Alaska's unified court system: federal and state jurisdiction

Alaska Federal and State Jurisdiction

THE ALASKA MODEL

Federal and State Jurisdiction

Alaska is the 49h state of the United States of America and the largest (State of Alaska, 2013). Its capital is Juneau and Fairbanks is the only large city. Its government is divided into three co-equal branches, namely the executive, the legislative, and the judicial, for purposes of checks and balances. The judicial branch consists of three separate entities, i.e., the Alaska Court System, the Alaska Judicial Council and the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct (State of Alaska).

Alaska has a unified and centrally operated court system, which is completely State-funded (State of Alaska, 2013). The State's court system has four levels with individual powers, duties and responsibilities. The first two, the Superior Court and District Court, are trial courts. They are the first that hear and decide cases. The other two are the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals, which review and work on appeals from verdicts emanating from the trial courts. State courts try mainly street crimes, which require prompt action. These include burglary, robberies and murder. Federal courts, on the other hand, tackle more complicated cases, such as immigration violations, frauds, illegal possession of firearms and money laundering (Fradella @ Neubauer, 2013 as qtd in State of Alaska).