United States district court

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Map of the boundaries of the United States Courts of Appeals and United States District Courts
Map of the boundaries of the United States Courts of Appeals and United States District Courts
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The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of both law and equity. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States district court. Each federal judicial district has at least one courthouse, and most districts have more than one. The formal name of a district court is "the United States District Court for" the name of the district -- for example, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

There is at least one judicial district for each state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. District courts in three insular areas - the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands -"exercise the same jurisdiction as U.S. district courts." Despite their name, these courts are technically not "District Courts of the United States." Judges on these territorial courts do not enjoy the protections of Article Three of the Constitution, and serve terms of ten years rather than for life.

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[edit] Other federal trial courts

There are other federal trial courts that have nationwide jurisdiction over certain types of cases, but the district court also has concurrent jurisdiction over many of those cases, and the district court is the only one with jurisdiction over criminal cases. The United States Court of International Trade addresses cases involving international trade and customs issues. The United States Court of Federal Claims has exclusive jurisdiction over most claims for money damages against the United States, including disputes over federal contracts, unlawful takings of private property by the federal government, and suits for injury on federal property or by a federal employee. The United States Tax Court has jurisdiction over contested pre-assessment determinations of taxes.

[edit] United States district judge

A judge of a United States District Court is officially titled a “United States District Judge”. Other federal judges, including circuit judges and Supreme Court justices, can also sit in a district court upon assignment by the chief judge of the circuit or by the Chief Justice of the United States. The number of judges in each District Court (and the structure of the judicial system generally) is set by Congress in the Judicial Code. The President appoints all life-tenured federal judges (subject to the approval of the Senate), so the nominees often share at least some of his convictions. In states represented by a senator of the president's party, the senator (or the more senior of them if both senators are of the president's party) has substantial input into the nominating process, and through a tradition known as “senatorial courtesy”, can exercise an unofficial veto over a nominee unacceptable to the senator.

With the exception of the territorial courts (Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands), federal district judges are Article III judges appointed for life, and can be removed involuntarily only when they violate the standard of “good behavior”. The sole method of involuntary removal of a judge is through impeachment by the United States House of Representatives followed by a trial in the United States Senate, which requires a two-thirds vote to convict. Otherwise, a judge, even if convicted of a felony criminal offense by a jury, is entitled to hold office until retirement or death. In the history of the United States, only twelve judges have been impeached by the House, and only seven have been removed following conviction in the Senate. (For a table that includes the twelve impeached judges, see Impeachment in the United States.)

A judge who has reached the age of 65 (or has become disabled) may retire or elect to go on “senior status” and keep working. Such “senior” judges are not counted in the quota of active judges for the district and do only whatever work they are assigned by the chief judge of the district, but they keep their offices (called “chambers”) and staff, and many of them work full-time. A federal judge is addressed in writing as “The Honorable John Doe” or “Hon. John Doe” and in speech as “Judge” or “Judge Doe” or, when presiding in court, “Your Honor”.

District judges usually concentrate on managing their court's overall caseload, supervising trials, and writing opinions in response to important motions like the motion for summary judgment. Since the 1960s, routine tasks like resolving discovery disputes can, in the district judge's discretion, be referred to magistrate judges. Magistrate judges can also be requested to prepare reports and recommendations on contested matters for the district judge's consideration or, with the consent of all parties, to assume complete jurisdiction over a case including conducting the trial.

Federal magistrate judges are not Article III judges with guaranteed lifetime employment. Rather, they are hired and supervised by district judges like any other court employee, and they can be fired at any time for any rational reason (for example, if Congress cuts the judiciary's budget). Occasionally a capable magistrate judge will be nominated by the President to become a district judge, but magistrate judge is just one of the possible “stepping stones” to such an appointment.

In 2006, there were 268 authorized district court judgeships.

[edit] Jurisdiction

To file a civil case (that is, “sue someone”) in federal district court, a person must have a reason why a federal court, instead of a state court, should adjudicate the dispute. By law, the bases for federal jurisdiction (the power to hear and decide a case) are:

  • United States as a plaintiff;
  • United States (or in certain cases a federal officer or employee) as a defendant;
  • “Federal question jurisdiction”, which means the complaint is based on a federal law (which may be the Constitution or a statute);
  • “Admiralty” or “maritime” jurisdiction, which, very generally, applies to and governs disputes which arise out of acts occurring at sea or in other “navigable waters” within the United States.
  • “Diversity of citizenship”, which means the plaintiff, or person suing, and defendant (person being sued) live in different states and the “amount in controversy” is more than the statutory minimum, which is currently $75,000.00; and
  • “Alienage”, which is a variant of diversity of citizenship, wherein one party is a United States citizen and the other is a foreign national who does not reside in any state - alien residents of the United States are treated as citizens for purposes of diversity and alienage jurisdiction - and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.00.

