United States District Court for the Northern District of New York

Transcription

in order to understand how the federal court system works we need to know the structure of the federal court system so let's talk about that in this video a little bit and i'll start at the very top of the federal court system with the court that you probably have already heard of and that is the united states supreme court supreme court as you probably know the supreme court is the highest court in the united states it's that's top court of the court system and as the top court its job is to review the decisions of the lower courts of the courts below it so the supreme court reviews the decisions of the courts that are below it and the courts that are directly below the united states supreme court are called the circuit courts circuit courts those courts are called circuit courts because the country is divided up into geographic regions called circuits we can see the circuits on this map right here the circuits are numbered... the first circuit, the second circuit, the third circuit, etcetera and this map is color coded to show you which states are included in each of the circuits so out here on the west coast, just as an example, all these states that are shaded the same gray-blue color are all in the same circuit, and as you might have guessed by this number nine they're all in the ninth circuit and in the middle of the country here all of these orange colored states are all part of the eight circuit and it's the same it's the same way through the entire country so all the circuits each circuit has a port just for that circuit that's what i've drawn here that's what these boxes are underneath the supreme court so the circuits are all numbered for circuit second circuit third circuit fourth fifth circuit and there's a quarter a circuit court for each one of those circuits and the federal court system has thirteen different circuits and circuit courts thirteen different circuits each one having its own court the uh... actually the you fish on for the circuit court is the united states quart of appeals for the name of the circuit and so the first circuit court is officially called the united states quart of appeals for the first circuit we're sometimes will call it the first circuit court of appeals for short or even shorter just the first circuit court at that it's all talking about the same court the reason is called the court of appeals is because it here's appeals it here's the appeals of the lower courts that just means that reviews the decisions of the lower courts just like other supreme court reviews the decisions of the circuit courts the circuit courts review the decisions of the courts and the courts that are below the circuit courts our courts that we'd call district courts the country isn't as divided up into circuits it's also divided up into even smaller segments called districts the districts are inside of the circuits so looking back at the ninth circuit for are an example every state has at least one district inside and sometimes that district except the entire state so the state of montana has one district inside event and the district except that entire state and it's called very logically the district of montana so idaho is a state that has only one district inside it that that district except the entire state and it's called the district of idaho but some of the more populated states have multiple districts inside it and so for example washington is divided up into the western district of washington and the eastern district of washington's divided by the stalled out of line and even though it's they're they're both in the same states the western district in the eastern disregard to different districts just like our the district of idaho is different then the district of montana and california is even more heavily populated stiff identity eastern district of california the northern district of california central district and the southern district antiseptic east coast doesn't feel left out let's look out here at the second circuit much smaller and geographic region uh... it includes the state of vermont which is another state that has just one district for the entire state called the district over mont when new york is divided into the northern district western district the southern district and the eastern district just like how every circuit has a circuit court just for that circuit it's the same lee with the district's every district has accord just for that district that's called the district court so remember we just saw in the second circuit but the second circuit included districts like western district of new york and the southern district of new york and they were a few others uh... including the district of vermont which is the district of texas an entire state in in the ninety six in which we looked at before that uh... nitric included the northern district of california and the southern district of california there are quite a few districts actually in the ninth circuit and the district of or again just to give another example district that takes up an entire state but these decisions that are made in the district court for district can be reviewed by the circuit court for the circuit that the district is inside out the west list of new york is inside the second circuit so the decisions by the district the district court for the western district of new york can be reviewed by the circuit court for the second circuit same thing over here the southern district of california is inside out the ninth circuit so that means the united states quarter of the p_l_o_'s for the ninth circuit can review the decisions by the district court for the southern district of california it's the same way with all of these numbered circuits uh... every numbered circuit has multiple districts inside of it uh... might i can't fit them all here so i can draw that i just gave me some examples but it's the same way for all of these circuits uh... well but the toll sirkin the thirteen circuit are are different and they don't actually exist uh... there there there is a twelfth circuit and the thirteenth circuit but it's not called the talk circular thirteen circuit the twelfth one is called the d_c_ circuit the d_c_ circuit doesn't have a number because unlike the other ones that have multiple districts aside and the d_c_ circularly has one district inside of it that district is called the district of columbia the district for the district of columbia almond so they just delete the name to d_c_ circuit right so he can only hear appeals one district and that's the district of columbia and the last alas circuit well he's a different color for that one elastic is unique see all of these circuit courts the numbered ones and the d_c_ circuit they review decisions based on geography you review decisions that com from districts that are inside of them the six circuit winter review a decision that come from north district of california has no business doing so because the northern district of california is not inside the six circuit the northern district of california would be reviewed by the ninth circuit court of appeals but the federal circuit is there for the federal circuit doesn't have many districts inside it so how can a review anything well the federal court the federal circuit uh... isn't geographically doesn't isn't based on geography right it it's it operates based on the subject matter so certain sbm certain special subjects like happens and trademarks certain veterans affairs international trade and there are few others subjects as well these special subjects are governed by the federal circuit the federal circuit will review decisions that come from any of the districts if they've relate to the subject matters so the southern district of california could be reviewed by the ninth circuit or it could be reviewed by the federal circuit if it's dealing with one of these issues it was not doing that with these issues the southern district health plan would be reviewed by the ninth circuit court of appeals so that's just a quick overview of the structure of the federal court system