unpaid credit cards) and landlord-tenant matters. Many states have small claims divisions where all parties proceed in civil cases without lawyers, often before a magistrate or justice of the peace. Federal courts do not have parallel small claims procedures and apply the same civil rules to all civil cases, which makes federal court an expensive venue for a private party to pursue a claim for a small dollar amount.

Unlike state courts, federal courts are courts of "limited jurisdiction", that can only hear the types of cases specified in the Constitution and federal statutes (primarily federal crimes, cases arising under federal law, cases with a United States government party, and cases involving a diversity of citizenship between the parties).

Often, a plaintiff can bring a matter either to state court or to federal court, because it arises under federal law, or involves a substantial monetary dispute (in excess of $75,000 as of October 26, 2007) arising under state law between parties that do not reside in the same state. If a plaintiff files suit in state court in such a case, the defendant can remove the case to federal court if a timely request is made to do so. Deciding on the jurisdiction (jurisdictional arbitrage) is part of litigation strategy for both plaintiff and defendant, in which the make up of the likely juries in each court, and the differences between federal and state court procedures figure highly. A mere federal law defense to a claim arising under state law, however, is generally not a basis for removing a case to federal court from state court.

In civil cases, all or some of the substantive law issues decided by a state court may be determined under the law of another state or country, if that state's choice of law rules provide for the application of another state's laws. For example, if someone sued a resident of Missouri in a Missouri state court for an automobile accident arising in France because it was not possible to obtain jurisdiction over the defendant in a French court for some reason, the Missouri state court might apply the French law applicable to lawsuits arising from automobile accidents. Similarly, a Missouri state court presented with a Last Will and Testament signed in Florida, might apply Florida law rather than Missouri law to determine if the document was signed with the proper formalities.

There is not a federal constitutional right to a trial by jury in a state civil case under the 7th Amendment to the United States Constitution, and not all states preserve a right to a civil jury in either their state constitution or state statutes. In practice, however, civil jury trials are available, generally on a similar basis to their availability in federal court, in every state except Louisiana. There is general a right to a jury trial in cases that would arise at law in colonial England, which generally includes most cases seeking simple money damages and no other relief. In practice, about three-quarters of all civil jury trials involved personal injury cases, and most of the rest involve breaches of contracts.

Prior to trial, most proceedings in non-criminal courts are conducted via papers filed in the court, often through lawyers. In limited jurisdiction courts, it is not uncommon for an initial appearance to be made in person at which a settlement is often reached. In general jurisdiction state courts, it is not uncommon for all pre-trial matters to be conducted outside the court, with attorneys negotiating scheduling matters, pre-trial examinations of witnesses taking place in lawyer's office through depositions, and a settlement conference conducted by a private mediator at the mediator's office.

Criminal cases

About 91% of people in prison at any given time in the United States were convicted in state court for violating state criminal laws, rather than in federal court for violating federal criminal laws, including 99% of defendants sentenced to death. [3]

The proportion of criminal cases brought in state court rather than federal court is higher than 91% because misdemeanor and petty offense prosecutions are disporportionately brought in state courts and most criminal prosecutions involve misdemeanors and petty offenses. The number of trials conducted in each system is another way to illustrate the relative size of the two criminal justice systems. In Colorado, in 2002, there were approximately 40 criminal trials in federal court, and there were 1,898 criminal trials (excluding hundreds of quasi-criminal trials in juvenile cases, municipal cases and infraction cases) in state courts, so only about 2% of criminal trials took place in federal court. Most jury trials in the United States take place in criminal cases in state courts.

State courts do not have jurisdiction over criminal cases arising on Indian reservations even if those reservations are located in their state. Less serious crimes on Indian reservations are prosecuted in tribal courts. A large share of violent crimes that are prosecuted in federal court arise on Indian reservations or federal property, where state courts lack jurisdiction, since tribal court jurisdiction is usually limited to less serious offenses. Federal crimes on federal property in a state are often defined with reference to state criminal law.

Federal courts disproportionately handle white-collar crimes, immigration-related crimes and drug offenses (these crimes make up about 70% of the federal docket, but just 19% of the state court criminal docket). [4] [5] Federal courts have the power to bring death penalty charges under federal law, even if they arise in states where there is no death penalty under state law, but the federal government rarely utilizes this right.

