Which of the following lists the three levels of the federal court system from lowest to highest, as described?

• A. U.S. District Courts → U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal → Supreme Court
• B. U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal → U.S. District Courts → Supreme Court
• C. Supreme Court → U.S. District Courts → U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal
• D. U.S. District Courts → U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal → Supreme Court

Answer: (D)

The federal court system progresses from trial courts to appellate review to the highest authority. Trials begin in the U.S. District Courts, where evidence is heard and initial rulings are made. If a party believes there was an error, the decision goes to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the circuit, which reviews the district court’s decision for legal mistakes. The final arbiter is the Supreme Court, which mostly picks and chooses cases to review on appeal, handling the most significant questions of federal law or constitutional issues. This makes the sequence District Courts → Circuit Courts of Appeal → Supreme Court the correct order. The other options place a court in a role it doesn’t perform—circuits don’t conduct trials, and the Supreme Court isn’t an intermediate appellate body—so they don’t fit the standard structure.