Thus, not every legal dispute can be litigated in federal court, hence the expression “make a federal case out of it.”

Federal district courts often decide claims based on state law. Sometimes this is because only state law claims were pleaded and the only basis for federal jurisdiction is diversity of citizenship or alienage. Other times, even though there is a federal question in the case, the plaintiff has also pleaded state law claims as well, which the federal courts have the discretion to hear through supplemental jurisdiction. Either way, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that in such situations, the district courts must resolve state law claims by applying the substantive law of the state in which they sit, although they use federal law for procedure. They cannot make up and apply general federal common law (which was the old rule). Paradoxically, on issues of state rather than federal law, the opinions of the state courts override those of the federal courts, and a federal court must defer to a state supreme court with regard to an interpretation of state law.

Although in matters of civil law there are often parallel federal and state laws, providing an aggrieved party with a choice of venue, there are some matters which may only be adjudicated in the federal courts; these include most intellectual property questions and matters related to international relations. In some situations, federal law provides both for the exclusive jurisdiction of federal courts and for the immunity of the defendant from the power of those courts. One example of this is patent-infringement claims against a state government: only the federal courts may hear patent cases, but the states have sovereign immunity from such suits under the Eleventh Amendment. Although a state may choose to waive its immunity in such a case and allow it to proceed to trial, if it does not do so, the plaintiff has no recourse. This doctrine was reaffirmed in a United States Supreme Court case, Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board v. College Savings Bank, 527 U.S. 627 (1999).

District courts also have limited jurisdiction as an appellate court, reviewing decisions of the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board and of United States bankruptcy courts (except in those circuits that have created a specialized Bankruptcy Appellate Panel to do so).

[edit] Attorneys

In order to represent a party in a case in a district court, a person must be an attorney at law and generally must be admitted to the bar of that particular court. The United States usually does not have a separate bar examination for federal practice (except with respect to patent practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office). Admission to the bar of a district court is generally granted as a matter of course to any attorney who is admitted to practice law in the state where the district court sits.[1] The attorney submits his application with a fee and takes the oath of admission. Local practice varies as to whether the oath is given in writing or in open court before a judge of the district.

Several district courts require attorneys seeking admission to their bars to take an additional bar examination on federal law, including the following: the Southern District of Ohio,[2] the Northern and Southern Districts of Florida,[3][4] and the District of Puerto Rico.[5]

[edit] Appeals

Generally, a final ruling by a district court in either a civil or a criminal case can be appealed to the United States court of appeals in the federal judicial circuit in which the district court is located, except that some district court rulings involving patents and certain other specialized matters must be appealed instead to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and in a very few cases the appeal may be taken directly to the United States Supreme Court.

[edit] Busiest district courts

Not surprisingly, the busiest and largest district courts are the ones that serve the three largest cities in the United States: New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Respectively, they are the district courts for the Southern District of New York, the Central District of California, and the Northern District of Illinois.

The Central District of California is the largest federal district by population, since it encompasses practically all of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, while the City of New York is divided between the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and many New York suburbs are covered by district courts in New Jersey and Connecticut.

The Southern District of New York is the largest federal district by number of judges, with 46.[6]

[edit] Extinct district courts

Most extinct district courts have disappeared by being divided into smaller districts. The following courts were subdivided out of existence:

On rare occasions, an extinct district court was extinguished by merging it with other district courts. In every case, this has restored a district court which had been subdivided:

There are a few additional extinct district courts which don't fall into either of the above two patterns.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Nearly all district courts have a Local Rule 11.1 or 83.1 that describes the appropriate state judicial institution which admits attorneys to practice (either the state bar association or an office or committee of the state supreme court).
  2. ^ Local Rule 83.3, Local Rules of the Southern District of Ohio.
  3. ^ Local Rule 11.1, Local Rules of the Northern District of Florida,
  4. ^ Local Rules 1 and 2 of The Special Rules Governing the Admission and Practice of Attorneys, Southern District of Florida.
  5. ^ Local Rule 83.1, Local Rules of the District of Puerto Rico.
  6. ^ Judges of the United States Courts

[edit] External links


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