U.S. District Court

U.S. District Courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each of the United States district courts. Each federal judicial district has at least one courthouse and many districts have more than one. In contrast to the Supreme Court, which was established by Article III of the Constitution, the district courts were established by Congress. There is no constitutional requirement that district courts exist at all. Indeed, after the ratification of the Constitution some opponents of a strong federal judiciary urged that the federal court system should be limited to the Supreme Court, which would hear appeals from state courts. This view did not prevail and the first Congress-created district court system continues to exist.

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