NOTES ON THE COURTS SOURCES OF AMERICAN LAW Law in the United States is based primarily on the English legal system because of our colonial heritage Once the colonies became independent from England they did not establish a new legal system With few modifications the old English legal system was kept intact and states began to operate their courts based on these traditions Unlike many other countries English law is based on common law Common law is judge made law based initially on the prevailing custom and eventually on legal precedent Common law is based on stare decisis which means to stand on decided cases If a legal situation occurs that has previously been decided the decision in the initial case is binding on the current situation The major advantages to this type of system are efficiency and stability In the United States the Supreme Court has extraordinary power to shape the nation s policies through the practice of judicial review which was first explicated by Justice Marshall in the Marbury v Madison case in 1803 A Constitutions The U S Constitution is the supreme law of the land It outlines the basic structure of our government and also sets forth the powers of the branches of government The Constitution also lists some of the important rights held by individuals and limitations on the government State constitutions are another important source of American law They provide the structure of state governments and are the guiding documents within the specific states B Statutes and Administrative Regulations Statutes are an important source of law Statutes are laws made by legislatures including the Congress state legislatures and also county legislatures and local councils These laws often delineate the rights or responsibilities of individuals Administrative regulations are another source of law in the United States Administrative regulations are rules issued by administrative agencies Courts often are called upon to interpret administrative regulations C Case Law How statutes and constitutions are interpreted by the courts is essential The rules and principles announced in court decisions constitute a source of American law In American case law the doctrine of stare decisis is important This means that U S case law is based on precedent D Judicial Review Judicial review is the process for deciding whether a law is contrary to the mandates of the Constitution This power is not mentioned in the Constitution Rather it was established in the case of Marbury v Madison In that case Chief Justice Marshall ruled that the Supreme Court had the power to decide that a law passed by Congress violated the Constitution The Supreme Court has ruled parts or all of acts of Congress to be unconstitutional less than 200 times in its history State laws however have been declared unconstitutional by the court more than a 1 000 times II THE FEDERAL COURT SYSTEM The United States has a dual court system comprised of both federal and state courts The federal court derives its power from the U S Constitution Article III Section 1 and is organized according to Congressional legislation State courts draw their authority from state constitutions and laws Court cases that originate in state court systems reach the Supreme Court only after they have been appealed to the highest possible state court A Basic Judicial Requirements 1 Jurisdiction Jurisdiction is the authority to hear and decide cases The Constitution says that the federal courts have jurisdiction in cases that meet one of the following criteria The case involves a federal question A federal question is a legal question that is based in whole or in part on the U S Constitution a treaty or federal law An example of a case asking a federal question would be one in which a plaintiff asserted his her civil rights as guaranteed in the Bill of Rights to free speech or the free exercise of religion for example The case involves diversity of citizenship Diversity of citizenship means that the parties to a lawsuit are from different states or that one of the parties is a citizen or government of another country These cases require a minimum of 75 000 in controversy 2 B Standing to Sue Another important criterion is that the party bringing a lawsuit must have standing to sue that is the party must have suffered harm or be in danger of suffering harm and there must be a justiciable real not hypothetical controversy Types of Federal Courts The federal court system is basically a three tiered model 1 U S district courts and specialized federal courts 2 intermediate U S courts of appeals and 3 the U S Supreme Court In addition the U S military has its own system of courts which are established under the Uniform Code of Military Justice C 1 U S District Courts These are trial courts with general jurisdiction Each state has at least one federal district court and there are now a total of 94 districts 2 U S Courts of Appeals These are appellate courts that hear appeals of decisions of the U S District Courts located within their circuits The Thirteenth Circuit the Federal Circuit has national appellate jurisdiction for cases involving the U S government In appellate cases the cases are not re tried Rather a panel of judges reviews the actions and decisions of the lower court and decides whether a mistake was made The decisions of the appellate panels are nearly always final the rare exception being when the U S Supreme Court opts to hear an appeal 3 The United States Supreme Court This is the highest court in the country It has jurisdiction to hear both original and appellate cases although nearly all of its cases are appellate cases Specialized Federal Courts and the War on Terrorism These two secret courts were created in response to terrorist attacks and thus embody the tension between national security interests and the protection of individual rights to due process Several actions by the George W Bush administration were ultimately overturned by the U S Supreme Court Enemy combatants held at Guantanamo Bay Cuba pose unique challenges and many remain unresolved D 1 The FISA Court This is a secret court of seven judges who are also federal district judges from across the country created under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act FISA of 1978 It was established to issue warrants in espionage cases After 9 11 the Bush administration extended the powers of this court to cover some criminal cases Using FISA warrants law enforcement can conduct