I have chosen the United States Federal Court System as my topic of research. I believe the U.S Federal Court System is paramount to our criminal justice system. Today the Federal Court System is a complex structure of courts and actors working together in an imperfect process to deliver justice. Throughout the years there's been controversy and debate between the rights of state and federal courts. However, as the dual process evolved they became dependent on each other. Without one or the other, the system will not function properly.
             The Federal Courts have been a controversial issue since the 18th century. The two landmark decisions that are well known are the Article III of the U.S Constitution and the Judiciary Act of 1789. Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation in the past was thought to be the absence of a national supreme court to enforce federal law and resolve conflicts and issues between different states. The major issue during the Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 was that there be a separate court system for federal and state. This divided the people into two groups, the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Anti-Federalists were advocates of state's rights and feared a strong national government that would result in the weakening of individual liberties. The Federalists on the other hand distrusted the states and favored a strong national government. This conflict between the two groups was later resolved at the constitutional convention which designed Article III of the U.S. Constitution. This then provided an outline of a federal judiciary. (Americas Courts and the Criminal Justice System, 2009) "The judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court and in such inferior Courts as the congress may from time to time ordain and establish." Since then, there were many alterations made, but ultimately in 1988 Congress eliminated many of the mandatory appeals to...