American Courts

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Landlord Tenant cases are usually heard in district court and are often handled as Summary Proceedings.
(where there is no dispute as to the facts; a tenant owes rent but can't or won't pay it)

      However some cases important to rental housing have gone all the way to the United States Supreme Court. One such case deals with a tenant's right to the same constitutional protections that homeowners enjoy. A Pennsylvania tenant refused to let municipal rental inspectors enter her home without probable cause that a crime was being committed. A state court said the constitution does not cover tenant's rights to be safe and secure in their own home ... if it is rented.

Overview of the U.S. Judicial System

      The U.S. judicial system operates through a series of state and federal courts: trial (lower) courts that conduct trials; and appeals (higher) courts that determine questions of law, particularly as to whether errors of law were made by a trial court.
      The state court system may not intervene in the federal court system, which is the U.S. legal authority within its jurisdiction. The federal court system, however, may intervene in state courts where there are legal disputes involving the U.S. Constitution; otherwise, the state court system is the final legal authority in its jurisdiction.
      Trial courts resolve questions of fact based upon the evidence presented, and no appeals court can substitute a different set of facts. Judges preside over trials and also decide all cases where the parties have not requested juries. When a jury hears a case, it must reach a verdict based upon the evidence presented and using the judge's instructions.

In the appellate courts, a panel of judges rather than jurors decides the cases. There are three possible outcomes from an appeal:

• the appellate court finds no error of law by the trial court and affirms (upholds) the trial court's decision;

• it does discover an error of law by the trial court, and as a result it reverses the trial court's decision;
  
• it discovers an error of law by the trial court, and as a result, it both reverses and remands- a remand means that the trial court must hold a new trial.

The State Court System
      Most states utilize a multi-tiered system consisting of district, municipal and circuit courts; State Court of Appeals; and State Supreme Court.
      Circuit courts are not only trial courts, but also the appellate courts for the courts below them, such as district and municipal courts. Their jurisdictions are established mainly along county lines. Although circuit court judges issue written opinions, the legal community does not consider the opinions to be precedent-setting, and most are not circulated for general reference. Circuit courts may also act as appellate courts for appellants who wish to appeal decisions made by state or local administrative agencies; i.e., some litigants begin their journeys through the legal system with administrative agencies rather than at the trial court level.
      The State Court of Appeals hears appeals of the decisions rendered by the circuit courts. Individual panels of three judges hear the cases, which are decided by a simple majority vote. The panel then issues a written opinion, which it may or may not publish; the panel may elect not to publish a decision, which it feels is right in this particular case but should not be used as a precedent in similar cases. It is not unheard of for two appellants to be appealing a similar issue to different panels, which then come to opposite conclusions.
      The State Supreme Court is the highest appeals court in the state and has supervisory authority over all other state courts. It hears appeals of the decisions rendered by the State Court of Appeals; its opinions are binding on all other State courts, but may be overruled by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Federal Court System

      The federal court system consists of three tiers: U.S. district courts; U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; and U.S. Supreme Court.
      Most federal cases begin in one of the U.S. District Courts, which hear criminal cases that arise under federal statutes or the U.S. Constitution. As with the state circuit courts, U.S. District Courts are trial courts; however, as with the state court system, a district court may act as an appellate body for litigants who begin their journeys through the legal system by starting with a federal administrative agency such as HUD.
      The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hears appeals of the decisions rendered by the U.S. District Courts. There are thirteen geographic circuits; for example the Sixth Circuit, has jurisdiction over Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee and is located in Cincinnati. As with all appeals courts, cases are decided by panels of judges rather than jurors.
      Appeals from state supreme courts and U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals are heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, located in Washington, D.C. and is the only court specifically named in the U.S. Constitution. Judges are appointed by the President, subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate, and serve for life. A final decision on the issues of an appeal is determined by the agreement of at least five of the nine judges.

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