Georgia law overview and legal framework

¶ … Federal and State Court Systems in George

The federal and state court system in the United States is tasked with providing timely adjudication of all cases within their jurisdiction. Each of the several states, including Georgia, is part of a larger federal system of district courts and courts of appeal, and their courts have their state-level counterparts, each of which is responsible for hearing cases of certain types. To determine which courts are responsible for what in the State of Georgia today, this paper provides a review of the relevant literature, followed by a summary of the research and important findings concerning the federal and state court systems in place in Georgia today in the conclusion.

Review and Analysis

The Federal Court Structure in the Southern District of Georgia

The U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Eleventh District for the Southern District form part of the overall adjudicative coverage of the State of Georgia. According to Black's Law Dictionary (1990), "Courts may be classified and divided and according to several methods [including] appellate courts. Such courts review decisions of inferior courts and may be either intermediate appellate courts (court of appeals) or supreme courts" (p. 353). In Georgia's case, the state has both. In this regard, Black's definition of court of appeals states that, "In those states with courts of appeals, such courts are usually intermediate appellate courts (with the highest appellate court being the state supreme court)" (p. 355).

Furthermore, in Georgia's case, the United States Court of Appeal for the Eleventh Circuit in responsible for adjudicating cases from the states of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia (Federal Courts of Appeal, 2013). Although Eleventh Circuit judges hear the majority of their cases in Atlanta, Georgia, the court's principal office, the traditions of the circuit court system mean that in certain cases, judges for the Eleventh Circuit also hear cases in Jacksonville, Florida, Miami, Florida, and Montgomery, Alabama on occasion (Federal Courts of Appeals, 2013). The Eleventh Circuit is depicted in the bottom-right of the map at Figure 1 below.

Figure 1. Map of Federal Circuits Illustrating Georgia's Eleventh Circuit

Source: Federal Courts of Appeal (2013) at http://www.catea.gatech.edu/grade/legal / circuits.html

At the Federal District Court level, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia hears cases in six locations (Augusta, Brunswick, Dublin, Savannah, Waycross, and Statesboro) (Southern District of Georgia, 2013). The Southern District of Georgia is comprised of 43 counties situated in the southeastern part of the state (Southern District of Georgia, 2013). The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia (comprised of five divisions encompassing 70 Georgia counties with offices in Athens, Albany, Columbus, Macon, and Valdosta) is the United States district court responsible for representing the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court (U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, 2013). In addition, the U.S. District Court Northern District of Georgia consists of 46 counties in the northwestern part of the state, including the greater Atlanta metropolitan area; the District is comprised of four divisions: Atlanta, Gainesville, Newnan and Rome served by 11 judges (Northern District of Georgia, 2013). The Court in the Northern District also has 8 senior judges and 9 magistrate judges on a full-time basis (Northern District of Georgia, 2013). The George State Magistrate Court hears small claims cases up to $20,000 (Georgia Small Claims Court, 2013).

Court of Competent Jurisdiction in Representative Georgia Cases

Article III of the Constitution of the State of Georgia stipulates with respect to courts, the Chief Justice of the George Supreme Court has the sole power to try impeachment cases involved members of the General Assembly (Section VII). In addition, Article VII, Section III, Paragraph II (d) also stipulates that, "As provided by law, additional penalties may be assessed in any case in which any court in this state imposes a fine or orders the forfeiture of any bond in the nature of the penalty for all offenses against the criminal and traffic laws of this state or of the political subdivisions of this state." An application of relevant controlling legislation to representative cases to determine jurisdiction provided in the vignettes below:

1. Vignette No. 1: You are renting an apartment. Your landlord has falsely claimed that you have given notice that you would not renew your lease and is pursuing eviction charges against you. The amount in controversy is $2,000 in rent, including your security deposit. This case would be heard in Georgia's Magistrate Court, which is the state's equivalent of small claims courts with jurisdiction over cases up to $20,000 (Georgia Small Claims Court, 2013).