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Hello class! And now we begin our discussion about federal district courts. As I just
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mentioned. Federal district courts are the bottom tier of the federal court system.
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District courts are trial courts, and they have you -- ready for this term, one
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that you've probably never heard before? They have what is called "original
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jurisdiction." Original jurisdiction means that cases originate at this level, or
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they begin at this level. In other words, cases are never appealed at this level.
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They're heard for the first time in courts with original jurisdiction. Ok? Now, as I
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mentioned, federal district courts are trial court's. This means that they
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function like other trial courts in which there is evidence introduced and
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examined; they may use a jury to come to a decision;
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witnesses are called to the stand and are questioned and cross-examined.
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Basically anything you've ever seen in a courtroom drama -- you know things like
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attorneys trying to appeal to the emotions of jurors or somebody rushing
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in with a bloody knife, and saying "Your honor, I'd like to introduce this to the
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evidence!" All of those things take place at trial courts. Now the reason that I'm
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saying this is because when we talk about federal courts of appeals, and we
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talk about the Supreme Court. Those things do not take place and those courts.
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They only take place in the federal court system at federal district courts.
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Federal district courts hear both civil and criminal cases. Civil cases are cases
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in which no one has been accused of a crime, so you can think of a civil case
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in pretty simple terms as when somebody is suing somebody else, or if a business
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is suing another business. In federal courts, it can be the federal government
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is suing a corporation or a corporation suing the federal government.
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Those things happen all the time in federal district court, so the different types of
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civil cases that are heard at federal district courts are: contract cases, a
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contract case is quite simply when someone or some business or individual
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has signed a contract with someone else and has broken that contract or is being
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sued for breaking that contract. So today, for example, the federal government does
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a lot of business with private companies, and they sign contracts, and perhaps
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that company is suing the federal government because according to that company,
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the federal government was supposed to pay this much money, but the federal
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government only paid them this much money, so now that company is suing the
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federal government. That would be an example of a civil case that would be
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heard at a federal district court.
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Makes sense? I hope so.
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You can always email me with your questions! the other type of civil cases that are
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heard at federal district courts are called torts: T-O-R-T-S. A tort is a civil case in
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which there was no contract involved. So for example, a couple of years ago there
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was that giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in which they were BP -- British
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Petroleum oil rig that exploded, and thousands and thousands or actually
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millions of gallons of oil bubbled up out of the sea floor and spilled into
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the Gulf Coast and the federal government sued British Petroleum for
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damages basically for the cost of cleaning up all of that oil. That was a
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tort case because British Petroleum didn't have a contract with the federal
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government, but they created damage. They caused damage, so the federal government was
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suing British Petroleum for damage. Now when British Petroleum lost that case, no
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one went to prison; it wasn't a criminal trial it was a civil trial. Federal
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district courts hear
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criminal cases when someone has been accused of violating a federal criminal
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statute or a federal crime. Someone's been accused of committing a federal
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crime like mail fraud or kidnapping or terrorism or bank robbery. These are all
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federal crimes, so if one is accused of violating a federal criminal statute or
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a federal criminal law and you're arrested,
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you would stand trial at a federal district court.
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Ok, so I hope this makes sense. Oh, let me just say one thing going back to civil
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cases. Civil cases are heard at federal district courts if the federal
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government is involved, so if someone's suing the federal government or the
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federal government is suing someone else. Our next video is going to deal with
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federal courts of appeals. Talk to you soon. Bye!