2.2 The Relationship between State and Federal Court Systems in the United States

Although it is sometimes said that there are two separate court systems, the reality is more complex. There are more than fifty court systems in the United States. Each state has its own court system, there is a local court system in the District of Columbia, and of course there is the federal court system. While these are all separate court systems, there are points of contact between them.

Courts must honor the laws of other states, and must also honor federal law. To understand what this means, let’s review how state laws and federal laws might come into contact. First, under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, state courts must honor federal law where state laws are in conflict with federal law. Second, claims arising under federal statutes can be tried in the state courts as long as the Constitution or Congress has not explicitly required that only federal courts can hear that kind of claim. Third, under the full faith and credit clause, each state court is obligated to respect the final judgments of courts in other states. Thus, a contract dispute resolved by an Arkansas court cannot be relitigated in North Dakota when the plaintiff wants to collect on the Arkansas judgment in North Dakota. Fourth, state courts often must consider the laws of other states in deciding cases involving issues where two states have an interest, such as when drivers from two different states collide in a third state. Under these circumstances, state judges will consult their own state’s case decisions involving conflicts of laws and sometimes decide that they must apply another state’s laws to decide the case.

Just as state courts are concerned with federal law, so too are federal courts often concerned with state law and with what happens in state courts. Federal courts will consider state-law-based claims when a case involves claims using both state and federal law. Claims based on federal laws will permit the federal court to take jurisdiction over the whole case, including any state issues raised. In those cases, the federal court is said to exercise pendent jurisdiction over the state claims. Also, the Supreme Court will occasionally take appeals from a state supreme court where state law raises an important issue of federal law to be decided. For example, a convict on death row may claim that the state’s chosen method of execution using the injection of drugs is unusually painful and involves “cruel and unusual punishment,” raising an Eighth Amendment issue.

Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction is an essential concept in understanding courts and the legal system. Jurisdiction is a combination of two Latin words: juris (law) and diction (to speak). Which court has the power “to speak the law” is the basic question of jurisdiction. Jurisdiction therefore refers to the legal authority or power that a court governing body has over a particular geographical area, subject matter, or individuals. In order to decide a claim or controversy, a Court must have jurisdiction over that claim, the parties in the suit, and geographic area in which the claim arose. Jurisdiction determines which Court has the right to hear and decide legal cases and make rulings that bind the parties on various matters. Jurisdiction ensures that legal proceedings are conducted within a defined framework and that decisions are binding and enforceable.

Subject Matter Jurisdiction – Filing in Federal Court

The decision of whether a case can be heard in the federal courts is a question of subject matter jurisdiction. Federal court jurisdiction is based on the types of cases outlined in Article III of the Constitution. Generally, federal courts have jurisdiction over cases in the following situations, meaning that these cases can be filed in federal courts.

Federal Question Jurisdiction: Federal courts have jurisdiction over cases that involve a federal law, treaty, or the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. If the legal dispute centers around a question of federal law, it can be brought in federal court. For example, cases involving violations of federal statutes like civil rights laws, antitrust laws, or intellectual property laws often fall under federal question jurisdiction, and therefore such cases can originate in the federal courts.

Diversity of Citizenship Jurisdiction: Federal courts can hear cases between parties from different states if the amount in controversy exceeds a certain threshold (currently $75,000). In these cases, the federal courts are applying state law to decide a case. This is intended to provide a neutral forum when parties from different states are involved in a dispute, and it helps prevent bias that might arise in state courts. For example, a citizen of New Jersey may sue a citizen of New York over a contract dispute in federal court, but if both were citizens of New Jersey, the plaintiff would be limited to the state courts. The Constitution establishes diversity jurisdiction to avoid any hostility of the local courts toward people from other states. In 2020 more than 40% of all lawsuits filed in federal court were based on diversity of citizenship. In a diversity of citizenship case, the plaintiff may choose to file in federal court. Or, the plaintiff may file in their home state court, and the defendant in turn may ask for removal to federal court on the basis of diversity. This may be because litigants sometimes believe that there would be a “home-court advantage” for an in-state plaintiff who brings a lawsuit against a nonresident in his local state court.

Along with  these two main ways to establish subject matter jurisdiction in the federal courts, there are some other cases that originate in federal court – admiralty cases, cases between states, and bankruptcy cases among them.

Video on Difference Between Federal Court and State Court

The Federal Court System

The federal judicial system is uniform throughout the United States and consists of three levels: the district courts, the courts of appeal and the United States Supreme Court.

District Courts

At the first level are the federal district courts, which are the trial courts in the federal system. Every state has one or more federal districts; the less populous states have one, and the more populous states (California, Texas, and New York) have four. New Jersey has one federal District Court.

Courts of Appeal

Cases from the district courts can then be appealed to the circuit courts of appeal, of which there are thirteen. Each circuit oversees the work of the district courts in several states. For example, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit hears appeals from district courts in New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. New Jersey is part of the Third Circuit, which also hears appeals from the district courts in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Appeals are usually heard by three-judge panels, but sometimes there will be a rehearing at the court of appeals level, in which case all judges sit to hear the case “en banc.”

