Judicial Process in the Federal

Judicial Process in the Federal Courts

Federal Judicial Process

Throughout the United States there are two courts of law, the state and the federal courts. The federal courts are broken up into districts with district courthouses throughout each state in the most highly populated areas and only hear specific cases. Generally, the cases heard in district court must either be based on a federal law or reach a certain amount of money and have parties from different states or countries. The reality is that no cases, with the exception of those brought by congress or the president, go directly to the Supreme Court. Rather, the case goes through various levels to reach the Supreme Court, and even then, must be approved by the Supreme Court in order to be heard. A great example of the federal judicial process is the case of Brown v. Board of Education where parents with the help of the NAACP were able to effectively bring their case and change the law.

The case began as a class action in the United States district court of Kansas. A class action is a case with multiple plaintiff's. Here, there were 13 Kansas parents filing on behalf of their 20 kids, all of whom were refused admission at the schools that were closest to their house. The case was handled and supported by the NAACP who selected Oliver Brown as the lead defendant on the case. The case was initially filed in the Topeka, Kansas district court alleging that segregation of public schools violated the United States Constitution. This case was heard in full by the Topeka, Kansas district court, which ruled in favor of the school district.. The reason was a previous case, Plessy v. Ferguson, which held that segregation was Constitutional so long as both facilities were equal.

In response to the judgment, the NAACP appealed this and four other cases to their district's appeals courts. The district appeals court does not hear a case in its entritiy, rather the justices review the case file and lawyer's arguments and hear a short in-person argument to ask questions and make a decision. This appeal is an appeal by right according to the Constitution, and anyone who appeals to their district's court of appeals will have their case reviewed. Here, the appeals courts in all five cases, still held in favor of the state's right to segregate.