The U.S. Court System

The U.S. court system, as part of the federal system of government, is characterized by dual hierarchies: there are both state and federal courts. Each state has its own system of courts, composed of civil and criminal trial courts, sometimes intermediate courts of appeal, and a state supreme court. The federal court system consists of a series of trial courts (district courts) serving relatively small geographic regions, circuit courts of appeal that hear appeals from many district courts in a particular geographic region and the Supreme Court of the United States. The two court systems are to some extent overlapping in that certain kinds of disputes (such as a claim that a state law is in violation of the Constitution) may be initiated in either system. They are also to some extent hierarchical, the federal system stands above the state system. Litigants who lose their cases in the state supreme court may appeal their cases to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Thus, the typical court case begins in a trial court-a court of general jurisdiction -in the state or federal system. Most cases go no further than the trial court: for example, the criminal defendant is convicted and sentenced by the court and the case ends, the personal injury suit results in a judgment by a trial court (or an out-of-court settlement by the parties) and the parties leave the court system. Burt sometimes the losing party at the trial court cares enough about the case that the matter does not end there. In these cases, the 'loser' at the trial court may appeal to the next higher court.

美国法院体系是政府联邦体系的组成部分，它以两级结构为特点：包括州法院和联邦法院。每个州都有自己的法院体系，由民事和形式初审法院组成，有时还包括上诉法院和州最高法院。联邦法院体系则包括：一系列面向相对较小的地区的初审法院（称为地方法院），巡回法院——审理来自众多位于特定地区的地方法院的上诉案件，和联邦最高法院。由于一些争议事项（比如声称州的某一法律违宪）可以诉诸两个法院体系的任何一个，因此这两个体系在某种程度上是重叠的。然而在某种程度上，这两个体系又是垂直的，联邦法院体系位于州法院体系之上。在州最高法院败诉的当事人可以上诉至联邦最高法院。

因此，典型案件开始于州法院体系或联邦法院体系的一个初审法院——一个具有普遍管辖权的法院。大多数案件止步于初审法院。比如刑事案件的被告被宣告有罪，由法院作出判决随之案件终结，人身伤害诉讼则随着初审法院作出判决（或当时方作出庭外和解）而终结。但有时，在审判法院败诉的一方十分重视该案件而使程序并未终止于此。在这类案件中，在初审法院的"败诉方"可以将案件上诉至高一级法院