Revision as of 23:58, 20 August 2011

Current Litigation

Supreme Court Decisions

Case Law

How the Federal Courts work

Civil Cases

A federal civil case involves a legal dispute between two or more parties. To begin a civil 
lawsuit in federal court, the plaintiff files a complaint with the court and "serves" a copy 
of the complaint on the defendant. The complaint describes the plaintiff's injury, explains 
how the defendant caused the injury, and asks the court to order relief. A plaintiff may seek 
money to compensate for the injury, or may ask the court to order the defendant to stop the 
conduct that is causing the harm. The court may also order other types of relief, such as a 
declaration of the legal rights of the plaintiff in a particular situation.

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The Appeals Process

The losing party in a decision by a trial court in the federal system normally is entitled to 
appeal the decision to a federal court of appeals. Similarly, a litigant who is not satisfied 
with a decision made by a federal administrative agency usually may file a petition for review 
of the agency decision by a court of appeals. Judicial review in cases involving certain federal 
agencies or programs — for example, disputes over Social Security benefits — may be obtained 
first in a district court rather than a court of appeals.
 
In a civil case either side may appeal the verdict.

A litigant who files an appeal, known as an "appellant," must show that the trial court or 
administrative agency made a legal error that affected the decision in the case. The court of 
appeals makes its decision based on the record of the case established by the trial court or 
agency. It does not receive additional evidence or hear witnesses. The court of appeals also 
may review the factual findings of the trial court or agency, but typically may only overturn 
a decision on factual grounds if the findings were "clearly erroneous." 

Appeals are decided by panels of three judges working together. The appellant presents legal 
arguments to the panel, in writing, in a document called a "brief." In the brief, the appellant 
tries to persuade the judges that the trial court made an error, and that its decision should be
reversed. On the other hand, the party defending against the appeal, known as the "appellee," 
tries in its brief to show why the trial court decision was correct, or why any error made by the 
trial court was not significant enough to affect the outcome of the case.

Although some cases are decided on the basis of written briefs alone, many cases are selected 
for an "oral argument" before the court. Oral argument in the court of appeals is a structured 
discussion between the appellate lawyers and the panel of judges focusing on the legal principles
in dispute. Each side is given a short time — usually about 15 minutes — to present arguments 
to the court.
 
The court of appeals decision usually will be the final word in the case, unless it sends the 
case back to the trial court for additional proceedings, or the parties ask the U.S. Supreme 
Court to review the case. In some cases the decision may be reviewed en banc, that is, by a larger 
group of judges (usually all) of the court of appeals for the circuit.
 
A litigant who loses in a federal court of appeals, or in the highest court of a state, may file 
a petition for a "writ of certiorari," which is a document asking the Supreme Court to review the
case. The Supreme Court, however, does not have to grant review. The Court typically will agree to 
hear a case only when it involves an unusually important legal principle, or when two or more federal
appellate courts have interpreted a law differently. There are also a small number of special 
circumstances in which the Supreme Court is required by law to hear an appeal. When the Supreme Court 
hears a case, the parties are required to file written briefs and the Court may hear oral argument. 
  
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The Supreme Court of the United States of America

The United States Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight 
associate justices. At its discretion, and within certain guidelines established by Congress, 
the Supreme Court each year hears a limited number of the cases it is asked to decide. Those 
cases may begin in the federal or state courts, and they usually involve important questions 
about the Constitution or federal law.

The Supreme Court is the highest tribunal in the nation for all cases and controversies arising 
under the Constitution or the laws of the United States. The Court stands as the final arbiter 
of the law and guardian of constitutional liberties. 

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Map of the Federal Circuit Courts

External Resources

• Maryland Shooters - Our friends at Maryland Shooters have an active thread on Post-McDonald 2A litigation.
• Wikipedia - Second Amendment to the United States Constitution Lots of good reading on 19th and 20th century U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
• LCAV - Summary of Second Amendment Case Law - Federal Appellate Cases (Mostly Appeals from criminal cases that are not too interesting)
• LCAV - Significant Ongoing Civil Second Amendment Post-Heller Lawsuits (See Appendix A, at the end of the document for an objective list of cases)
• PACER - Public Access to Court Electronic Records is an electronic fee-based public access service that allows users to obtain case and docket information from federal appellate, and district courts.
• RECAP - The RECAP Archive Access to millions of U.S. Federal District and Bankruptcy Court documents, without charge.

About this Page

This page is a work in progress. It may be further developed to separate "current litigation" into three tables. One table for litigation that directly affects California, another table for "persuasive case law" (Non-9th Circuit of Appeals cases), and "Other Litigation" for all other interesting U.S. District or other Non California State litigation.

What this page should not ever be is a universal place to keep track of the hundreds of 2A cases currently in motion in the United States.