The framers of the U.S. Constitution wanted the federal government to have only limited power, so they limited the kinds of cases federal courts can decide.  Most laws that affect Americans are passe

The framers of the U.S. Constitution wanted the federal government to have only limited power, so they limited the kinds of cases federal courts can decide.  Most laws that affect Americans are passed by state governments, therefore state courts handle most disputes that govern our day to day interactions with the rest of the world (Judicial Learning Center, 2015).  The Federal Courts defend our most basic rights, which can be found in the bill of rights in the U.S. Constitution (Judicial Learning Center, 2015).  Federal Court is broken down in to levels, such as the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals, and U.S. District Courts (Judicial Learning Center, 2015).  The jurisdiction of the Federal Courts is limited to hearing cases that raise a “federal question” and those involving diversity of citizenship cases (Judicial Learning Center, 2015).<o:p>

The framers of the Constitution feared that the federal courts might threaten the independence of the states and the people, and therefore, gave State Courts general jurisdiction (Judicial Learning Center, 2015).  This means they hear all cases which do not go to federal court.  State courts interpret state laws, and each state gets to make and interpret its own laws (Judicial Learning Center, 2015).  This helps the states retain power and makes sure that the national government does not become too strong (Judicial Learning Center, 2015).  The break down of the state courts is like that of the federal court system.  State courts are broken down in to the State Supreme Court, State Court of Appeals, and the State Circuit courts (Judicial Learning Center, 2015).  While this is a general break down, different states may vary.  <o:p>

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