Click on the picture above to learn more about your Missouri Courts. The brief video – it's three minutes and 35 seconds long – explains why the Founding Fathers elevated the judiciary to its status as the government's third and equal branch. It then points out that most people think of federal courts, particularly the U.S. Supreme Court, when they think of courts, but that a whopping 96 percent of all cases are handled in state courts. The video goes on to explain that state courts are made up of local trial courts, where juries or judges decide cases, as well as appellate and supreme courts.