District Court in the United States

The federal trial court of general jurisdiction. District courts are the primary federal courts of original jurisdiction, disposing of about 300,000 cases per year. The jurisdiction of the district courts, defined pursuant to Article III, includes all federal criminal cases, civil actions arising under the federal Constitution, statutes, treaties if the amount in controversy exceeds $10,000, cases involving citizens of different states (with the same $10,000 minimum), admiralty and maritime cases, and review of certain administrative agency orders. A portion of district court cases (about 15 percent) are criminal, but most criminal prosecutions occur in state courts. The remaining cases on district court dockets are civil. Three categories of civil matters stand out. A large number of cases involve application of the U.S. Constitution or federal statutes. These cases may have substantial public policy consequences. This category includes cases involving protection of civil rights. Second, there are the diversity jurisdiction cases where parties from more than one state are involved. Third are the prisoner petitions. In these cases, state and federal prisoners assert that their imprisonment violates some constitutionally protected right. Most of these cases come through the court’s power to issue writs of habeas corpus. Congress may alter the jurisdiction of the district courts. All district judges are appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate and possess life tenure.

See Also

Magistrate (Judicial Organization);

Original Jurisdiction (Judicial Organization) Territorial Court (Judicial Organization) (Judicial Organization) Three-Judge District Court (Judicial Organization) (Judicial Organization).

Analysis and Relevance

The United States District Court (U.S.)s conduct the great majority of business in the federal judicial system. As a result, they are designed to be the principal points of entry into the federal system. Each state has at least one district court with some of the larger and more populous states having as many as four. There are 89 district courts in the 50 states plus one for the District of Columbia and one for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. There are also Territorial Court (U.S.)s in Guam, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Unlike district court judges, territorial judges serve eight-year terms and handle, in addition to federal matters, local issues that would normally fall to a state court. The district courts vary in size, ranging from one to 30 judges depending on the caseload of the court. Congress may add district court judgeships at its discretion. Currently there are nearly 600 district court judges. Cases decided by the district courts may be appealed to the court of appeals for the appropriate circuit, although certain cases are taken to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Notes and References

1. Definition of District Court from the American Law Dictionary, 1991, California

Concept of District Court

In the U.S., in the context of Judiciary power and branch, District Court has the following meaning: Federal trial courts of original jurisdiction, first established by Congress in the Judiciary Act of 1789 and expanded since then, as constitutional courts. (Source of this definition of District Court : University of Texas)

District Court

Resources

See Also

• Judiciary Power
• Judiciary Branch