What is an appellate court?

Illinois’ Third District Appellate Court in Ottawa, Illinois.

Hello, my name is Judge Kenton Skarin, and I am running for Illinois Third District Appellate Court in November 2024

Judge Kenton Skarin.

Today I am going to explain what an appellate court is.

The appellate court is the court that corrects any mistakes that were made at trial.

More specifically, in Illinois, we have three levels of courts, the trial courts, the appellate courts, and the supreme court.  Trial courts are like My Cousin Vinny or The Good Wife, where witnesses swear to tell the whole truth and judges or juries make a decision

If you think there was a mistake at the trial, you can talk to the judges upstairs.  That’s the appellate court. Anyone has a right to ask the appellate court to fix what happened at trial

Above the appellate court is the supreme court. But they only take a few cases.  That means that for most people, the appellate court is the last stop.  That makes it very important.

To summarize, we have trial courts, appellate courts, and the supreme court.  I want to represent you on the appellate court. I am asking you to vote for me in November 2024. 

Please subscribe and share this post with your friends.  If you have a question you would like answered, please fill out a contact form on our website, or message us on social media.