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Massachusetts Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, § 3 Superintendence of Inferior Courts.

The supreme judicial court shall have general superintendence of all courts of inferior jurisdiction to correct and prevent errors and abuses therein if no other remedy is expressly provided; and

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it may issue all writs and processes to such courts and to corporations and individuals which may be necessary to the furtherance of justice and to the regular execution of the laws.

In addition to the foregoing, the justices of the supreme judicial court shall also have general superintendence of the administration of all courts of inferior jurisdiction, including, without limitation, the prompt hearing and disposition of matters pending therein, and the functions set forth in section 3C; and it may issue such writs, summonses and other processes and such orders, directions and rules as may be necessary or desirable for the furtherance of justice, the regular execution of the laws, the improvement of the administration of such courts, and the securing of their proper and efficient administration; provided, however, that general superintendence shall not include the authority to supersede any general or special law unless the supreme judicial court, acting under its original or appellate jurisdiction finds such law to be unconstitutional in any case or controversy. Nothing herein contained shall affect existing law governing the selection of officers of the courts, or limit the existing authority of the officers thereof to appoint administrative personnel.

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Massachusetts Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211A § 11 Further Appellate Review.

There shall be no further appellate review by the supreme judicial court of any matter within the jurisdiction of the appeals court which has been decided by that court, except:—(a)

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where a majority of the justices of the appeals court deciding the case, or of the appeals court as a whole, certifies that the public interest or the interests of justice make desirable a further appellate review, or (b) where leave to obtain further appellate review or late review is specifically authorized by three justices of the supreme judicial court for substantial reasons affecting the public interest or the interests of justice. Upon the written order of a majority of the justices of the appeals court, the decision of a panel of the appeals court may be reviewed and revised by a majority of the justices of the appeals court. Such a review shall not be a condition precedent to obtaining further appellate review by the supreme judicial court.

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Massachusetts Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211A, §§ 5, 10 Power to Execute Judgments, Orders, etc.; Concurrent Appellate Jurisdiction — Review in First Instance by Appeals Court.

Section 5. The appeals court shall be vested with all powers and authority necessary to carry into execution its judgments, decrees, determinations and orders in matters within its jurisdiction according

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to the rules and principles of common law and the Constitution and laws of the commonwealth, and subject to the appellate jurisdiction, supervision and superintendence of the supreme judicial court. The appeals court shall have original jurisdiction over the enforcement or review of final orders of the labor relations commission issued pursuant to section six or section six A of chapter one hundred and fifty A or section eleven of chapter one hundred and fifty E.

Section 10. Subject to such further appellate review by the supreme judicial court as may be permitted pursuant to section eleven or otherwise, the appeals court shall have concurrent appellate jurisdiction with the supreme judicial court, to the extent review is otherwise allowable, with respect to a determination made in the appellate tax board and in the superior court department, the housing court department, the land court department, the probate and family court department, the Boston municipal court department in criminal session, the Boston municipal court department appellate division, the juvenile court department, the district court department in criminal session, and the district court department appellate divisions, except in review of convictions for first degree murder. A report from any such department of the trial court of any case, in whole or in part, or any question of law arising therein shall be deemed to be within the concurrent appellate jurisdiction of the supreme judicial court and the appeals court.

Without regard to whether review is by appeal, report or otherwise, appellate review of decisions made in the appellate tax board and in the superior court department, the housing court department, the land court department, the probate and family court department, the Boston municipal court department and the appellate division thereof, the juvenile court department, and the district court department, and the appellate divisions thereof, if within the jurisdiction of the appeals court, shall be in the first instance by the appeals court except in the following cases in which appellate review shall be directly by the supreme judicial court without the necessity of any prior hearing or decision by the appeals court on the merits of the issues sought to be reviewed:

(A) Whenever two justices of the supreme judicial court issue an order direct review by the supreme judicial court in any case on appeal, either at the request of one of the parties or at the court's own initiative, upon finding that the questions to be decided are: (1) questions of first impression or novel questions of law which should be submitted for final determination to the supreme judicial court; (2) questions of law concerning the Constitution of the commonwealth or questions concerning the Constitution of the United States which have been raised in a court of the commonwealth; (3) questions of such public interest that justice requires a final determination by the supreme judicial court.

(B) Whenever the appeals court as a body or a majority of the justices of the appeals court considering a particular case certifies that direct review by the supreme judicial court is in the public interest.

