Who Gets the Case?

TheSupreme Court cannot hear all the cases in the United States; there are simply too many, and more importantly it does not haveoriginal jurisdiction for all cases. Original jurisdiction is where the case must be heard first. The other type of jurisdiction isappellate. Appellate jurisdiction is given to courts to review trials to see if there was an error in the trial proceedings, or to ensure that the rights of the accused were not violated. TheSupreme Court is anappellate court - it is an error correcting court, not a trial court that decides guilt or innocence. Most cases must start at the bottom of the Federal or State court system (based on the offense), and then work their way up through the different levels of courts. TheSupreme Court is the highest court in the land, there is no other court to appeal to if theSupreme Court rules against you, or refuses to hear your case. Most federal cases begin infederal district court. If an appeal is filed, then thefederal court of appeals will review the case and decide if they will hear the appeal. Appeals courts are usually made up of a 3 judge panel, however in major cases all of the appeals judges may hear the case. TheFederal Court of Appeals has a lot of power in reviewing cases; they can choose to overturn the lower court's decision, send the case back for a new trial, release thedefendant, uphold the lower court's decision, or choose not to hear the appeal at all. If the accused does not like the decision of thefederal court of appeals then they can appeal to theUS Supreme Court. The US Supreme Court does not have to hear the appeal, and in most cases chooses not to.

In the State of Maryland there are 4 different levels of courts. TheDistrict Court is the one that most people will come into contact with. This court hears minor crimes like traffic tickets, and small civil issues. TheDistrict Court is only a court oforiginal jurisdiction. TheMaryland Circuit Court is a court oforiginal jurisdiction for major crimes and civil cases that require ajury, andappellate jurisdiction for cases from theDistrict Court. In Maryland anyone found guilty is entitled to one appeal, so the Maryland Court of Special Appeals must review all cases that they receive and issue a finding. TheMaryland Court of Appeals is the highest court in Maryland and chooses which cases to hear. They are also a court of bothappellate andoriginal jurisdiction. TheMD Court of Appeals hasoriginal jurisdiction in cases that involve issues with other states, but for the most part this is an error correcting court that hears appeals.

Federal crimes are charged and tried in Federal Courts. Federal Crimes are those against the United States government and/or its agents. Any crime committed on federal property (even shoplifting at the gift shop in the FBI building) or purposely against a federal employee because of their employment status is a federal crime. Other Federal crimes include: destruction of federal property, treason, terrorism, kidnapping, bank robbery, spying, crimes committed on military bases, bankruptcy, violation of copyright & patent, taxes, civil rights violations, issues with other countries.

State crimes are those that break state laws, so these crimes are specific to state statutes. These statutes can vary from state to state, so what is legal in one state is illegal in another (using a radar detector in Maryland is egal, but using it in Virginia is illegal). These crimes include: murder, arson, rape, robbery, burglary, drinking and driving, property crimes, speeding.

Directions: Look at the diagram below, under "Federal or State?" write in the blank which level of government would hear the case first. After that, mark whether the case would go to a court of original jurisdiction or appellate jurisdiction using an X. The first case has been done for you as an example.

#	Descrpition of Crime	Federal or State
1	Your neighbor is suing you because he doesn't like your fence.
2	A defendant is on trial for killing a federal police officer.
3	April robs a 7-11 and gets caught
4	The Ambassador of a foreign country is charged with killing someone while drunk driving in Washington D.C..
5	A defendant appeals her death penalty conviction because she feels it is unconstitutional - all courts in MD disagree - where does she go now?
6	A Defendant steals the plans for a patented invention and makes it himself. He gets sued.
7	You are charged with calling in a bomb threat to school.
8	A defendant sells drugs to kids on school property.
9	A police officer is pulled over for going 100 miles per hour in a school zone

10.A store manager turns away an applicant trying to get a job because they are Asian