Английский язык. Учебное пособие. Бабушкин А.П - 7 стр.

                                           8
                         Trial courts of limited jurisdiction
Court of Claims                             Small Claims Court
Court of International Trade                Traffic Court
Tax Court                                   Family Court
                                            Juvenile Court
                                            County Court
                                            Justice of the Peace
                                            etc.


                                        Text B

       Appellate Courts A person found guilty in a criminal case, and either party in
a civil suit, if sufficiently unhappy about the outcome of a trial, may appeal to
another court for review of the decision of the trial court. Everyone is entitled to one
appeal. Supreme courts and intermediate court of appeals are the main appellate
courts. Appellate courts do not hold new trials, but only review the written record of
the lower court and hear the arguments of opposing attorneys. Appeals courts
determine if the trial judge made an important error in procedure or interpretation of
law that would require the appeals court to reverse the decision and perhaps to order a
new trial. Exceptions sometimes occur in cases appealed from trial courts of limited
jurisdiction. Appeals from these courts may require new trials in trial courts of
general jurisdiction. Certain other appeals are heard by intermediate appeals courts,
while others, often involving more serious crime and more money, are reviewed by
the highest court.
       The formal purpose of intermediate courts of appeals is to hear certain types of
cases that are considered to be less important and to take on some of the work of the
highest appellate court. Some state supreme courts, for example, review criminal
cases only when the death penalty is imposed. Others hear cases if the prison term
handed down by the trial court is 5 years or more. Lesser penalties are reviewed by
intermediate appellate courts. Cases involving less than certain amounts of money,
perhaps $10,000 or less, will be reviewed only by the intermediate appellate courts in
certain states. Cases In the federal district courts may be appealed to the federal
courts of appeals. This is the last stop for most litigants in the federal system.
       There also are two special federal appellate courts of limited jurisdiction (not
listed in Table I). They are the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, which hears
appeals from the Court of International Trade and reviews decisions of the U.S.
Patent Office, and the Court of Military Appeals, which hears appeals from court
martials.
       Appeals lo the U.S. Supreme Court may come from federal courts of appeals,
state supreme courts, federal district courts under certain circumstances, and certain
federal courts of limited jurisdiction. Generally, cases involving the constitutionality
of federal and state laws and conflicts between federal and state law may be appealed.
Many state supreme court decisions that deny a litigant’s claim based on the
Constitution are appealed to the Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court also