5.3 Structure of the Courts: The Dual Court and Federal Court System
5.3 Structure of the Courts: The Dual Court and Federal Court System
Lore Rutz-Burri; Kate McLean; and Chantel Chauvin
The Dual Court System
In the United States, each state has two complete, parallel court systems: the federal system, and the state’s own system. Thus, there are at least 51 legal systems in the country: the fifty created under state laws and the federal system created under federal law. Additionally, there are court systems in the U.S. Territories, and the military has a separate court system as well.
The state/federal court structure is sometimes referred to as the dual court system. State crimes, created by state legislatures, are prosecuted in state courts which are concerned primarily with applying state law. Federal crimes, created by Congress, are prosecuted in the federal courts which are concerned primarily with applying federal law. As discussed below, it is possible for a case to move from the state system to the federal system when a defendant challenges their conviction on direct appeal through a writ of certiorari, or when the defendant challenges the conditions of confinement through a writ of habeas corpus.
Dual Court System Structure
| Highest Appellate Court | U.S. Supreme Court (Justices) (Note: the Court also has original/trial court jurisdiction in rare cases and will also review petitions for writ of certiorari from State Supreme Court cases). | State Supreme Court (Justices) |
| Intermediate Appellate Court | U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals (Judges) | State Appellate Court (e.g., Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeals) (Judges) |
| Trial Courts of General Jurisdiction | U.S. District Courts (Judges) (Note: this court will review petitions for writs of habeas corpus from federal and state prisoners) | Name varies by state (e.g., Louisiana District Courts) (Judges) |
| Trial Courts of Limited Jurisdiction | U.S. Magistrate Courts (Magistrate Judges) | Magisterial Courts, Minor Courts (e.g., Parish Courts, City Courts, Mayor’s Courts, Juvenile Courts) (Judges, Magistrates, Justices of the Peace) |
The Federal Court System
Article III of the U.S. Constitution established a Supreme Court of the United States and granted Congress discretion as to whether to adopt a lower court system. It states 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.” Fearing that the state courts might be hostile to congressional legislation, Congress immediately created a lower federal court system in 1789 (The Judiciary Act of 1789; Ch. 20, 1 Stat 73). The lower federal court system has been expanded over the years, such as when Congress created the separate appellate courts in 1891.
Federal Judicial Center
Since the establishment of the federal courts in 1789, Congress has periodically reshaped the judiciary through legislation. Such changes have included the creation and abolition of courts, the authorization of new judic