State Courts
State courts serve the same function as the federal courts, except they function at the state level. They interpret the meaning of the state constitution, rule on matters of state statutory law, and create a body of state case law. As mentioned earlier, the vast majority of the legal proceedings that occur in the United States take place in state courts. Cases tried in state courts may deal with any of the following matters:
Felony and misdemeanor crimes
Business and real-estate disputes
Divorce and child custody cases
Will, estate, and trust probates
Personal injury and other private tort actions
Private economic (contract) disputes
Matters involving state regulation of business and professional services
States have varying methods for selecting jurists to their court of last resort. Eight states, including Pennsylvania and Texas, hold partisan elections for these positions. Thirteen states hold nonpartisan elections. The governors of New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Maine appoint their high court jurists, while Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia vest that power with their state legislatures.
While no two state court systems are organized exactly alike, most states divide their court system among four general categories: trial courts of limited jurisdiction, trial courts of general jurisdiction, appellate courts, and the “court of last resort.”
Trial Courts of Limited Jurisdiction
Upward of 80 percent of all the courts in the United States are state courts of limited jurisdiction. These include juvenile courts, city courts, county courts, family courts, municipal courts, and magistrate courts, to name a few. Typically, these courts hear minor cases, such as criminal misdemeanors (cases for which jail sentences would be less than one year), and civil disputes involving less than $1,000. These cases rarely go to trial — most are quickly resolved out of court.
Trial Courts of General Jurisdiction
Most states refer to their general jurisdiction courts as either district or superior courts. For some unknown reason, New York refers to it as the supreme court. These courts handle major cases, such as felony crimes (cases for which jail sentences would be longer than one year) and civil disputes greater than $1,000. Most states divide their general trial courts into judicial circuits or regions according to existing boundaries, such as counties or parishes.
Intermediate Appellate Courts
As their name implies, appellate courts hear cases on appeal from the trial courts of limited and general jurisdiction. Only three-quarters of the states have intermediate appellate courts; the others designate their court of last resort as the sole court of appeal. In most situations, these appellate courts have mandatory jurisdiction, meaning that they must accept all cases brought before them. Some states have one court of appeals with statewide jurisdiction, while other states have regional appellate courts that service a specific group of trial courts.
Court of Last Resort
Every state has a highest court, or court of last resort. Most states refer to it as the supreme court, with New York being the notable exception (it calls it the court of appeals). For the most part, state courts of last resort behave similarly to the United States Supreme Court in that they have discretionary jurisdiction (they choose their cases), only rule on matters of law (they don't hear evidence), and are the final arbiters on matters of state law. Only a narrow band of cases can be appealed from a state court of last resort to the United States Supreme Court (more on this in the next chapter).