Many rights of criminal defendants in state courts arise under federal law, but federal courts only examine if the state courts applied those federal rights correctly on a direct appeal from the conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court, after state court direct appeals have been exhausted, or in a collateral attack on a conviction in a habeas corpus proceeding after all state court remedies (usually including a state court habeas corpus proceeding) have been exhausted. Some rights of criminal defendants that apply in federal court do not exist in state court. For example, in many states there is no constitutional right to be indicted by a grand jury before facing a criminal prosecution for a felony or infamous misdemeanor. Two states (Louisiana and Oregon) do not require unanimous juries in non-capital criminal cases.

Unlike non-criminal cases, criminal proceedings in state courts are primarily conducted orally, in person, in open court.

Administration

In most, but not all states (California and New York are significant exceptions), the state supreme court or a related administrative body has the power to write the rules of procedure that govern the courts through a rule making process. In a few states, court procedures are largely dictated by state law.

Most states model their general jurisdiction trial court rules closely upon the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure with modifications to address types of cases that come up predominantly in state practice, and model their professional ethics rules closely upon models drafted by the American Bar Association with minor modifications. A minority of states, however, have idiosyncratic procedural rules, often based on the Field Code in place in many states before the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were adopted.

Typically, state trial courts of limited jurisdiction have generally similar rules to state trial courts of general jurisdiction, but stripped of rules applicable to special cases like class actions and most pre-trial procedures (such as non-court ordered discovery).

Most state supreme courts also have general supervisory authority over the state court system. In this capacity they are responsible, for example, for making budget requests and administrative management decisions for the court system as a whole.

State court regulation of lawyers

Many state supreme courts are the primary regulatory body for lawyers in their state and determine who can practice law and when lawyers are sanctions for violations of professional ethical rules, which are generally also put in place as state court rules. In some states, with what is known as an integrated bar this function is filled primarily by a state bar association. For example, the bar exam is administered only by states and by federal jurisdictions that substitute for states such as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. There is no federal bar exam (except in a few narrow subject matter specialties such as patent law).

In the United States, states take primary responsibility for regulating lawyers, while specific federal courts generally allow almost anyone admitted to the practice of law in the state in their jurisdiction to practice law before them if the attorney is in good standing with all state courts to which the attorney is admitted. This is generally handled on a federal court by federal court basis, and is revoked only for misconduct in that federal court or as reciprocal discipline for misconduct findings made by another jurisdiction.

All or almost all states practice reciprocal discipline, sanctioning lawyers found to have violated ethical rules in another state in their own state without a full hearing on the matter.

Relationship to federal courts

The relationship between state courts and federal courts is quite complicated. Although the United States Constitution and federal laws override state laws where there is a conflict between federal and state law, state courts are not subordinate to federal courts. Rather, they are two parallel sets of courts with different often overlapping jurisdiction. While federal law is supreme relative to state law, federal courts are not always superior to state courts.

Under the 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution, federal courts are generally prohibited from exercising jurisdiction in civil lawsuits for money damages between a state government and a private party. This limitation does not generally, however, prohibit federal courts from considering suits by private parties against local governments, state and local officials, state sponsored entities that are not part of state government, or suits against states seeking injunctive relief but not money damages.

There are multiple areas such as tax collection and legislative action, where federal courts may not impose injunctions on states as a matter of federal statutory law.

Federal courts must defer to state courts in their the interpretation of state laws, and sometimes "certify" a question of state law in a case pending before it to the highest state court in the state, if state law is unsettled on the issue.

As a general rule, federal courts, other than the U.S. Supreme Court, do not resolve federal law issues pending in state courts. This is true even when, for example, two different state courts reach conflicting interpretations of a federal law in cases involving the same parties litigating the same issues in more than one forum, such as jurisdictional issues arising under the Federal Parental Kidnapping Protection Act.

Some state courts may certify a question of federal law to a federal court, but this is less common and is generally not mandatory.

While there are multiple ways that federal courts can review state court decisions for violations of state law, in practice, there is virtually no federal court review of state courts in civil cases, and there is in practice, very little meaningful federal court review of state courts in criminal cases where the death penalty is not imposed. There is substantial review by the federal courts, in practice, of state court decisions to impose the death penalty, however.

Direct appellate review of state court decisions

The U.S. Supreme Court can (but are not required to) review final decision of state courts, after a party exhausts all remedies up to a request for relief from the state's highest appellate court, if the justices believe that the case involves an important question of constitutional law or federal law. Generally speaking the U.S. Supreme Court does not review decisions of state courts that depend entirely on the resolution of a state law issue.

