Exam 3: The Structure of Federal and State Courts

In this case, the Supreme Court decided that a police officer may conduct a search pursuant to an arrest without a search warrant but may only search in areas that the arrestee can readily access.

Most criminal cases are settled at the trial court level.

This is an order to the intermediate court of appeals, district court, special federal court, and/or state high court to send their trial or appeal transcripts to the Supreme Court for review.

This entails centralization of the judicial system at the state level.

Only limited jurisdiction courts have original jurisdiction.

According to this rule of the U.S. Supreme Court, four justices must agree to hear a case for a case to be heard.

These courts allow district courts to focus on original jurisdiction cases and relieve the U.S. Supreme Court's appellate load.

The judicial branch is supposed to test the constitutionality of law.

These courts hear disputes of law regarding trials and review the legality of the trial procedures.

What is another name for trial courts of general original jurisdiction?

Which executive branch agency performs federal criminal investigations?

In 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court described this writ as "the fundamental instrument for safeguarding

These courts are created by Congress under Article I powers.

Congress divided the United States into nine appellate circuits and created Circuit Courts of Appeals.

Which is not a specialized state court that deals with criminal offenses?

Nearly all criminal appeals are filed by the defense.

A jury that cannot agree on a verdict of guilty or not guilty is called a _______.

These courts act as the final arbiter in the state system.

Most criminal courts have _____, which means they are usually limited to handling misdemeanors and less serious felonies.

These courts usually have no jury, often specialize in a particular area of law, and, in more sparsely populated counties, have a single judge running the courthouse.