Law 3220 1st Edition Lecture 2 Outline of Last Lecture I How laws are formed II Purposes of law III Common Law vs Civil Law IV Classifications of Law Outline of Current Lecture II Court of Original Jurisdiction III Appellate Court IV Subject Courts V Jurisdiction Current Lecture Chapter 2 Court System Two tiers of court systems state and federal Both have Courts of Original Jurisdiction trial court where trials are originally brought judge applies the law as it stands cannot change the law Appellate Court o Court of Appeals o Supreme Court o Can change law or reverse the decision o Look at errors of law o Federal judges are appointed for life o In SC judges have to go in front of a screening committee made up of legislative body then most likely in for life Judicial Immunity Can t sue a judge if they make a bad decision can only appeal it good so judges don t feel Davis vs West If you re appointed by the court to do something lawyer was required to pay bills government worker went and took money from lawyer lawyer sued government official was ok b c arm of the law Federal District Court o Court of Appeals Family Court Only related to families divorces adoptions alimonies Probate Court Administrates over wills guardians what happens when somebody dies IRS Tax Court Always start in Court of Original Jurisdiction then to an Appellate Court then possibly to Court of Appeals Bench Trial Trial just with a judge These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Jury Trial Trial with a jury Court of Appeals o 3 Judges on bench US Supreme Court Highest court o Supreme Court decides which cases they will hear o Deal a lot with Constitutional issues A lot of state procedures are similar to federal procedures Civil Procedure and Criminal Procedure are tried differently All decisions and laws must comply with the Constitution Jurisdiction certain courts have the power for certain types of cases Family court doesn t have jurisdiction over murder case MUST HAVE SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION AND PUBLIC JURISDICTION Federal Court hears cases of federal concern Diversity of Citizenship If being sued for more than 75 000 in another state you can remove that case and make it go to federal court Only if you re from a different state i e from Maryland but being sued in South Carolina Subject Courts are the opposite of Circuit General Courts Law suit starts with a summons lays out the complaints have 30 days to answer Out of state businesses being sued o Court looks for ways to get jurisdiction do they have headquarters here do they do business here Long arm of the law o Ex Amazon is exposed to liability in every state because conduct business in every state Blimp Co Ordered 26 000 of jeans from Maine to Idaho complained about the quality sued the company for fraud jean company didn t answer b c didn t think the trial court had jurisdiction over them Blimp Co appealed In Rem Jurisdiction o If there is a dispute over property the state where the property is has jurisdiction o Not subject to where the person is o Could be land a car parked somewhere etc Exclusive Jurisdiction When a certain court is the only court that can hear types of cases o Only federal court can hear federal criminal cases bankruptcy cases patent copyright cases Constitutional law cases o In state courts courts of limited jurisdiction also have exclusive jurisdiction Only family court can do a divorce Concurrent Jurisdiction When two different types of court can hear the same type of case Supremacy Clause federal law takes precedence over state law