The federal judiciary system has three steps: district court, circuit court, and the Supreme Court, and despite what you see on screen, many cases do not end with that first courtroom verdict. This is how the federal judiciary system works, what makes a case worthy of consideration by the Supreme Court, and what happens when case lands in front of SCOTUS. We talked with Erin Corcoran, Executive Director for the Kroc Institute of International Peace Studies, and Behzad Mirhashem, Assistant Federal Public Defender in New Hampshire and professor of law at UNH Law.

Listen to our breakdown of Tinker v Des Moines in IRL1: Free Speech in Schools.

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District, Circuit, Supreme: How does the federal court system work?

Civics 101