Legal Issues

This brief paper discusses the federal and state court systems in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and finally concludes by upholding the need for such a dual court system.
 Court Structure In The State of Georgia

This paper discusses the structure of the federal court and the state court systems in the State of Georgia. The capital of Georgia is Atlanta, and that is where most superior courts are situated.

A.    Federal Court Structure
    There are three federal court districts in the State of Georgia  Northern District of Georgia (N.D. Ga.), Middle District of Georgia (M.D. Ga.) and Southern District of Georgia (S.D. Ga.). While the Northern District, headquartered at Atlanta serves forty-six counties, and is divided into four divisions, the Middle District, headquartered at Macon serves sixty-nine counties and is divided into seven divisions. The Southern District is headquartered at Augusta, serves thirty-four counties and is divided into six divisions.
    The appeals from these District Courts are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (11th Cir.), which is also located in Atlanta. In addition to hearing appeals from the District Courts of Georgia, the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit is also the federal court of appeals for the federal districts in the states of Alabama and Florida.
    Appeals from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit are heard by the Court of last resort for federal matters  the Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington D.C.

B.    State Court Structure
    The state Courts in Georgia are arranged circuit-wise. The State is divided into 49 judicial circuits. The Georgia Trial Court system is composed of a number of courts, depending on the pecuniary interest involved in civil matters or the gravity of offence in criminal matters. For example, the Magistrate Courts have original jurisdiction over all civil claims of 15,000 or less and certain minor criminal offences. Superior Courts in Georgia exist circuit-wise and serve as the backbone of the trial court system in Georgia. The Superior Courts have exclusive jurisdiction over certain matters, and general trial court jurisdiction. There is another level between the Superior courts and Magistrate courts called the State Courts which have original jurisdiction over all civil claims, regardless of the amount claimed, unless the Superior Court has jurisdiction over them. The Georgia Trial Court system is therefore the first level in the state court structure in the state of Georgia.
    The appeals from these various trial courts are heard by the Court of Appeals, located in Atlanta, which is a court of general appellate jurisdiction. However, this jurisdiction is limited because matters such as constitutionality of statutes, construction of wills, murder, election contests, habeas corpus and land title disputes, have been excluded from the courts appellate jurisdiction.
    The Supreme Court of Georgia, located in Atlanta, is the highest Court in the State of Georgia. It is the final court of appeal, as also is bestowed with the function of general superintendence of the judiciary and bar in the State of Georgia. Additionally, the Supreme Court may answer any question of law from any state or federal appellate court and may review by certiorari cases in the Court of Appeals which are of gravity or great public importance.

C.    Need for a Dual Court Structure
    The United States Constitution is a federal one. Laws made by the Congress are federal laws applicable to all the states of the United States, whereas laws made by the state legislature are applicable to the State of Georgia alone. Therefore, it becomes imperative to try legal disputes and controversies arising out of those two separate sets of laws by two separate sets of courts. The state judicial system is in a better system to examine the specific needs of the state, and it becomes important that the system is decentralized and made State-specific. The system achieves not only greater efficiency, but the federal structure of the United States is maintained.