Exam 2: The Court Systems

In some states, judges are elected in partisan (party) elections.

To get a case into federal court which involves parties from different states, the claim must involve more than $5,000.

The Constitution intends for the judiciary to have:

In Blimka v. My Web Wholesalers, which involved a dispute between an Idaho resident who ordered jeans from a Maine website-based seller, the Idaho court held that since the Maine seller intended to do business in Idaho, it became subject to Idaho court jurisdiction.

There is a right of appeal of all lower court decisions to either the U.S. or a state supreme court.

Federal courts have the judicial power to hear cases involving:

In the American court system:

State judges can be:

Subject-matter jurisdiction is:

There are ____ federal districts in the court system.

If there has been a lot of publicity surrounding a case, the defendant may request:

Original jurisdiction means power to:

Fact Pattern 2-1 Yoshi, a Japanese citizen working in Atlanta for his Tokyo firm, decided to rent an airplane and fly himself to the Annual Catfish and Zydeco festival in Thibodaux, Louisiana. He rented a small plane to fly there. Over Alabama, thunderstorms formed. Because Yoshi was not trained to fly by instruments, he decided to land at the next airport. As he searched for a runway, Yoshi heard a loud clank followed by silence as the engine died. He tried to land in a field but crashed. While recovering in a rehabilitation center in California, Yoshi filed suit there against the Atlanta Airport and the owners of the airplane, alleging that they were negligent in their maintenance. -Refer to Fact Pattern 2-1. A court in which Yoshi's case may be brought and tried to a conclusion is said to have original jurisdiction over the case.

The U.S. Tax Court is part of the ____:

Federal judges are nominated by:

State courts may have jurisdiction in which of the following situations?

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are used in many state court systems to set procedure in state courts.

Cases concerning the application of the U.S. Constitution are federal questions within the power of the federal courts.

A defendant can only be sued in a federal court in:

The case Erie v. Tompkins, involving a man hit by a train in Pennsylvania, holds that federal courts must apply either state common law or state statutory law in resolving disputes between citizens of different states.