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Massachusetts Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 218, § 26 Equity Jurisdiction; Promulgation of Rules and Forms.;

The district courts and divisions of the Boston municipal court department shall have original jurisdiction, concurrent with the superior court, of the following offenses, complaint of which shall be brought

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in the court of the district court department, or in the Boston municipal court department, as the case may be, within which judicial district the offense was allegedly committed or is otherwise made punishable:— all violations of by–laws, orders, ordinances, rules and regulations, made by cities, towns and public officers, all misdemeanors, except libels, all felonies punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than five–years, the crimes listed in paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of section eight of chapter ninety B, subparagraph (1) of paragraph (a) of subdivision (1) of section twenty–four, paragraph (a) of section twenty–four G and paragraph (1) of section twenty–four L of chapter ninety, paragraph (a) of section thirty–two and paragraph (a) of section thirty–two A of chapter ninety–four C, and section thirty–two J of chapter ninety–four C, section 38B of chapter 127, section one hundred and thirty–one E of chapter one hundred and forty, sections thirteen K, 15A, 15D, 21A and 26 of chapter two hundred and sixty–five and sections sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty–eight, thirty, forty–nine and one hundred and twenty–seven of chapter two hundred and sixty–six, and sections one, fifteen and fifteen A of chapter two hundred and seventy–three, and the crimes of malicious destruction of personal property under section one hundred and twenty–seven of chapter two hundred and sixty–six, indecent assault and battery on a child under fourteen years of age, offenses under section 13B of chapter 268, conspiracy under section 7 of chapter 274, solicitation to commit a felony under section 8 of said chapter 274, escape or attempt to escape from any penal institution, forgery of a promissory note, or of an order for money or other property, and of uttering as true such a forged note or order, knowing the same to be forged. They shall have jurisdiction of proceedings referred to them under the provisions of section four A of chapter two hundred and eleven.

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Massachusetts Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 212, § 6 Jurisdiction — Criminal Jurisdiction.

Section 6. The court shall have original jurisdiction of all crimes. Crimes committed in that part of Scituate described in chapter three hundred and ninety-four of the acts of nineteen

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hundred and twelve shall be within the territorial jurisdiction of the court both in Norfolk county and in Plymouth county, and arrests and service of process in such cases may be made by an officer qualified to serve criminal process in Cohasset. Crimes committed in any part of Cambridge, Watertown or Newton lying in the Charles river basin shall be within the territorial jurisdiction of the court both in Middlesex county and in Suffolk county.

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Massachusetts Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 218, §§ 4, 19C District court jurisdiction; equity and powers and rules

Section 4. District courts shall be courts of record. They shall be courts of superior and general jurisdiction with reference to all cases and matters in which they have jurisdiction,

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and no order, decree, judgment, sentence, warrant, writ or process made, issued or pronounced by them need set out any adjudication or circumstances with greater particularity than would be required in other courts of superior and general jurisdiction, and the like presumption shall be made in favor of proceedings of such courts as would be made in favor of proceedings of other courts of superior and general jurisdiction. Each district court shall have a seal, which shall be in the custody of its clerk, and shall be affixed to all processes issued by such court requiring a seal.

Section 19C. The district court and Boston municipal court departments of the trial court shall have the same equitable powers and jurisdiction as is provided for the superior court pursuant to chapter 214 and the same authority with regard to declaratory judgments as is provided for the superior court pursuant to chapter 231A for the purpose of the hearing and disposition of summary process actions and of civil actions for money damages under section 19 of this chapter. The district courts shall have original jurisdiction in rem and personam of all actions arising under sections one hundred and twenty-seven A to one hundred and twenty-seven K, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and eleven. The district courts shall have equity powers only to the extent necessary to enforce the aforementioned sections, including the power to appoint receivers, grant injunctions and issue restraining orders as justice and equity may require and for punishing civil contempt of orders, rulings and decrees made or pronounced in the exercise of this jurisdiction. Subject to the approval of the supreme judicial court, the chief justice for the district court department may from time to time promulgate rules and prescribe forms for the efficient operation of such equity sessions in the courts of the district court department; and in the Boston municipal court department the chief justice for said department may promulgate such rules and prescribe such forms. Section 19C. The district court and Boston municipal court departments of the trial court shall have the same equitable powers and jurisdiction as is provided for the superior court pursuant to chapter 214 and the same authority with regard to declaratory judgments as is provided for the superior court pursuant to chapter 231A for the purpose of the hearing and disposition of summary process actions and of civil actions for money damages under section 19 of this chapter. The district courts shall have original jurisdiction in rem and personam of all actions arising under sections one hundred and twenty-seven A to one hundred and twenty-seven K, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and eleven. The district courts shall have equity powers only to the extent necessary to enforce the aforementioned sections, including the power to appoint receivers, grant injunctions and issue restraining orders as justice and equity may require and for punishing civil contempt of orders, rulings and decrees made or pronounced in the exercise of this jurisdiction. Subject to the approval of the supreme judicial court, the chief justice for the district court department may from time to time promulgate rules and prescribe forms for the efficient operation of such equity sessions in the courts of the district court department; and in the Boston municipal court department the chief justice for said department may promulgate such rules and prescribe such forms.

