1. Name the two factors that give federal courts jurisdiction over a case. Give an example of each.

2. Why do presidents prefer federal judges who tend to agree with their views?

3. How is a case usually heard and decided when it reaches the supreme court.

1. Federal courts have original subject matter jurisdiction over all cases that arise under (are based upon) any federal law. Here are some examples to clarify:

Filing a lawsuit against a police officer and a police department for violating a federal civil rights law that allows citizens that have been wrongfully arrested to collect civil damages. You file a lawsuit alleging that a competing company has made a product that infringes upon your patent. Patents are a creation of federal law, so you may file your suit in federal court.

A growing small business sues a large company for engaging in unfair and anti-competitive business practices under federal antitrust laws.

An organization devoted to handicapped individuals sues a public establishment for failing to have any handicap accessible entrances under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

2. Americans cling to the notion that someone born in the humblest of circumstances (such as Abraham Lincoln) may one day grow up to be the president of the United States, or at least a U. S. judge. As with most myths, this one has a kernel of truth. In principle virtually anyone can become a prominent public official, and a few well-known examples can be cited of people who came from poor backgrounds yet climbed to the pinnacle of power. More typically, however, America's federal judges, like other public officials and the captains of commerce and industry, come from the nation's middle and upper-middle classes.