The United States court system, as part of the federal system of government, is characterized by dual hierarchies: there are both state and federal courts. Each state has its own system if courts of appeal, and a state criminal court. The federal court system consists of a series of trial courts (called district courts) serving relatively small geographic regions (there is at least one for every state), a tier of circuit courts of appeal that hear appeals from many district courts in a particular geographic region, and the Supreme Court of the United States. The two court systems are to some extent overlapping, in that certain kinds of disputes (such as a claim that a state law is in violation of the Constitution) may be initiated in either system. They are also to some extent hierarchical, for the federal system stands above the state system stands above the state system in that litigant (person engaged in lawsuits) who lose their cases in the state supreme court may appeal their cases to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Thus, the typical court case begin in a trial court that is a of general jurisdiction in the state or federal system. Most cases go no further than the trial court: for example, the criminal defendant is convicted (by a trial or guilty plea) and sentenced by the court and the case ends; The personal injury suit results in a judgment by a trial court (or an out-of court settlement by the parties while the court suit is pending) and the parties leave the court system. But sometimes the losing party at the trial court cares enough about the cause that the matter does not end there. In these cases, the “loser” at that trial court may appeal to the next higher court.
因此,典型的案件开始审判法庭,这是具有普遍管辖权的州或联邦制度。大多数情况下,没有进一步的去比审判法庭:例如,刑事被告被定罪(由审判或认罪) ,并经本法院判刑的案件结束的人身伤害诉讼判决结果由审判法庭(或一个彻头彻尾的庭外和解,由当事人,而法院诉讼是待定)和有关各方离开法院系统。但有时败诉方在审判法庭关心不够的原因,这个问题并不到此为止。在这些案件中, “失败者”在审判法庭可向上级法院