United States Supreme Court

Overseeing all federal courts is the U.S. Supreme Court, in Washington, DC. It consists of nine justices—the chief justice and eight associate justices. (This number is not constitutionally required; Congress can establish any number. It has been set at nine since after the Civil War.) The Supreme Court has selective control over most of its docket. By law, the cases it hears represent only a tiny fraction of the cases that are submitted. In the 2022 term, the Supreme Court had numerous petitions (over 7,000, not including thousands of petitions from prisoners) but decided only 58 cases. All the justices hear and consider each case together, unless a justice has a conflict of interest and must withdraw from hearing the case.

Figure 2.1 The Federal Judicial Circuits

Federal judges—including Supreme Court justices—are nominated by the president and must be confirmed by the Senate. Unlike state judges, who are usually elected and preside for a fixed term of years, federal judges sit for life unless they voluntarily retire or are impeached.

Exclusive Jurisdiction in Federal Courts

There are some cases that can only be heard in the federal courts. In other words, these types of cases cannot be filed in the state court systems. These cases are listed in Article III of the U.S. Constitution and include:

• cases in which two or more states are a party
• cases involving ambassadors and other high-ranking public figures
• federal crimes
• bankruptcy
• patent, copyright, and trademark cases
• cases involving Securities and banking regulation

In addition, other cases can be specified by federal statute where Congress declares that federal courts will have exclusive jurisdiction.

Subject Matter Jurisdiction – Filing in State Court

When a dispute does not fall within the specific jurisdiction of federal courts, the resulting case will be filed in state court. State courts have jurisdiction over a wide range of legal matters not filed in the federal courts. Basically, when a case cannot be filed in federal court because the federal courts do not have jurisdiction, the only choice for jurisdiction would be to file in state court. The vast majority of civil lawsuits in the United States are filed in state courts.

The State Court Systems

A typical state court system in the United States looks a lot like the federal court system, with three levels of courts that handle a wide range of legal matters arising under state laws. While the structure and terminology can vary from state to state, the following is a general overview of the components that might be found in a state court system.

State Trial Courts

Each state will have a court that functions as its general trial court, which is going to be the court in which most cases will originate. In New Jersey, this court is the Superior Court.

State Intermediate Appellate Courts

Most, but not all, states have an intermediate appeals court that hears appeals from the state trial court. Whether or not a state has an intermediate appeals court will be established in its state constitution. These courts primarily handle appeals, ensuring that legal errors or misinterpretations are corrected. Court appeals in New Jersey go through the Appellate Division of the Superior Court.

State Supreme Court

This is the highest court in a state’s judicial system. It has discretionary review authority over cases and provides final interpretation of state laws and constitution within the state. It often focuses on important legal questions and issues of public policy. In New Jersey, the highest court is called the New Jersey Supreme Court

Figure 2.2: The New Jersey State Court System

Subject Matter Jurisdiction – Limited versus General Jurisdiction Courts

Most cases that are filed in a Court system are filed in a court of general jurisdiction. A court of general jurisdiction has the authority to hear and decide a wide variety of cases, both civil and criminal, without being limited to specific subject matters or certain types of legal disputes. These courts are designed to handle a broad spectrum of legal issues and provide a forum for parties to resolve a wide range of disputes under the law. In the federal system, a Court of General Jurisdiction is the District Court. In New Jersey, an example of a court of general jurisdiction is the Superior Court, where trials are held. State courts of general jurisdiction hear cases involving incidents such as automobile accidents and injuries, or breaches of contract. They also try cases involving serious crimes. Decisions in courts of general jurisdiction are often made by juries.

Court systems also have courts of limited jurisdiction. These are courts that hear only certain types of cases – either cases that are specialized to a specific area of the law only, or cases that are considered smaller cases than would typically be heard by a court of general jurisdiction. For example, a state court that only hears landlord-tenant types of cases would be a court of limited jurisdiction to this specific area of law. In New Jersey, there is a tax court which is a specialized court hears cases involving disputes related to state taxation, including property taxes, income taxes, and other tax matters. There are also several specialized courts in the federal judicial system. These include the U.S. Tax Court, the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, and the Court of Claims.

Limited jurisdiction courts can also include county or municipal courts that hear minor criminal cases (petty assaults, traffic offenses, and breach of peace, among others) and civil cases involving monetary amounts up to a fixed ceiling (no more than $10,000 in most states and far less in many states). Limited jurisdiction courts handle many cases, with estimates up to 80% of all cases filed in state court systems. One familiar limited jurisdiction state court is the small claims court, with jurisdiction to hear civil cases involving claims for amounts ranging between $1,000 and $5,000 in about half the states and for considerably less in the other states ($500 to $1,000). The advantage of the small claims court is that its procedures are informal, and lawyers are not necessary to present the case.

Decisions in limited jurisdiction courts are made by judges, and are usually considered final. If a party is dissatisfied with the outcome, typically that party will be able to get a new trial in a court of general jurisdiction. Because there has been one trial already, this is known as a trial de novo. It is not an appeal, since the case essentially starts over.

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