FORTY YEARS AGO last Sunday, five men broke into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate complex in Washington DC in a botched operation that would spark a chain of events that two years later would see Richard Nixon resign as the 37th president of the United States.
Federal courts hear cases involving violations of federal statues, crimes committed on federal property or disputes between residents of different states. State courts hear cases involving violations of state laws or disputes between two or more residents of that state. The United States District Court for the District of Minnesota is a Federal Court. This Court is completely separate from State Courts.
The federal court system has its basis in the U.S. Constitution. State court systems have their basis in state constitutions or statutory laws. The federal courts have primary jurisdiction on federal law questions, while state courts have primary jurisdiction on laws of each respective state.resently, the federal court system in the United States includes district courts, circuit courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court (see Figure 1). FOCUS ON COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES, AND SCHOOLS 2_____________________________________________________________________________________ Figure 1.