For example, the U.S. Supreme Court will generally not consider an appeal of a state court determination that someone has both a state constitutional right and a federal constitutional right, if the result would be no different if that person had only a state constitutional right.

Normally in an average sized state, one or two decisions every year or two from a state's court system are reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Most U.S. Supreme Court reviews of state court decisions involve review of the constitutional rights of state court criminal defendants. A disproportionate share of the state court criminal cases reviewed on direct appeal by the U.S. Supreme Court involve death penalty cases.

In a typical state, multiple years will pass between U.S. Supreme Court reviews of a state court decision in a civil case, despite the fact that more than 97% of civil cases are brought in state courts rather than federal court.

Collateral attacks on state court decisions

Civil cases

The doctrines of collateral estoppel and res judicata require any state or federal court deciding matters resolved on the merits by a court with jurisdiction between the parties or certain closely related parties differently than the way that they were previously adjudicated. The doctrine of collateral estoppel pertains to specific issues decided in prior cases. The doctrine of res judicata applies to an entire case.

Under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, federal trial courts are prohibited from considering matters already resolved in a state court civil action that is in the nature of an appeal, even on an issue of federal law. Federal courts are prohibited from issuing injunctions against certain kinds of activities of states, such as their tax collection activities, or directing state legislative bodies to take particular actions.

Federal bankruptcy court petitions generally interrupt pending state court proceedings in civil matters involving the petitioner (with select exceptions, primarily for domestic relations matters). The bankruptcy court then determines if the interrupted state court proceeding should be returned to state court for resolution, or should be resolved in a federal bankruptcy court adversarial proceeding, based upon the applicable bankruptcy law. Bankruptcy courts also have the power to discharge debts and obligations arising from state court judgments in accordance with federal bankrtupcy law.

Criminal cases

In criminal cases, under a theory of dual sovereignty, both the state government and the federal government may independently prosecute crimes arising out of the same criminal conduct, even if the dual prosecution would violate the right to not be tried more than once for the same offense if the prosecutions had both happened at the state level or had both happened at the federal level. Generally, the United States Justice Department does not engage in prosecutions of crimes prosecuted at the state level as a matter of policy, and generally, the United States Justice Department and local prosecutors cooperate in deciding which level of government will prosecute which crimes, but this cooperation is a matter of comity, rather than a constitutional requirement.

While rare, federal reprosecution of a crime tried in state court that produced an acquittal can be the functional equivalent of a trial de novo appeal of a state court prosecution, and visa versa.

Federal court review may review state court judgments in criminal cases by ruling on petitions for a federal writ of habeas corpus, in which a federal court is asked to review whether a defendant has been given due process of law as defined under federal law. Normally, federal habeas corpus petitions are filed in the U.S. District Court for the appropriate district, which is the federal trial court. But, if the federal court finds that the defendant has been denied due process then the defendant must be released or re-tried in the state court.

Academic scholarship

Despite the predominance of state courts in terms of cases handled, most academic scholarship concerning courts takes place at the federal level, because it has greater relevance in a national market for academic scholarship, because federal courts generally have more accessible records, and because many important kinds of litigation are handled primarily at the federal level.

Nomenclature

The following table notes the names of the courts in the states and territories of the United States. Listed are the principal courts of first instance (general jurisdiction), the principal intermediate appellate courts, and the courts of final appeal or resort.

In some cases where courts are generally assigned to counties, the number of county-based courts does not exactly match the number of actual counties in the state. This happens when a single court has jurisdiction over more than one county.

See also

• Courts of the United States

External links and references

• 2004 United States Justice Department Report
• National Center for State Courts, including State Court Structure Charts
• Gavel2Gavel's State Court web directory, an ad-supported website
• Federal Court Statistics 2002
• Colorado Court Statistics 2002
• Statistical Abstract of the United States 2006

References

1. ^ See Telephone Consumer Protection Act (Act), 47 U.S.C.S. § 227 (the "junk fax" law); Consumer Crusade, Inc. v. Affordable Health Care Solutions, Inc., 121 P.3d 350 (Colo. App. 2005)
2. ^ Listing of Connecticut Superior Court judicial districts.
3. ^ Illinois Circuit Courts
4. ^ Oregon Circuit Courts
5. ^ Virginia Circuit Courts

Categories: State court systems of the United States

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