United States Federal Courts - Categories

Categories

The courts are one of the three coequal branches of the federal government, and include:

Highest court

• Court of last resort:
  • Supreme Court of the United States (which primarily has appellate jurisdiction but also has original jurisdiction over a very narrow range of cases)

Appellate courts

• Courts with geographic-based appellate jurisdiction:
  • The eleven numbered United States courts of appeals
  • The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

• Courts with appellate jurisdiction over specific subject matter:
  • United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review

Original jurisdiction

• General trial courts:
  • United States district courts (one in each of the 94 federal judicial districts)

• Courts with original jurisdiction over specific subject matter:
  • United States Alien Terrorist Removal Court
  • United States bankruptcy courts (one in each of the 94 federal judicial districts)
  • United States Court of Federal Claims
  • United States Court of International Trade
  • United States Court of Private Land Claims (1891-1904)
  • United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
  • United States Tax Court

While federal courts are generally created by the United States Congress under the constitutional power described in Article III, many of the specialized courts are created under the authority granted in Article I. Greater power is vested in Article III courts because they are independent of Congress, the President, and the political process.

Article III requires the establishment of a Supreme Court and permits the Congress to create other federal courts, and place limitations on their jurisdiction. In theory, Congress could eliminate the entire federal judiciary except for the Supreme Court, although the 1st Congress established a system of lower federal courts through the Judiciary Act of 1789.