Unit 5 Court systems

There are two separate court systems in the United States - federal and state. Federal courts hear criminal and civil cases involving federal law. They also hear cases involving parties from different states when the amount in dispute is more than $ 10,000. Federal trial courts are known as U.S. District Courts. If you lose a trial in the U.S. District Court, you may be able to appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in your region. The United States has thirteen circuit courts. The court of final appeal is the U.S. Supreme Court.

Most state court systems resemble the federal courts in structure and procedure. All states have trial courts. These are called superior courts, country courts, district courts, or municipal courts, depending on the state. State courts are often specialized to deal with specific areas of law, such as: family law, traffic, criminal, probate and small claims.

Family or domestic relations courts hear all actions involving divorce, separation and child custody. Juvenile cases and intrafamily offenses (fights within families) are also heard. Sometimes cases involving juveniles are heard in a special juvenile court. Traffic courts hear all actions involving violations while driving a motor vehicle. Criminal courts hear all cases involving violations of laws for which a person could go to jail. Frequently criminal court is divided between felony and misdemeanor cases. Probate courts handle all cases involving wills and claims against the estates of persons who die with or without a will. Small claims courts hear cases involving small amounts of money (e.g., $200, $500, $1,000, depending on the state).

Recognition vocabulary

verbs	nouns	adjectives
hear - разбирать, слушать involve - вовлекать resemble - напоминать depend - зависеть drive - везти машину; ехать верхом handle - обращаться; рассматривать specialize - специализироваться deal with - решать дело, заниматься, рассматривать	case - дело amount - количество; сумма appeal - апелляция; обжалование procedure - процедура; порядок; процесс relations - отношения custody - охрана; попечение, опека; содержание под стражей violation - нарушение juvenile - подросток traffic - уличное движение vehicle - средство передвижения felony - тяжкое преступление misdemeanor - наименее опасное преступление estate - движимое (недвижимое) имущество claim - иск; требование will - воля; завещание circute - округ probate - утверждение завещания jail - тюрьма party - сторона (по делу) offence - оскорбление divorce - развод separation - раздел имущества	separate - отдельный civil - гражданский final - последний different - другой; отличный от; разный domestic - домашний intrafamily - внутрисемейный word - combinations lose a trial - проиграть дело amount in dispute - оспариваемая сумма денег trial court - суд первой инстанции county court - окружной суд