Judiciary is the arm of the government that interprets and applies the law as the government. It also helps in resolving disputes among individuals, other arms of the government and between citizens and the state. The judicial arm of the government has another duty of ensuring that citizens and the government are equal under the law.
In the United States of America, the supreme law of the land is the constitution because it comes up with federal governments so that power is shared equitably by the two levels of the government.
State and federal courts are different in structure, selection of judges and the type of cases they handle. Structurally, federal courts find their judicial powers from the federal court system in article III of the US constitution. Congress creates lower federal courts. State courts on the other hand are created from the constitution as well laws of each state. The Supreme Court is the highest court but one can come across intermediate courts of appeal in some states (Levi, 1949).
Federal and state courts also have unique methods of selecting judges. For example, judges in federal courts are nominated by the president, who forwards the names of nominees to the senate for vetting and confirmation. Confirmed judges may hold their positions for life as long as they carry themselves with dignity, candor and integrity (good behavior).
If judges in state courts are found to have lived out of expectations, then they can be removed through impeachment. State courts on the other hand select their judges through various methods like election, temporary appointments, life appointments or a combination of the mentioned methods (Cardozo, 1998).
The type and number of cases handled by federal and state courts also vary. Disputes arising from constitutionality or unconstitutionality of the law, treaties, ambassadors and senior public servants, bankruptcy, admiralty and interstate disputes are handled by federal courts. State courts on the other hand handle criminal cases, those related to will and estates, tort cases, contract cases, family cases and so on.
State courts handle more cases and regularly come in contact with the public than federal courts which mainly solve disputes of national importance. For example in 2011 alone, over 300,000,000 cases were filed in state courts while the federal courts only filed 1,000,000 cases.
State and federal courts are independent and are therefore free from external influence from other arms of the government like the legislature or executive. This simply means that both courts are not subject to unfair influence from the government, partisan interests or private individuals and organizations.
State courts and federal courts are both important because they bring harmony, orderliness and logical decisions to cases brought before them. However, from the above analysis, it is clear that state courts are most important. As stated, they handle over three quarters of disputes or cases in the judiciary meaning that they do the bulk of the work in the judiciary (Frank, 1985).
In addition, they frequently interact with citizens because most of their cases relate to disputes among citizens. They therefore keep the wheels of justice moving by ensuring that public disputes are solved harmoniously. The judicial arm of the government therefore cannot function without state courts. Cases that federal courts handle in most cases require judges in the Supreme Court to interpret the constitution. Such cases are few compared to criminal cases handled by state courts and whenever they occur, judges rely on precedence set by previous judges which makes the work of judges in Supreme Court lighter compared to that in state courts.
References
Cardozo, B. (1998). The Nature of Judicial Process. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Frank, J. (1985). Law and the Modern Mind. Birmingham, AC: Legal Classics Library.
Levi, E. (1949). An Introduction to Legal Reasoning. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press.