Courts of Appeal come from The district courts. About 90% of the more than 50,000 cases heard in the U.S. One constraint on federal courts is that they may decide only Justiciable disputes. Warren Burger The great majority of America's judicial business is transacted in State courts of original jurisdiction. Richard Nixon chose _ as the new Chief Justice in 1969, hoping with his appointment to move the Supreme Court toward a more 'strict construction' interpretation of the Constitution in its subsequent decisions. The most liberal court of the modern era has been the Warren Court. Concurring The vast majority of cases reaching the federal courts are settled on the principle of Stare decisis The concept of original intent holds that Judges and justices should determine the intent of the framers of the Constitution regarding a particular matter and decide cases in line with that intent. Amicus curiae _ opinions are those offered by one or more Supreme Court justices not only to support a majority decision, but also to stress a different Constitutional or legal basis for the judgment. Per curiam decision Those who are interested in the outcome of a case, but are not formal litigants, sometimes submit _ briefs, raising points of view and presenting information that they hope will influence the Supreme Court's decision.

A _ is a Supreme Court ruling without explanation which resolves an immediate case, but has no value as precedent because the Court does not offer reasoning that would guide lower courts in future decisions. A Writ of Certiorari Is used by the Supreme Court to call up a case. The customary manner in which the Senate disposes of federal judicial nominations in one state is through Senatorial courtesy. The only federal courts in which trials are held, and in which juries may be impaneled, are the District courts.

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