Prior to the  ___ ___ no federal Supreme Court of federal court system existed.

That is not to say that the country was without a ___.

The judicial system existed in the form of ___ separate colonial then state judicial systems. Indeed, prior to the 1789 Constitution there was little need for a federal judicial system since there was little unity among the states and little national law under the Articles of Confederation.　 The people of the country were well served by their ___ ___ ___ .

However, with the advent of a strong national union and a ___ which had the power to create binding federal law and an ___ to enforce them, a national ___ branch was necessitated to adjudicate disputes nationally and to interpret federal law.

refers to a court’s power to hear the facts of the case for the first time and decide the case based upon the law and the facts.

can also be referred to as trial jurisdiction.

the significance of the Court’s role as the co-equal third branch of the federal government, did not rise to prominence under the decision of the Court in the 1803 case of ___v.____.The opinion in that case, authored by the Court’s greatest Chief Justice, ___ ___, created the doctrine of ___ ___ which holds

that the Supreme Court has the power to review the acts of the other two branches of government to decide whether those acts comport with the Constitution.If not, the act in question would be unconstitutional and, thus, null and void.　 Marshall claimed this authority for the Court by asserting that the Constitution’s ___ clause implied such a power for the Court.In later years, the Supreme Court continued to expand its use of the power of ___ ___ such that the Supreme Court’s function in the constitutional constellation is set:The Supreme Court is the final arbiter of the Constitution.

Afterwards, the justices consider the case and vote on a decision.The winning side is the one which receives a majority of the justices voting in the case.　 The winning side prepares the ___ ___ of the Court, announcing the decision and explaining the legal reasoning behind the majority’s decision.　 This majority opinion is assigned by the __ ___ if he is in the ___.　 If he is in the minority, the ___ ___ in the majority assigns the decision.Justices in the majority who agree with the decision but have a separate legal basis for it may write a ___ opinion to attach to the majority opinion.Justices in the minority may write a ____ opinion expressing the legal reasoning why they voted against the majority decision.Altogether, these opinions are bound together as the opinion of the case in point.

The ___ ___, the ___ ___ of appeals and the ___ ___ courts are known as constitutional courts because they are created specifically by the Constitution or by the Congress under its authority in Article ___and ___.　 Courts created by Congress for specialized purposes such as U.S. Territorial Courts are know as___ courts.　 All constitutional court judges serve for ___.　 Legislative court judges serve for a ___term.　 Both constitutional and legislative court judges are appointed to the bench by the___subject to the advise and consent of the ___.

The country, outside of the District of Columbia, is divided into __ geographic regions.A U.S. __ __ __sits in each of the separate districts and hears cases from U.S. __ __ in that region.　 __, along with __ and __ make up the 5

^th

Circuit (or district).

A recent case concerning inequities in public education funding among the state’s many school districts;

demonstrated the ability of the Texas high court to inspire even controversial policy making by the state’s legislature, as well as to support Texas’ legislators’ law-makingdecisions, while maintaining its judicial authority.

Texas courts deal with laws created by the Texas __ and the Texas __.　Between __ and __ percent of all litigation across the nation is based on state laws or local ordinances, not federal law.

Texas has __ levels of courts, though some have overlapping authority and jurisdiction.　　　　　　　　　　　

Courts with only __ jurisdiction review and determine cases heard in lower courts based upon purported errors made in the application of the law.　 Facts are not in controversy.

Intermediate appellate court level:　 The state’s intermediate level appellate courts, the __ __ __, sit in __ districts covering the state.　 Appeals are directed from __ and __ courts in a given court of appeals district to that particular appellate court.　 Appellate judges are elected to __ __ terms.　 In 2003, there was a combined total of more than __ cases on the dockets of the courts of appeals, with more than __ percent of the cases criminal appeals.　 Courts of appeals hear both __ and __ cases from __ courts.

District Courts:The district court is the primary __ court in Texas. District courtshave primary __ jurisdiction over civil case involving values of __to infinity.　Civil cases with large amounts-in-controversy are tried in __ __ courts.　Divorce, title to land, contest elections, defamation of character, contested probable matters tried in ___ court.　 District courts have original jurisdiction in __ criminal matters.　 In 2003, there were __ judicial districts with at least one judge per district, though large counties often have a number of district courts—Harris county has__ district courts.　 District judges are elected in __ elections to __ year terms.