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Massachusetts Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 218, § 59 Juvenile Ct — Powers, Duties and Procedure.

Except as otherwise provided by law, the divisions of the juvenile court department shall have and exercise, within their respective jurisdictions, the same powers, duties, and procedure as the divisions

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of the district court department; and all laws relating to district courts or municipal courts in their respective counties or officials thereof or proceedings therein, shall, so far as applicable, apply to said divisions of the juvenile court department.

The divisions of the juvenile court department shall also have jurisdiction in equity concurrent with the supreme judicial court and with the superior court department in all cases and matters arising under the provisions of chapters 119 and 210.

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Massachusetts Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211A, § 1 Court Established; Justices.

There shall be an intermediate appellate court to be known as the appeals court. The appeals court shall consist of a chief justice and twenty-four associate justices.

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Massachusetts Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 276A, § 2 Jurisdiction — District Courts and Boston Municipal Court; Offender's Qualifications for Diversion.

The district courts, and in Boston, the municipal court of the city of Boston, shall have jurisdiction to divert to a program, as defined in section one, any person who

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is charged with an offense or offenses against the commonwealth for which a term of imprisonment may be imposed and over which the district courts may exercise final jurisdiction and who has not previously been convicted of a violation of any law of the commonwealth or of any other state or of the United States in any criminal court proceeding after having reached the age of 18 years, except for traffic violations for which no term of imprisonment may have been imposed, who does not have any outstanding warrants, continuances, appeals or criminal cases pending before any courts of the commonwealth or any other state or of the United States, and who has received a recommendation from a program that he would, in light of the capacities of and guidelines governing it, benefit from participation in said program.

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Massachusetts Mass. Const. Pt. 2, C. 3, art. IV Provisions for Holding Probate Courts.

The judges of probate of wills, and for granting letters of administration, shall hold their courts at such place or places, on fixed days, as the convenience of the people

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shall require; and the legislature shall, from time to time, hereafter appoint such times and places; until which appointments, the said courts shall be holden at the times and places which the respective judges shall direct.

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Washington Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 2.04.010 Jurisdiction

The supreme court shall have original jurisdiction in habeas corpus and quo warrantor and mandamus as to all state officers, and appellate jurisdiction in all actions and proceedings excepting that

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its appellate jurisdiction shall not extend to civil actions at law for the recovery of money or personal property when the original amount in controversy or the value of the property does not exceed the sum of two hundred dollars, unless the action involves the legality of a tax, impost, assessment, toll, municipal fine, or the validity of a statute. The supreme court shall also have power to issue writs of mandamus, review, prohibition, habeas corpus, certiorari, and all other writs necessary and proper to the complete exercise of its appellate and revisory jurisdiction. Each of the judges shall have power to issue writs of habeas corpus to any part of the state, upon petition by or on behalf of any person held in actual custody, and may make such writs returnable before himself or herself, or before the supreme court, or before any superior court of the state, or any judge thereof.

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Washington Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 2.06.030 General powers and authority--Transfers of cases--Appellate jurisdiction, exceptions--Appeals

Subject to the provisions of this section, the court shall have exclusive appellate jurisdiction in all cases except:(a) cases of quo warrantor, prohibition, injunction or mandamus directed to state officials;

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(b) criminal cases where the death penalty has been decreed; (c) cases where the validity of all or any portion of a statute, ordinance, tax, impost, assessment or toll is drawn into question on the grounds of repugnancy to the Constitution of the United States or of the state of Washington, or to a statute or treaty of the United States, and the superior court has held against its validity; (d) cases involving fundamental and urgent issues of broad public import requiring prompt and ultimate determination; and (e) cases involving substantive issues on which there is a direct conflict among prevailing decisions of panels of the court or between decisions of the supreme court;

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Washington Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 2.08.010 Original jurisdiction

The superior court shall have original jurisdiction in all cases in equity, and in all cases at law which involve the title or possession of real property, or the legality

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of any tax, impost, assessment, toll or municipal fine, and in all other cases in which the demand or the value of the property in controversy amounts to three hundred dollars, and in all criminal cases amounting to felony, and in all cases of misdemeanor not otherwise provided for by law; of actions of forcible entry and detainer; of proceedings in insolvency; of actions to prevent or abate a nuisance; of all matters of probate, of divorce and for annulment of marriage, and for such special cases and proceedings as are not otherwise provided for; and shall also have original jurisdiction in all cases and of all proceedings in which jurisdiction shall not have been by law vested exclusively in some other court, and shall have the power of naturalization and to issue papers therefor. Said courts and their judges shall have power to issue writs of mandamus, quo warrantor, review, certiorari, prohibition and writs of habeas corpus on petition by or on behalf of any person in actual custody in their respective counties. Injunctions and writs of prohibition and of habeas corpus may be issued on legal holidays and nonjudicial days.

