The Judicial Systems of America: Power and Progression

The United States Judiciary Branch of government is made up of federal courts ranging from the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and District courts that are prearranged under the U.S Constitution and the laws of the federal government. The United States' Judicial System is the mediating force in the United States for resolving disputes in regards to the people and the laws of the U.S Constitution. The American government runs on the system of "separation of powers" associated with "checks and balances" meaning each branch of the government is formally separate from the other two and required cooperation is stated in the Constitution. The law is created by the Legislative Branch or Congress, if passed, then signed by the President; once the president signs the law into effect the judicial branch, decides the constitutionality of the federal law and resolves other disputes over them, however the judicial system still has to depend on the executive branch to enforce the final court decisions.

The Constitution and the law determine the Judicial Process; the judges decide cases by evaluating the constitutional rules and appropriate ruling depending on the facts of the individual case. Criminal law cases are those that involve a plaintiff or government charges an individual for breaking the law, while a civil law involves the disputes between individuals and no official crime is alleged, generally the plaintiff seeks economic compensation or damages (314). Public law is a special category of cases in which the public or specific agencies argue either the powers of government or rights of citizens are a risk. The U.S court cases are decided based on the doctrine of "stare decisis," which literally means "let the decision stand," in which sets a precedents for future decision making (315). This doctrine applies to not only the future but as well as the past, decisions will be based on past court rulings and historical precedents set.

The courts are organized into three main types of courts: trial courts, court of appeals, and supreme courts. The first court, or trial court, hears a criminal or civil case and if the defendant is found guilty they can appeal to a higher court, for example a state's court of appeals. The court of appeals hears and reassesses the appeal of trial-court decisions and can further appeal to the state's supreme court. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the U.S Judiciary system; it has the final jurisdiction over all federal and state courts, and original jurisdiction over a range of cases. The Supreme Court is made up of a chief justice, and eight associate justices who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and once appointed justices have the position for life unless they are impeached from the seat. The federal jurisdiction of the courts is determined by Article III in the Constitution, which gives the Supreme Court appellate jurisdiction in all federal cases and original jurisdiction. Over time Congress has assigned jurisdictions based on geography, the nation is currently divided into ninety0four judicial districts, including a court for each of the United States territories (318). The appellate jurisdiction of federal courts extends to cases that originated in the state courts. In all cases the decision of the highest state court can be appealed to the U.S Supreme Court by raising a federal issue. Lower federal courts, such as, district and appellate courts are the courts that handle most of the federal cases of original jurisdiction. Even though federal courts hear only a small portion of the court cases decided every year, their decisions play a very important role, because the federal courts that the federal law and Constitution is translated to determine all meaning and significance. The federal courts dominate the American judicial system because they have the power to review any and all cases of the state courts, thus having the power to make the final ruling or decision.

The Supreme Court in the Marbury v. Madison (1803) case asserted the power of "judicial review" by declaring the Judiciary Act unconstitutional, establishing judicial review. This power of judicial review greatly changed our judicial system; it refers to the ability of the courts to invalidate actions taken by the legislative or executive branches. Since 1803 it has been recognized as a natural judicial power and disputes over the intentions of the framers were settled with this court ruling. "The Supreme Court struck down more than thirty-six acts of Congress between 1986 and 2007 (330). The Supremacy Clause in Article VI of the Constitution states, "all laws passed by the national government and all treaties are the supreme law of the land" (330) and is the basis of the Supreme Court's power to test the constitutionality of a state law or state action. With increasing laws being passed to the executive branch and rise of policy