County Courts:Each county has a constitutional county court, with the county judge elected __ to a __-year term.　

The county judge need not be a __. The county judge also is chief __ officer of the county, and presides over the county’s policy-making body of the commissioners’ court.　 The county court shares some original jurisdiction with both __ courts and __ courts in civil cases and its original civil jurisdiction ranges from __ to __.　　 There is some civil __ jurisdiction when the amount of the dispute exceeds $200. __ jurisdiction in criminal matters over misdemeanors with fines greater than $500 or jail sentence of up to one year

The legislature has created for larger population counties about __ ___ county courts in some 70 counties, in which judges must be lawyers, though case styles vary by the law establishing each court.　 These statutory county courts (called “statutory” because they are created by the legislature) are also known as __ __ __ __and are created to relieve a county judge of his judicial responsibilities in larger population counties so that he may devote his full time to county administrative duties as head of the county commissioners court.

There are about __ municipal courts in Texas with some __ judges.The courtshave__ __ jurisdiction over municipal ordinance criminal cases, have jurisdiction over criminal misdemeanors punishable by __ only (no confinement), and with limited civil jurisdiction in cases involving dangerous __.The courts perform __ function.There are a variety of judges’ qualifications, terms in office, and methods of their selection.Municipal courts are ___, and limited information is ___.

___ who are peace officers assigned to courts to maintain order and protect participants in the courtroom.

___ are peace officers elected within justice of the peace precincts who primarily serve legal papers for JP and other courts.

___ and ___ attorneys elected to prosecute criminal cases on behalf of citizens’ interests.　 ___ attorneys prosecute misdemeanor cases while district attorneys prosecute felony cases.

Litigants:In our adversarial system of justice there is always two parties or litigants in a trial, the ___ (the one bringing the allegation) and ____ (the target of the allegation).　 (In a criminal trial, the plaintiff if the state represented by the district or county attorney.)　

___ law cases deal with the violation of laws passed to protect the community from certain acts which, while committed against an individual citizen, are offensive to the community as a whole.　 If a defendant is found guilty in a criminal case, that person may be ___, ___ or, if a capital crime, ___.

___, or trial juries are panels of citizens who hear facts presented in evidence in civil or criminal cases and then determine the outcome by issuing a verdict based upon their weighing of the facts in the trial.　 Trial juries are selected by a process of ___ during jury selection before trial proceedings begin.　 This process of selecting the trial jury is called ___ ___.　 Potential jurors are eliminated “___ ___” by the judge.　 Attorney’s roles include preemptory challenges and other forms of disqualifications of jury members.　 ___ jurors are seated for trials in district court.　　　　　　　　　　

In a civil case, the plaintiff must prove her case to the tryer of fact by a “___ ___ ___ ___.”　 In other words, the jury must believe there is more weight to the evidence on the plaintiff’s side than the defendants, even my a small amount, in order to find for the plaintiff.

In a criminal trial in district court, the jury of ___ must vote unanimously to find the defendant guilty or to find the defendant not guilty.If the final decision of the jury is not unanimous, no verdict is entered (a “__ ___”) and the judge declares a ___.　 In a civil case, __ of the 12 jurors are needed to find for the plaintiff or defendant

Cases are appealed up the judicial ladder from trial court to intermediate court to high court.　 In one instance only can a ___ party appeal directly from the trial courts to the state high court.　 In __ ___cases, a death sentence is appealed directly and automatically to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, bypassing the intermediate appellate court.

Contributions to partisan elections of winning Supreme Court judges averaged almost $836,347 in 1988.　　 Initially unable to defeat appellate judges who were ruling for consumers and plaintiffs, the business community sought instead to reform the style of cases and decisions by a political ploy they labeled as “___ ___.”

____appointments, many believe to the commission and selections by the commission in turn, would be politically motivated, much as the federal process of selecting judges to the bench has become.