General Political & Government Information

Executive Branch (based on information from the Executive Branch and Cabinet pages of whitehouse.gov.

The power of the executive branch is vested in the President, who also serves as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. The President appoints the Cabinet and oversees the various agencies and departments of the federal government.

The tradition of the Cabinet dates back to the beginnings of the Presidency itself. One of the principal purposes of the Cabinet (drawn from Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution) is to advise the President on any subject he may require relating to the duties of their respective offices.

The Cabinet includes the Vice President and the heads of 15 executive departments-the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, and the Attorney General. Under President George W. Bush, Cabinet-level rank also has been given to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Director of the National Drug Control Policy, and the U.S. Trade Representative.

Legislative Branch (based on information from the Legislative Branch page of whitehouse.gov).

The legislative branch consists of the Congress, which is divided into two chambers — the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each member of Congress is elected in state elections. The House of Representatives, with membership based on state populations, has 435 seats, while the Senate, with two members from each state, has 100 seats. Members of the House of Representatives are elected for two-year terms, and Senators are elected for six-year terms.

Also see Legislative Branch Resources on GPO Access and the Federal Legislative Branch page of usa.gov).

Judicial Branch (based on newsgroup post by attorney Mark Eckenwiler. Also see the Judicial Branch page of whitehouse.gov.)

District Courts

District courts are the lowest tier of federal courts. They hear both criminal and civil cases. Each district covers all or part of a state and may have several judges. There are regular service and senior status judges who both have life tenure. Senior judges have been on the bench for at least ten years, are at least 65 years old, and may have lighter dockets (caseloads) because they can choose the types of cases they hear.

District Court judges are often assisted by Magistrate Judges who are auxiliary officers that handle certain tasks delegated by District Judges. Magistrates may take "not guilty" pleas in felony criminal arraignments and frequently handle discovery disputes, misdemeanor trials, settlement negotiations, and hearings to calculate damages. Their orders are generally appealable to the District Judge from whom the matter was referred.

In addition to the District Courts, there are trial-level federal courts with limited subject-matter jurisdiction, including the Court of Claims and the Court of International Trade. There's also a system of federal Bankruptcy Courts that's staffed by judges who, like magistrates, are auxiliary officers appointed for a limited term.

Federal Appeals Courts

Above the District Courts are the 13 Circuit Courts of Appeal (1st-11th Circuits, plus D.C. and the Federal Circuit.) With one exception, these courts hear appeals from District Court decisions within their individual geographical regions. For instance, the Second Circuit presides over the four federal Districts in New York state (EDNY, SDNY, WDNY, NDNY), and the Districts of Connecticut and Vermont.

The exception is the confusingly named Federal Circuit, a special court for patent appeals, which reviews District Court decisions in this area from all over the country. As for the other Circuits, the frontispiece map in recent volumes of the Federal Supplement or Federal Reporter will show which states are in each Circuit.

Almost all District Court orders are appealable to the Circuit Court. However, except for a few specific types of orders (such as those granting or denying preliminary injunctions), most orders are not immediately appealable. Instead, parties must usually wait until the entire case has been disposed of in the District Court, and then raise all of their appeals at a single time.

Like District Court Judges, Circuit Judges have life tenure. Unlike District Court Judges, who preside alone over their cases, a panel of three judges presides over each Circuit Court case. In rare circumstances, a majority of the judges in the Circuit may sit "en banc" (also known as "in banc", or "in bench") on a single appeal in order to clarify or review a 3-judge-panel decision.

Circuit Court decisions are binding on the district courts within that circuit. This fosters uniformity of law within each circuit, although the circuits themselves may disagree strongly on points of law.

The Supreme Court

The highest court is the United States Supreme Court, which hears appeals from the Circuits Courts, from the highest courts of the respective states (when a federal issue is involved), or rarely, from a District Court decision. The Court also occasionally acts as a trial court over certain constitutionally defined categories of cases, such as lawsuits between states.

In its appellate capacity, the Court is not obliged to entertain any given case. Rather, the Justices vote on whether or not to "grant certiorari"; by tradition, a vote of 4 in favor is sufficient to qualify the case for a hearing. In the vast majority of cases, the Court declines to hear the appeal ("denies cert."). A denial of certiorari has no precedential effect, and is not to be taken as a reliable indicator of the Court's views on the merit of the appeal. The U.S. Supreme Court decides only 100-150 cases each term, out of the 6000 petitions for certiorari annually.

The highest ranking Justice is the Chief Justice of the United States (*not* the "Chief Justice of the Supreme Court"). The Chief Justice, who must be confirmed to that position even if s/he is already an Associate Justice when nominated, has special administrative and ceremonial functions and has the power to select who will write the opinion for the side on which the Chief Justice votes in a given case. When the Chief Justice is in the majority, s/he may write the Opinion of the Court himself/herself, or may assign it to another Justice on the same side.

When a Justice retires, s/he may continue to serve actively as a judge, but not at the Supreme Court. Retired Justices are often invited to sit on Circuit Court panels.