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Washington Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 2.08.020 Appellate jurisdiction

The superior courts shall have such appellate jurisdiction in cases arising in courts of limited jurisdiction in their respective counties as may be prescribed by law.

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Washington Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 2.30.010(1) Findings--Scope of therapeutic court programs

The legislature finds that judges in the trial courts throughout the state effectively utilize what are known as therapeutic courts to remove a defendant's or respondent's case from the criminal

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and civil court traditional trial track and allow those defendants or respondents the opportunity to obtain treatment services to address particular issues that may have contributed to the conduct that led to their arrest or other issues before the court. Trial courts have proved adept at creative approaches in fashioning a wide variety of therapeutic courts addressing the spectrum of social issues that can contribute to criminal activity and engagement with the child welfare system.

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Washington Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 3.66.060 Criminal jurisdiction

The district court shall have jurisdiction: (1) Concurrent with the superior court of all misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors committed in their respective counties and of all violations of city ordinances.

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It shall in no event impose a greater punishment than a fine of five thousand dollars, or imprisonment for one year in the county or city jail as the case may be, or both such fine and imprisonment, unless otherwise expressly provided by statute. It may suspend and revoke vehicle operators' licenses in the cases provided by law; (2) to sit as a committing magistrate and conduct preliminary hearings in cases provided by law; (3) concurrent with the superior court of a proceeding to keep the peace in their respective counties; (4) concurrent with the superior court of all violations under Title 77 RCW; (5) to hear and determine traffic infractions under chapter 46.63 RCW; and (6) to take recognizance, approve bail, and arraign defendants held within its jurisdiction on warrants issued by other courts of limited jurisdiction when those courts are participating in the program established under RCW 2.56.160.

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Washington Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 3.50.010 Municipal court authorized in cities of four hundred thousand or less

Any city or town with a population of four hundred thousand or less may by ordinance provide for an inferior court to be known and designated as a municipal court,

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which shall be entitled “The Municipal Court of .......... (insert name of city or town)”, hereinafter designated and referred to as “municipal court”, which court shall have jurisdiction and shall exercise all powers by this chapter declared to be vested in the municipal court, together with such other powers and jurisdiction as are generally conferred upon such court in this state either by common law or by express statute.

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Washington Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 3.50.020 Jurisdiction

The municipal court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction over traffic infractions arising under city ordinances and exclusive original criminal jurisdiction of all violations of city ordinances duly adopted by the

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city and shall have original jurisdiction of all other actions brought to enforce or recover license penalties or forfeitures declared or given by such ordinances or by state statutes. A hosting jurisdiction shall have exclusive original criminal and other jurisdiction as described in this section for all matters filed by a contracting city. The municipal court shall also have the jurisdiction as conferred by statute. The municipal court is empowered to forfeit cash bail or bail bonds and issue execution thereon; and in general to hear and determine all causes, civil or criminal, including traffic infractions, arising under such ordinances and to pronounce judgment in accordance therewith. A municipal court participating in the program established by the administrative office of the courts pursuant to RCW 2.56.160 shall have jurisdiction to take recognizance, approve bail, and arraign defendants held within its jurisdiction on warrants issued by any court of limited jurisdiction participating in the program.

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Washington Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 2.06.010 Court of appeals established--Definitions

There is hereby established a court of appeals as a court of record. 

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Minnesota Minn. Const. Art. 6, § 2 Judiciary; Supreme Court

The supreme court consists of one chief judge and not less than six nor more than eight associate judges as the legislature may establish. It shall have original jurisdiction in

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such remedial cases as are prescribed by law, and appellate jurisdiction in all cases, but there shall be no trial by jury in the supreme court. The legislature may establish a court of appeals and provide by law for the number of its judges, who shall not be judges of any other court, and its organization and for the review of its decisions by the supreme court. The court of appeals shall have appellate jurisdiction over all courts, except the supreme court, and other appellate jurisdiction as prescribed by law. As provided by law judges of the court of appeals or of the district court may be assigned temporarily to act as judges of the supreme court upon its request and judges of the district court may be assigned temporarily by the supreme court to act as judges of the court of appeals. The supreme court shall appoint to serve at its pleasure a clerk, a reporter, a state law librarian and other necessary employees.

Creation of the courts, Jurisdiction of the courts