Judicial System in United States of America

The United States has a federal system of government, which means that power is divided between the federal government and the state governments. The judicial branch of the federal government is made up of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts. At the state level, each state has its own court system.

At the federal level, there are three levels of courts:

1. The Supreme Court of the United States, which is the highest court in the land and has the power of judicial review.
2. The U.S. Courts of Appeals, which are intermediate appellate courts that hear appeals from the district courts. There are 13 courts of appeals in the United States, including one for the District of Columbia and one for the Federal Circuit.
3. 
   The U.S. District Courts, which are the trial courts of the federal system and have jurisdiction over a wide range of federal cases, including criminal and civil cases. 
   

At the state level, there are typically two levels of courts:

1. The state supreme court, which is the highest court in the state and has the power of judicial review.
2. The state trial courts, which are lower courts that handle a wide range of cases, including criminal and civil cases.

Some states have additional intermediate appellate courts, also known as Courts of Appeal or Appellate Division, that hear appeals from the trial courts.

Circuit Courts:

In the United States, the term "circuit court" is used in two different ways.

• First, it is used to refer to the U.S. Courts of Appeals, which are intermediate appellate courts that hear appeals from the district courts. There are 13 courts of appeals in the United States, each covering a specific geographic region, known as a circuit. These courts are often referred to as "circuit courts" because of this.
• Second, it is used in some states, such as Illinois and Virginia, to refer to a specific level of court that falls between the trial courts and the state supreme court. These courts are similar to the intermediate appellate courts that exist in some other states but are called "circuit courts" instead.

In both cases, the Circuit court generally hear appeals from the lower courts and has a smaller number of judges compared to the lower courts, and their decision is considered final unless appealed to higher court.