El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-05-21

consists of one supreme court
nine circuit courts Of appeal
and 7O-odd district courts. In addi-
! ton thereto there is the court OF
claims. in which all claims against
I the government are passed upon, the
I commerce court before which are
! brought all matters relating 20 the
! interstate commerce laws Of the cOun-
! try, and the court of customs appeals,
/ where the statutes relating TO the
! customs laws Of the United States are
! interpreted These latter courts have
/ Jurisdiction in special matters pro
/ vided for by acts of congress The
] supreme court the circuit courts Of
! appeal, and the district courts have
] Jurisdiction over general subjects-in
/ short over everything not specifically
! delegated TO the special courts
] The judicial system Of the federal
government was entirely revamped in
1911 under an act TO cOdify, revise. and
Samend the laws relating TO the judi
clary- The statutes under which the
court acted prior 10 that time cover
over 5000 sections In the statute
books OF the country II was a great
undertaking TO get all of these tOgerh-
er. to eliminate their inconsistencies.
and TO boil them down into q clear
and concise statute and at the same
time to change certain features of the
judicial establishment
AS the judiciary was formerly com
posed there was a supreme court with
chief justice and eight associate
Justices nine circuit courts of appeal
with three judges each; II circuit
courts, one In each judicial district,
which courts were required by law
TO hold session in 276 different places;
and n district courts which were re-
quired by law to hold sessions in the
same places There were % circuit
judges and 80 district judges on the
bench Under the old system the sg-
gresate number Of days in which the
curcult courts Of the country were
In session was $4,000. The pressure
Of work had grown so great that the
district judges had 10 preside over the
circuit courts for 5000 days leaving
only 1000 days IN which circuit judges
presided The result produced a sort
Of judicial anomaly A district judge
would be sitting as such, and during
the day the calendar would be com
pleted- No other cases being ready
for trial, the district court would ad-
JoUrn- The Judge, without leaving
the bench. would call another clerk
who would bring in another docket,
and In many cases, another crier
would proceed TO open the circuit
court, and the district judge. without
changing his seat would proceed to
dispose OF the circuit court docket
New Law ELIMINATES Circuit Courts.
Under the new law the circuit
court was eliminated from the sys-
tenn mere are now rnre steps in
litigation from its inception to the fin
al decision from which there is no
appeal With the exception OF a very
few isolated cases, the legislation in
the federal courts begins in the dis
trict courts. Appeals may be taken
from these courts TO the circuit court
Of appeals If the litigants are not
satisfied with the outcome of their
cases there, they may. within certain
limitations. carry them up to the su-
preme court The less important
cases are not. as q rule, permitted TO
be carried up 10 the higher courts
The law seeks TO prevent the crowd
ing of the dOckets Of the higher
courts by providing that final jurIs-
d1ctlon in unimporrsut litigation may
rest in the lower courts.
Each Court Distinct Body.
Each court has its own seal, its own
records, and its own officials There
Is United States district attorney
a United States marshal. and sucb
clerks OF the court as It's business de-
mands in every judicial district Each
district court must hold sessions at
number Of different places in the
district. The law provides where these
meeting places are TO be. and he
towns designated are usually those
which have a federal building a
large number Of cases are not tried
by 1urles, but each term Of each az
trlct court requires the services of z
Jurors Inese Jurors, both grand and |
petit are publicly drawn from . boV-
containing. at the time Of each draw I
Ing. the names Of not less than 400 =
persons possessing the necessary o17sI-
ificat ions, and whose names are r,IeCa5 I
therein by the clerk OF the CONT - /
commissioner appointed nv H.
judge The commissioner is = ci+f-a,
# gocd standing residing In the liis-
trict In which The court is held and /
h Is a well kncwn member Of ~ 4
principal political party OPPOSING +ba+
TO which the clerk of the CONF L
longs Tie clerk and the coror,js-
sloner then proceed 10 place The ra--zs /
in the tOX, each Of them puttiDs- a. 1
a name alternately without rafe-e,-.. /
TO party affiliations.
The district court boundaries % ~
lsdlcuon are laid out by law. IN 80
~ half Of the states iudicfs1 -
trlct Is coeXtensive with the sts7a 4
lines In other states there are -
judicial districts while in New yorl- 1
there are four The district indoa /
is not permitted to live outside of ne {
limits Of his district. and NAV he IN
peacned If he does so. His salarv Is
fixed at 5000 a year Wheneve- A.
appears that the judge OF any district
court Is any way concerned in 49,. !
suit pending before him in sucL
way as might render him unfif To
preside at the trial Of the case he is 4
required by law to make a record of
the fact upon request Of counsel If
either party 10 any proceeding in a |
court makes an affidavit that the