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date: 09 February 2025

Federal and State Appellate Courts in the United Stateslocked

Federal and State Appellate Courts in the United Stateslocked

  • Hayley MunirHayley MunirIllinois State University, Applied Science and Technology
  • , and Wendy L. MartinekWendy L. MartinekDepartment of Political Science, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Summary

Appellate courts are part of both federal and state judiciaries. They serve to correct lower court errors but, more importantly, serve as key policymakers in their respective jurisdictions. The U.S. Supreme Court is the court of last resort in the federal system, though the U.S. courts of appeals (the primary intermediate appellate court in the federal system) is often the last stop for any federal appeal. Both are staffed by presidential nomination coupled with senatorial confirmation. The states exhibit considerable variation in the staffing, design, and function of their appellate courts. That variation encompasses staffing via appointive, electoral, and hybrid methods, as well organizational structures that may include more than one court of last resort (though the majority of states have only one such court) and may omit an intermediate appellate court (IAC; though the majority of states have at least one such court). Scholars know a great deal about the influences on decision making in the U.S. Supreme Court. They know less but still a considerable amount about how judges on the U.S. courts of appeals and state courts of last resort make decisions. Scholarly understanding of decision making on state IACs is quite limited.

Subjects

  • Politics, Law, Judiciary

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