In this posting I wanted to review the U.S. court system structure to clarify the where of current decisions being made in certain courts.
As you may (or may not) remember from your high school civics class, Article III of the Constitution invests the judicial power of the United States in the federal court system. Article III, Section 1 specifically creates the U.S. Supreme Court and gives Congress the authority to create the lower federal courts. Congress has used this power to establish 13 U.S. Courts of Appeals, and 94 U.S. District Courts.
As seen in the flowchart below, the course of a case is decided by which laws (federal, state, local, etc.) are involved. Since we’re currently watching the progress of the Clean Water Rule, I’ve highlighted the course involving federal laws. This diagram also explains how past wetland regulation decisions ended up in the Supreme Court. Keep in mind, the Supreme Court can decide if they will review a lower court decision or not; and certainly not all appeals to the Supreme Court are reviewed. If two lower courts disagree in their decisions, it is more likely the Supreme Court may step in for a final decision.
As you may (or may not) remember from your high school civics class, Article III of the Constitution invests the judicial power of the United States in the federal court system. Article III, Section 1 specifically creates the U.S. Supreme Court and gives Congress the authority to create the lower federal courts. Congress has used this power to establish 13 U.S. Courts of Appeals, and 94 U.S. District Courts.
As seen in the flowchart below, the course of a case is decided by which laws (federal, state, local, etc.) are involved. Since we’re currently watching the progress of the Clean Water Rule, I’ve highlighted the course involving federal laws. This diagram also explains how past wetland regulation decisions ended up in the Supreme Court. Keep in mind, the Supreme Court can decide if they will review a lower court decision or not; and certainly not all appeals to the Supreme Court are reviewed. If two lower courts disagree in their decisions, it is more likely the Supreme Court may step in for a final decision.
Source: http://www.uscourts.gov/
Next, I want to show the geographic boundaries of the 13 U.S. Courts of Appeals, and 94 U.S. District Courts. The U.S. District Courts have jurisdiction over entire states or a state is divided into 2-4 areas (mostly described by direction, i.e. Washington State has two: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington and U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington).
You can see the dashed grey boundary lines within the state, if there is more than one U.S. District Court within a state. Also, to point out the last two U.S. Court of Appeals, I circled them in orange and numbered them. The colors of the states (or U.S. territories) show the area of jurisdiction for each numbered U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. For example, if a court case was originally filed in Michigan (Eastern District or Western District) and an appeal of a court decision is made, it will be reviewed by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The exception to this occurs if there is no clear and exclusive path established for judicial review.
You can see the dashed grey boundary lines within the state, if there is more than one U.S. District Court within a state. Also, to point out the last two U.S. Court of Appeals, I circled them in orange and numbered them. The colors of the states (or U.S. territories) show the area of jurisdiction for each numbered U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. For example, if a court case was originally filed in Michigan (Eastern District or Western District) and an appeal of a court decision is made, it will be reviewed by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The exception to this occurs if there is no clear and exclusive path established for judicial review.
Source: http://www.uscourts.gov/
The success or failure (depending on your view) of a court case can depend on the location of the original filing, and on the complexity of the issues involved. The Clean Water Act allows challengers to file in any circuit, whereas the Clean Air Act gives the D.C. Circuit jurisdiction over most lawsuits. The Clean Water Act court cases also generally involve property rights issues and definitions of words within the law that make them approachable for judges who are then willing to study and rule on the cases. The Clean Air Act is usually more complex than the Clean Water Act which makes it harder for judges to fully comprehend in the short time they have to decide a case – therefore in those instances concerning the Clean Air Act, the judges are more likely to accept EPA’s expertise and legal argument.
Now we've a more complete picture of the courts involved in the legal wranglings of the Clean Water Rule.
-JMB
Sources:
http://www.uscourts.gov/
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060004942
SUPREME COURT: Big wins elusive for EPA in Clean Water Act showdowns, by Jeremy P Jacobs, E&E reporter, Greenwire: Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Now we've a more complete picture of the courts involved in the legal wranglings of the Clean Water Rule.
-JMB
Sources:
http://www.uscourts.gov/
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060004942
SUPREME COURT: Big wins elusive for EPA in Clean Water Act showdowns, by Jeremy P Jacobs, E&E reporter, Greenwire: Wednesday, August 27, 2014
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