Public Health Law Map - Beta 5 - Medical and Public Health Law Site

3. The Judicial Branch
The federal court system has three levels. The first level is the federal district courts.
Most lawsuits brought in the federal system start in the district court (although some
go directly from state courts to the U.S. Supreme Court). There are several hundred
district courts spread among 94 districts. In general, the case must be brought in the
district court that is geographically related to the defendant or where the incident
occurred. The choice of court is not a neutral decision. Districts differ in the way the
judges apply the law and the willingness of their juries to award damages.
The second level is the federal courts of appeals. As the name suggests, those who
believe that the district court has misapplied the law or abused its discretion in the
handling of their case appeal to these courts. District courts are grouped together into
13 circuits, each with several judges who sit in panels of three, or en banc (all
together) to hear the cases appealed from the district courts within the circuit. The
appeals courts within a circuit attempt to apply the law consistently within their
circuit. Although they try to maintain consistency with the other circuits, they are
bound only by the Congress and by the U.S. Supreme Court, not the holding of the
other circuits.
The third level is the U.S. Supreme Court. Some types of cases may be brought
directly in the Supreme Court, but most travel from the federal district court through
a circuit court of appeals, to the Supreme Court or from a state supreme court to the
U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has four primary roles: determining if acts
of the U.S. Congress are constitutional; reviewing state laws and court decisions for
conflicts with the Constitution and acts of Congress; adjudicating conflicts between
the states; and resolving conflicts between the federal circuit courts of appeals. The
Supreme Court reviews only laws or court decisions that are contested in a court. It
does not provide advisory opinions on the constitutionality of proposed state or
federal laws. Even with this limited scope of review, the Supreme Court can decide
only a small percentage of the cases that are presented to it each year. Its decision not
to review a case, which allows the lower court’s decision to stand, influences
precedent nearly as much as the cases in which it issues an opinion. For this reason,
the Supreme Court devotes substantial resources to sorting through the thousands of
appeals cases presented each year.
Not every case may be brought in federal court. The case must involve federal
statutes or regulations, constitutional rights, suits between states, or suits between
citizens of different states. Medical malpractice cases are usually tried in state court
unless one of the defendants is an employee of the federal government or the parties
live in different states. Cases involving constitutional issues such as the right of
privacy are brought in the federal courts. Cases involving antitrust law, racketeering
law, and Medicare/Medicaid laws are brought in the federal courts because these are
federal laws. A case originally brought in federal court may be sent back to the state
court if the judge determines that it does not involve a federal issue. Alternatively, a
case filed in state court may be sent (removed) to federal court if substantial federal
questions arise as the case proceeds.
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