The U.S. judicial system, which is based on England’s system of COMMON LAW, was established by the authority found in Article I and Article III of the U.S. Constitution. In England between A.D. 476–1450, judges developed common law through their procedures and rulings. Eventually laws passed by legislatures replaced common law. Article I of the Constitution, provides the legislature (Congress) authority to establish courts inferior to the supreme Court [sic]—legislative courts. Constitutional courts are established by Article III, which states that the “judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court,” but allows Congress the authority to “ordain and establish” inferior courts when necessary. Common-law principals are still important to the American federal court system in that they emphasize protecting the individual from state abuse in two ways. First, the individual is presumed innocent until proven guilty; the burden of proof rests upon the state, and therefore the individual need not prove innocence. Second, common law provides individual protection from state abuse through a jury system (grand and petit juries). Grand and petit juries consist of panels of ordinary citizens. Federal courts cannot prosecute defendants unless they are first indicted (charged with a crime) by the grand jury. The grand jury determines whether enough evidence exists to prosecute the individual for the charged crime in a trial court (petit jury). Petit juries consist of jurors who hear evidence from the prosecution and defense attorneys and then render a verdict of guilty or not guilty. Once a defendant is convicted, the judge imposes the sentence, or punishment. As previously noted defendants are protected from state abuse during these two stages of the judicial process. Federal courts are distinguished by two major criteria: (a) the authority that establishes the court—constitutional and legislative courts, and (b) the jurisdiction the court has when hearing cases—original and appellate jurisdiction. Article III established constitutional courts, specifically the Supreme Court, but also gave Congress the power to establish lesser federal courts deemed necessary to exercise the “judicial power of the United States” (Article III Section 1). Constitutional courts include the Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals, and the U.S. District Courts. Legislative courts are lesser federal courts established by Congress with their vested authority in Article I. These special courts have limited jurisdictions to areas as defined by Congress. Examples of legislative courts include Military Courts, U.S. Tax Courts, U.S. Courts of Appeals, and the U.S. Claims Court. When cases are heard in court for the first time, they are heard under original jurisdiction. If an individual appeals the decision from the lower federal court, the case is then heard under appellate jurisdiction. Attorneys for major corporations monitor court decisions, particularly Tax and Claims court rulings, for their potential impact on business actions and strategies. Tax court rulings often influence accounting and business location decisions. The United States has 89 Federal District Courts, each state having at least 1 and larger states having as many as 5. These courts are the country’s major federal trial courts in which a single judge presides and a jury decides a verdict. There are 12 circuit Courts of Appeal throughout the country. Precedence is determined by three judges (no jurors, witnesses, or attorneys present) and interpretation of the law, rather than case facts, is used to establish (hand down) an opinion. In most cases, decisions of the federal appellate courts are final—only a small number of cases are accepted (heard) by the Supreme Court proceeding appellate court rulings.