United States territorial courts

E16178

Article IV court court federal court system

United States territorial courts are federal courts established by Congress in U.S. territories to handle local and federal matters, operating under Article IV rather than Article III of the Constitution.

Aliases (5)

Statements (51)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Article IV court → court → federal court system →
appealsTo	United States courts of appeals →
appliesToJurisdiction	United States territories →
constitutionalBasis	Article IV of the United States Constitution →
country	United States of America →
differentFrom	Article III courts → United States district courts →
employs	judges without Article III life tenure → judges without constitutional salary protection under Article III →
establishedBy	United States Congress →
governedBy	federal statutes specific to each territory →
handles	cases arising under territorial statutes → civil cases under federal law in territories → criminal cases under federal law in territories →
hasAuthorityOver	federal law in U.S. territories → local territorial law →
hasType	District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands → District Court of Guam → District Court of the Virgin Islands → High Court of American Samoa (often treated as a territorial court for some purposes) → United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico (historically as a territorial court before Article III conversion) →
historicallyIncluded	territorial courts in Alaska Territory → territorial courts in Hawaii Territory → territorial courts in the Panama Canal Zone → territorial courts in the Philippine Islands → territorial courts in the Territory of Arizona → territorial courts in the Territory of Colorado → territorial courts in the Territory of Dakota → territorial courts in the Territory of Idaho → territorial courts in the Territory of Kansas → territorial courts in the Territory of Louisiana → territorial courts in the Territory of Minnesota → territorial courts in the Territory of Mississippi → territorial courts in the Territory of Montana → territorial courts in the Territory of Nebraska → territorial courts in the Territory of Nevada → territorial courts in the Territory of New Mexico → territorial courts in the Territory of Oklahoma → territorial courts in the Territory of Oregon → territorial courts in the Territory of Utah → territorial courts in the Territory of Washington → territorial courts in the Territory of Wyoming →
legalBasis	Territorial Clause of the United States Constitution →
mayAppealTo	Supreme Court of the United States →
partOf	judiciary of the United States →
purpose	to provide judicial forums in U.S. territories before and after statehood →
relatedConcept	insular cases doctrine →
relatedTo	United States territorial law →
subjectTo	oversight by federal appellate courts →

Referenced by (6)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Article III, Section 1 of the United States Constitution ("Article I courts") →	distinguishesFrom
United States territorial courts ("High Court of American Samoa (often treated as a territorial court for some purposes)") →	hasType
United States district courts ("United States district courts in Puerto Rico and certain U.S. territories") →	includes
federal judiciary of the United States →	includesCourt
Supreme Court of Guam ("United States federal and territorial system") →	legalSystemContext
D.V.I. ("United States territorial court system") →	partOf