Article III Of The Constitution: Two Level Of Courts

Article III of the Constitution states that there should be “one supreme Court,” but sometimes other courts are needed for certain situations as well. The second level of courts are the US courts of appeals, which consists of thirteen circuits- one federal circuit and twelve regional circuits. The federal circuit helps the Supreme Court in that it hears cases from the district courts. They also hear appeals for special cases. As for the twelve regional circuits, certain states are included in a certain circuit. Certain courthouses contain a certain circuit, and district court cases are heard in these courthouses.
The courts of appeals have appellate jurisdiction, meaning that they do not hear the case first. Instead, the district courts decide