United States district court

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The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. 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.

In order to relieve the pressure of trying the hundreds of thousands of cases brought before the federal district courts each year, many trials are tried by juries, along with a presiding judge.[1]

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.

Congress created the judicial office of federal magistrate in 1968. In 1990, the position title was changed to magistrate judge. The Chief judge of each district appoint one or more magistrate judges, who discharge many of the ancillary duties of district judges so that the judges can handle more trials. There are both full-time and part-time magistrate judge positions, and these positions are assigned to the district courts according to caseload criteria (subject to funding by Congress). A full-time magistrate judge serves a term of eight years; a part-time magistrate judge's term of office is four years[2].

There are 89 district courts altogether. The number of judgeships alloted to each district is set forth in Title 28 of the U.S. Code, Section 133.[3]

District courts and associated circuits

First-Fourth Circuits

Fifth-Seventh Circuits

Eighth-Ninth Circuits

Tenth-Eleventh Circuits

District of Columbia circuit

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ United States District Courts
  2. ↑ http://www.lectlaw.com/files/jud21.htm
  3. ↑ Federal Judiciary Frequently Asked Questions

Portions of this article have been taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Copyright Notice here.

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