The Judicial System in United States of America - Essay Example

In different nations, there are various types of judicial systems, and all are described by a unique governance structure. For instance, in the United States of America, the judicial system comprises two distinct court systems: the federal court and the state one. Each of them have a responsibility of hearing specific types of cases. However, they are committed to working in synergy, and none is independent of the other. In this regard, the federal court and the Californian court systems share many features, but operate under slightly different organization structures.

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The Californian state court system is divided into two: trial courts and appellate courts. The latter comprise six Courts of Appeal and one Supreme Court, while the former consist of the Superior Courts. Interestingly, each of the 58 counties of California has a Superior Court, which has a mandate over criminal cases including the traffic violations, felonies, and misdemeanors (Carrillo & Duvernay, 2015). More importantly, they also have authority over civil cases such as family, juvenile, probate among others. At the same time, there are about 450 facilities used to listen to cases.

Notably, the Courts of Appeal make the next level of the Californian court system. There are six such courts, and they are divided into each district. They also constitute a panel of three judges, who review the cases coming from the Superior Court to determine whether they were mishandled (Carrillo & Duvernay, 2015). Nonetheless, if the lawsuit concerns a death sentence, it is automatically bypassed to the Supreme Courts for review. Thus, the Courts of Appeal have the mandate to review cases only ranging with an issue below 25,000 dollars.

Lastly, the Supreme Court forms the highest level, and there is only one such court. More specifically, it presides over cases that are way above being handled by the Court of Appeals, such as death sentence and those concerning the judges and attorneys (Carrillo & Duvernay, 2015). It has a panel of seven magistrates, who deliver independent judgments. However, for a ruling to be made, at least four of them must coincide.

As a matter of fact, the courts mentioned above portray some similarities with the federal ones. For instance, they are both divided into three categories: the courts of last resort comprising the Supreme Courts; the appellate courts consisting of the Courts of Appeal; and the trial courts comprising the District Courts for the federal, and Superior Courts for the California State. Markedly, in both systems, the Supreme Courts are meant to review the decisions of the Court of Appeals, while the latter review the decisions made by the trial courts. More importantly, both the Californian and the U.S federal courts work in harmony towards achieving a society built on fair and just morals.

As mentioned earlier, there are differences between the two court systems. To begin with, they are designed to work in their areas of their jurisdiction; that is, the Californian Courts only preside over cases within their states, whereas the federal courts can make rulings on national matters including Californian cases. Second, while the Constitution offers the Congress the mandate to create the federal courts, the California Constitution creates its courts. Third, the judge selection is appointive in the federal court system, whereas in California they are elected at the lower levels and appointed at the higher ones (Carrillo & Duvernay, 2015). Lastly, the processing of removing a judge, although rare, is done through impeachment in the federal court systems, while in the state it can be through recall, impeachment, or failed confirmation by the voters.

In summary, despite being divided into two categories - the state and federal court systems - the American judiciary is established to work in collaboration. Interestingly, the systems are independent in that they can adopt different structures, but dependent since they serve similar functions. The major differences evolving between the two are constructed on the grounds that the federal court serves the American nation, while the California court system is limited within its state.

References

Carrillo, D., & Duvernay, S. (2015). The California judiciary. California Journal of Politics and Policy, 7(4), 456.