The United States has two separate court systems: the federal and the state. The two systems were created due to the U.S. Constitution's federalism. Federalism means that governmental powers are shared between the federal government and state governments.
What are the benefits of having two court systems?
They can hear different types of cases. Judges generally hear larger, more complex cases while magistrates hear smaller matters such as petty crime and traffic offenses. Magistrates have a smaller area of jurisdiction such as a city or county.
