Appellate process

SIGNIFICANCE: The appellate process provides checks on the criminal justice system by ensuring that errors do not adversely affect the fairness of trial processes and the rights of defendants.

The United States has a dual court system, made up of state and federal courts. Each of these two systems encompasses two or three “tiers,” or levels, of courts. The lowest level is made up of trial courts, which hear evidence and reach decisions based upon that evidence. The next tier, or tiers, is made up of appellate courts. These courts do not hear evidence but review the records of what has taken place in the trial courts. Some states have two appellate tiers, consisting of an intermediate appellate court and a court of “last resort.” In other states, there are only two tiers: the trial courts and the courts of last resort.

The federal court system has three tiers, but few cases ever proceed to the highest federal court—the U.S. Supreme Court. There are also some situations in which the Supreme Court hears appeals from state courts of last resort.

Appellate courts do not automatically review every case handled by trial courts and assume jurisdiction over only cases that are appealed to them by aggrieved parties. There are usually fairly stringent time limits for making appeals, and it is common for appellate courts to require that appeals be brought within thirty days of the decisions being appealed. However, after the appellate court is given notice that an appeal has been filed, it may take several months for the record to be assembled at the trial court level and forwarded to the appellate court for review. Assembling the record often requires that court reporters transcribe testimony taken at the trial, which can be time-consuming. After the records are delivered to the appellate court, the parties prepare briefs containing their arguments and the applicable law. Sometimes the parties are asked to argue their cases in person before the appellate court so that the court can ask questions about the issues.

Unlike trial courts, which are usually presided over by lone judges, appellate courts usually have panels of judges. In court systems with two appellate levels, panels of the intermediate courts are small—usually only three or five judges, while the courts of last resort typically have nine members—as does the U.S. Supreme Court. Judges who serve on appellate courts of last resort are usually called “justices,” as are the members of the U.S. Supreme Court.

After an appeal is heard, one member of a panel is usually assigned to write an opinion representing the majority position of the panel. Sometimes the panel cannot reach a unanimous decision, and members who disagree write opinions known as dissents.

In reviewing lower-court decisions for error, appellate courts usually limit their reviews to errors that are brought to the attention of the trial courts, through either objections or some sorts of motions. This process is known as preserving an error, or making a record. If an error is not properly preserved, the appellate court reviews a case only if it raises a matter of fundamental importance or if it has actually caused prejudice to the complaining party.

Appellate Court Decisions

Appellate courts issue their decisions in documents called opinions or memorandum decisions. Written decision of the courts include reasons for the decisions and the facts on which the decisions are based. At the conclusion of an opinion, the court explains whether it agrees with the trial court’s decision or believes that the trial court has made some type of error. When the court’s opinion agrees with that of the trial court, the opinion states, “affirmed.” If the opinion disagrees with that of the trial court, it may state, “reversed” or “reversed and remanded.” When as case is reversed or remanded, the court explains why it thinks the original decision was wrong and instructs the trial court to modify its result or rehear the case.

Appellate courts follow a doctrine known as stare decisis, which requires courts to adhere to their own prior decisions and those of the courts above it. This principle lends certainty and predictability to the law and provides a framework for the decision-making processes of individual judges. Although judges may be otherwise swayed by the equities of particular cases, they are bound to follow prior law—or “precedent”—in reaching their decisions. Occasionally, courts decide to depart from their prior decisions and “overrule” them. From that moment, the new decisions govern.

The U.S. Supreme Court is the highest court in the federal system but does not always hear appeals from the intermediate federal courts, known as courts of appeal. Only a small class of federal cases are automatically entitled to appeals to the Supreme Court. The remainder are only heard if they present particularly novel or important issues. This discretionary type of appeal is known as certiorari appeal. The Supreme Court also has the authority to hear certiorari appeals of state court decisions when they are state courts of last resort and they raise issues of federal constitutional law. It is estimated that the Supreme Court hears only about 3 percent of the cases for which certiorari appeals are sought.

Bibliography

Bowie, Jennifer Barnes, John J. Szmer, and Donald R. Songer. The View from the Bench and Chambers : Examining Judicial Process and Decision Making on the U.S. Courts of Appeals. Charlottesville: U of Virginia P, 2014. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 24 May 2016.

Chapper, Joy. Understanding Reversible Error in Criminal Appeals. Williamsburg: Center, 1989. Print.

Coffin, Frank M. On Appeal: Courts, Lawyering, and Judging. New York: Norton, 1994. Print.

"The Florida Court System Is Compromised." Florida Courts, 20 Feb. 2024, www.flcourts.gov/Florida-Courts/. Accessed 20 June 2024.

Greenberg, Ellen. The Supreme Court Explained. New York: Norton, 1997. Print.

Hayes, Adam. "What Are Appellate Courts? How They Work, Functions, and Example." Investopedia, 10 Mar. 2021, www.investopedia.com/terms/a/appellate-courts.asp. Accessed 20 June 2024.

Newman, Jon O. "History of the Article III Appellate Courts 1789-2021." Federal Judicial Center, 2 Nov. 2021, www.fjc.gov/content/363614/history-article-iii-appellate-courts-1789-2021. Accessed 20 June 2024.

Wasserman, David T. A Sword for the Convicted: Representing Indigent Defendants on Appeal. Westport: Greenwood, 1990. Print.