Federal versus State Courts: Florida - Essay Example

Prof’s Federal versus Courts: Florida The United s has courts divided between the Federal and the State level. States in my home state, Florida, differ significantly in details from the operations, source of laws, and so forth from Federal court. It is important to make a distinction between true Florida courts, and United States Federal Circuit Courts that merely reside in Florida. Source of Laws is the most obvious. The Florida court was established by the constitution of the state of Florida, while Federal Courts were established under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court based on Article III of the United States Constitution.

Furthermore, the laws each court interprets are different: Florida courts judge matters that arise out of Florida law, as passed by the Florida legislature and ratified by the Florida Governor, while Federal Courts examine law based on federal law, as passed by the United States Legislature and ratified by the president, along with the Constitution. Federal courts can interpret state laws that may violate the United States constitution, but Florida Courts cannot. This means that Florida courts typically hear many more criminal cases than federal courts will, because federal criminal law is relatively restrictive (and usually only deals with interstate offences).

Furthermore, Florida courts will never hear cases pertaining the US constitution, while Federal courts will hear them frequently. Florida Courts are structured very similarly to Federal Courts, but have a different authorizing source of laws, and interpret different sources of laws.