Chapter Viii How the Courts Work

The federal district court is the court in which practically all federal cases are brought and tried. The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in certain cases mentioned in the Constitution; for instance, such as involve ambassadors or consuls; but the district courts are the courts of original jurisdiction in most cases. And it is in these courts that most trials, both civil and criminal, take place.

The circuit courts of appeals have appellate jurisdiction to review, by appeal or writ of error, final decisions of the district courts. No cases are begun there.

Certain cases may be taken to the Supreme Court from the circuit courts of appeals and from the state courts of highest appellate jurisdiction, when a federal question is raised or “where is drawn in question the validity of a statute of any state, on the ground of its being repugnant to the Constitution, treaties, or laws of the United States, and the decision is against its validity”; and there are others that may reach the Supreme Court on the action of the circuit courts of appeals or on the action of the Supreme Court itself.

The jurisdiction of the district courts extends, to put it briefly, over controversies between citizens of different states, if the amount involved is three thousand dollars or over; over cases arising under the Constitution, treaties, or laws of the United States; over cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; and over cases to which the United States is a party, including criminal prosecutions.

The procedure followed in the district courts is similar to the procedure followed in the state courts where the respective districts are located. Thus, in a state like California with a code practice the pleadings in the federal courts follow the code, while in a state like Pennsylvania where the state courts use common law pleadings, the federal courts do likewise.

Trials in the district courts, whether before the judge, as in equity cases, or before the judge and a jury, are conducted very much like those in the state courts, except that there is somewhat more formality and decorum in the federal courts in many parts of the country.

Appeals in the circuit courts of appeals and in the Supreme Court are heard on printed records and briefs and oral arguments of counsel.

The law administered in the federal courts is both statutory law and common law. The former consists mostly of the acts of Congress. The latter is the common law of the states as it applies to causes properly before the federal courts, for there is no federal common law. The federal courts apply the rules of the common law as they exist in the states where the controversies before the courts originate.