The federal judiciary is a three-tiered structure of trial, first-level, and last-resort courts.

Evidence

The district courts serve as the primary trial courts of the federal judicial system. Most federal cases originate in the district courts and are resolved by those courts. However, dissatisfied litigants may appeal the district courts’ rulings to the courts of appeals, the main first-level appellate courts. The U.S. Supreme Court is the sole second-level appellate court, the court of last resort. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 226

Categorization

• DEFINE: Sets out the basic three-tiered organization of federal courts and the roles of each tier.
• XREF: connects to: The Judiciary Act of 1789 created courts whose structure survives today — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 278; Court hierarchies bind lower courts to higher courts’ rulings — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 257; The Judiciary Act of 1789 fixed the federal courts’ three-level structure — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 349

Broader Connections

• Court hierarchies bind lower courts to higher courts’ rulings #expands (0.75) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 257
• The Judiciary Act of 1789 created courts whose structure survives today #expands (0.72) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 278