NationMaster - Encyclopedia: District Judge

A federal judge is a judge appointed in accordance with Article III of the United States Constitution. All federal judges are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. The federal judiciary includes the United States Supreme Court, thirteen courts of appeals (also called 'circuit courts') with appellate jurisdiction over different regions of the United States, over 100 United States district courts. A judge or justice is an appointed or elected official who presides over a court. ... Article Three of the United States Constitution establishes the judicial branch of the federal (national) government. ... Page I of the Constitution of the United States of America Page II of the United States Constitution Page III of the United States Constitution Page IV of the United States Constitution The Syng inkstand, with which the Constitution was signed The Constitution of the United States is the supreme... Seal of the President of the United States The President of the United States is the head of state of the United States. ... Seal of the Senate The United States Senate is one of the two houses of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... The United States Courts of Appeals (or circuit courts) are the mid-level appellate courts of the United States federal court system. ... The appellate jurisdiction refers to matters which a court can hear after being ruled on by another court. ... The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. ...

Life tenure

"Article III" federal judges are appointed for life. However, the judges of some of the courts with special jurisdictions, among them federal magistrates and bankruptcy judges, are appointed for specified terms by the administrative bodies of the federal judiciary and are sometimes called federal judges. Therefore most federal judges hold their seats until they resign, die, or are impeached and convicted by the U.S. Congress. Since the impeachment process requires a trial by the United States Senate, and since the Constitutional provision concerning federal judges' tenure cannot be changed without the ratifications of three-fourths of the (now 50) states, federal judges have the best job security available in the United States. 20th-century experience seems to indicate that Congress is not willing to take time out of its busy schedule to impeach a federal judge until, after criminal conviction, the judge is in prison and still drawing his judge's salary, which cannot otherwise be taken away. A magistrate is a judicial officer with limited authority to administer and enforce the law. ... Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their creditors. ... The impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in 1999, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist presiding. ... The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States of America. ... Depiction of the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson, then President of the United States, in 1868. ... Seal of the Senate The United States Senate is one of the two houses of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ...

See also