Court System

Court System

Introduction

This paper intends to explore about the Court System of United States. The major historical developments in the courts of United States will be discussed. Moreover, the rationale of dual court system of the United States will be outlined. This paper will also explore the correlation between the historical developments and the dual court system of the United States. The purpose of this paper is to make the reader aware about the significance of the history of judicial system prevailing within the premises of United States.

Discussion

The development of state courts within United States can be traced back from the colonial period. Every state in United States organizes its court system independently. Every state has been provided with the right to choose its own organizational structures and the possible jurisdictions of their respective courts. Various types of courts have been developed throughout the history of United States. The federal level states have trial courts normally called as district courts and circuit courts which are the appellate tribunals. In New York most of the trial courts are considered as supreme courts (Columbia Encyclopedia, 2007).

The development of court system started in the colonial period. Local judges were called magistrates on the lowest level of their colonial judiciary. By the early eighteenth century, the development of formal courts started. After the American Revolution on 1775, distrust towards the judiciary was developed because of the declaration of courts as unconstitutional. State courts were prominent during the civil war and the industrialization era. Modern state courts were developed in order to handle the immense volume of cases. Modern courts like claim courts, domestic relations courts and juvenile courts become prominent in that era.

Various states within United States approves the unified court system; however some states still prefer operations that are bewildered with complex courts and overlapping jurisdictions. The state courts have now taken the four different forms of trial courts of limited jurisdiction, courts of last resort, intermediate appellate courts and trial courts of general jurisdiction (James, 2009).

The Dual Court System

The dual court system identifies the differences between state and federal courts. As discussed above, state and federal courts are normally distinguishable. The dual court system of United States refers to the different tracks of federation and states under the basic judicial branch of government. Federal courts are normally assumed to conduct the matters of criminal and civil nature which falls under ...