What is the role of the US District Courts?

Answer 1

The US District Courts are the trial courts of the Judicial Branch.

The United States judiciary has many parts. The US Supreme Court is the most famous and widely known part... and it sits at the very highest level of the federal judiciary.

The federal district courts are but one part of the federal judiciary... the part where the actual trials usually happen. If one is going to sue someone for something in the federal (as opposed to the state) judiciary system, then one would file with the clerk of the federal district court for the judicial district in which he is located; and it is in that court that the trial case (as opposed to a subsequent appeals case) would be heard.

The district courts exercise original jurisdiction over (that is, they are empowered to conduct trials related to) the following types of cases:

• Civil actions arising under the Constitution, laws, and treaties of the United States; and,
• Certain civil actions between citizens of different states; and,
• Civil actions within the admiralty or maritime jurisdiction of the United States; and,
• Criminal prosecutions brought by the United States; and,
• Civil actions in which the United States is a party; and,
• Many other types of cases and controversies.

There are 94 federal judicial districts in the federal judiciary system, including at least one district in each state, and for the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Three territories of the United States (the Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands) also have district courts that hear federal cases.

The next higher level of court above the district is not a trial court, but an appeals court... where one (typically the loser) takes one's case for review after it has been heard in the district court. Trials adjudicated in the federal district courts are typically appealed to the district's circuit court of appeals; and if the appellant wanted to continue on beyond that he or she would normally go to the federal circuit court of appeals (as opposed to the aforementioned district circuit court of appeals); and then, finally, he or she would arrive at the United States Supreme Court... the highest court in the land.

So, then, the district court is where all the trial action happens, and all courts above it are where appeals of whatever happens in the district court take place.

There are other types of Federal courts, but they're specialized... like bankruptcy, for example, or taxes, or international trade. Some of those courts are district-level, and some are part of a higher-level circuit.

Correction to Above Answer:

The US federal court system only provides one level of appeal between the US District Courts and the US Supreme Court, not two.

Decisions made in US District Courts are appealed to the US Courts of Appeals Circuit Courts that have territorial jurisdiction over the district court where the trial was held. Circuit Court decision are petitioned directly to the US Supreme Court.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is not an intermediary between the territorial Circuits and the US Supreme Court, but a separate entity within the Circuit Court system that has national subject-matter jurisdiction over cases initially held in US Special Courts, such as the US Court of Federal Claims, the US Court of International Trade, and the US Court of Veterans' Claims; appeals of certain government board, departmental and commission decisions, such as those of the US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, patent cases, and US contractor disputes, as well as appeals involving a few specific Acts of Congress. Appeals of decisions made in the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit are also petitioned directly to the US Supreme Court.

Federal Court System:

1. Court of original jurisdiction (District Courts, Special Courts, etc.)
2. Intermediate appellate court (Territorial Circuit Court or Federal Circuit Court, depending which has jurisdiction, not both.)
3. US Supreme Court