Courts of special jurisdiction

Many states also have special jurisdiction courts, either independently or under district courts. These are courts for taxes, for land disputes, for inheritance cases, for claims against state authorities, courts that deal with a huge number of cases of violation of traffic rules, etc.

An important place among them is occupied by juvenile courts, often combining and functions of family courts. They deal with cases of juvenile delinquency, take action against parents who do not care about their children, control the conditions of upbringing in dysfunctional families, try to resolve family conflicts, and so on.

In the system of American institutions at the federal and state levels, there are no special bodies of constitutional review, since these functions are performed by courts of general jurisdiction. The Supreme Court of the United States, by the precedent of 1803, introduced for itself, as well as for other federal courts, the power of exceptional importance to interpret the provisions of the US Constitution and to declare invalid laws issued by the US Congress and state legislatures, any acts of executive power on the grounds that they contradict the Constitution.

The U.S. Supreme Court, like other federal courts, has the power to set aside decisions of any court for the same reasons. In turn, the state supreme courts are most active in cases related to the interpretation of state constitutions and laws.

Courts of general jurisdiction in the states also act as bodies of constitutional control and administrative justice, since they often take into their consideration complaints against the actions of administrative institutions and officials based on the misapplication of those laws.

Appointments to all judicial positions in federal courts

Appointments to all judicial positions in the federal courts are made by the President of the United States with the consent of the Senate, which has the right to reject the candidate proposed by the President. High demands are placed on candidates for the positions of federal judges, both professionally and ethically (extensive experience as a lawyer, legal adviser or university professor, impeccable reputation, etc.).

Federal judges are appointed to their posts for life and can only be removed through a complex impeachment process. Magistrates serving in federal district courts are appointed to their positions by the courts for a term of eight years, or for four years if they serve part-time. false impeachment proceedings. Magistrates serving in federal district courts are appointed to their positions by the courts for a term of eight years, or for four years if they serve part-time.

Judicial appointments in state courts follow very different rules. Judges of the supreme courts and courts of appeal in most states are appointed by governors with the consent of the Senate or other state legislature for a term of 6-15 years, most often with the right to reappointment.

In the same order, in some American states, judges of lower judicial instances hold their positions. However, most judges in the states are elected by the people during election campaigns. Such a system, for all its external democracy, has long been criticized in the United States, because the interests of the opposing political parties behind the candidates often come to the fore, rather than professional and personal qualities.

As a result, in many states over the past decades, new versions of the tenure system have been increasingly developed. These options are usually based on the so-called Missouri plan (first introduced in 1940 in Missouri): the governor of the state appoints one of three candidates proposed to him by a special qualifying commission of experts, and after a year of his tenure, elections are held, during which the public can either approve or revoke the appointment.

An important role in the system of appointing judges, as well as in solving many other issues, in most states belongs to various bodies of judicial self-government (the state judicial council, judicial conferences, in which all judges of the state participate, etc.). Corresponding bodies endowed with great powers have also been created by judges of the federal system.

Criminal investigations are conducted by the FBI and a variety of other federal agencies, as well as by numerous independent police agencies that report either to their respective state authorities or to the local authorities of a county, city, or rural municipality.

They have the right to make arrests, interrogate suspects, search for and collect evidence of a crime. Arrests, searches and some other investigative actions are carried out by the police with a preliminary or, in exceptional cases, subsequent court sanction.