The Judicial Branch
The powers of the judicial branch are covered in Article III of the Constitution. The Judicial Branch is made up of the national court system. It contains the district courts, the Courts of Appeal, and the Supreme Court. There are no requirements to become a judge in a court or a justice in the Supreme Court. The president appoints justices and they must be approved by the congress. The main responsibility of the judicial branch is to review government laws and actions to see if they are constitutional. This is also how they keep the other branches in check through the system of checks and balances.
District CourtsThere are a total of 94 district courts throughout the country. Each state has at least one district court. The district courts were established by the Judiciary Act of 1789. The district courts deal with local and personal issues and cases.
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Courts of AppealThe courts of Appeal are special courts that decide whether a case should be retried. There are 13 of these courts. The losing side in a case can ask the Court of Appeals to see if their case should be retried in the Supreme Court.
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The Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court is the highest court in the nation and deals with the most important issues. The supreme Court is given thousands of cases a year from the Courts of Appeal, but they only deal with about one hundred. The court is made up of nine justices. There are no requirements to become a justice and they serve for life. The Chief Justice leads the court and is appointed by the president. The Chief Justice must be approved by the Congress as well.
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