| Judicial Precedent |
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| The doctrine of stare decisis (which means "stand by what has been decided") is the legal principle underlying judicial precedent. When a court lays down a principle of law as applying to a particular set of facts, the court will apply that principle to all future cases where the facts are substantially similar. Under stare decisis, a judicial decision made in one case is binding on all later cases with similar facts. More... |
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| Special Rules of Evidence |
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| The courts, federal and state, have rules of evidence, which determine what evidence will be admitted at civil and criminal trials. Generally, all evidence that is relevant, which means it tends to prove or disprove the factual matter being considered by the court, is admissible. The rules relating to privileges and hearsay, which are covered below, are special rules of evidence that control the admissibility of certain types of evidence. The rules relating to judicial notice and presumptions, which are also discussed below, are exceptions to the general rule that evidence must be introduced as formal proof of a factual matter. More... |
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| The Judicial Conference of the United States |
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| In 1922, the United States Congress created a body called the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges to administer the federal judiciary. In 1948, Congress passed additional legislation and changed the name of the governing body to the Judicial Conference of the United States. The Judicial Conference handles the administrative matters of the federal court system.
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| State Court System Overview |
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| Each of the 50 states has its own court system. Each state system has three levels: the lowest level (generally called trial court), an appellate level (generally called a court of appeal), and the highest level (generally called a supreme court). More... |
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| Grand Juries |
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| A grand jury's primary function is to listen to the evidence presented by the prosecutor and decide if someone should be indicted for a crime. The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution provides that all federal criminal charges must be brought by a grand jury indictment. About half the states use grand juries. The grand jury also has broad power to investigate crimes. Some states permit grand juries to investigate corruption, organized crime, and the alleged misconduct of public officials. An investigative grand jury has the power to subpoena witnesses. More... |
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