Final answer:
The lawful authority of a court to hear or act on a case from its beginning is known as original jurisdiction. This grants the court the power to make initial decisions, as established by the Constitution and Federal Judiciary Act of 1789.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term that refers to the lawful authority of a court to hear or act on a case from its beginning and to pass judgment on both the law and the facts is known as original jurisdiction.
This means the court has the power to hear a case first, making the initial decision before any other court has seen the case. Under Article III, Section 2 of the U.S.
Constitution and other relevant legislation like the Federal Judiciary Act of 1789, it's detailed which cases federal courts can hear and the process for how cases are selected or assigned to these courts.
The U.S. Supreme Court, for example, has rare cases under its original jurisdiction, such as disputes between states, but most of its cases are appellate jurisdiction cases, where the court hears appeals from lower courts.
On the other hand, district courts generally have original jurisdiction. It is also important to note that while the Federal Courts' jurisdiction covers federal law and certain disputes, state law governs the jurisdiction of state courts which can lead to differences in legal rulings based on varying state laws, such as those relating to marijuana legislation.