A Primer on American Courts [Paperback]

This brief, accessible, and inexpensive supplement on American courts and their functions provides undergraduate, or first-year law students, with an understanding of the key substantive and procedural concepts that they need to know to study the law or the judicial process. Recognizing that there are many substantive and procedural concepts about American courts that students must first grasp in order to study the law or the judicial process, this brief text answers important questions about justiciability, standing, jurisdiction, and judicial power. With a stronger historical context, this text is a perfect complement to a text on Constitutional Law, Judicial Process, or a legal casebook, and will help students master the legal vocabulary with which they are confronted.

Preface Chapter 1: A Brief History of American and English Courts  Chapter 2: Jurisdiction  Chapter 3: Litigation  Chapter 4: Federal and State Courts  Chapter 5: The Supreme Court  Appendix A: Finding and Citing Legal Sources  Appendix B: Analyzing Opinions and Briefing Cases  Appendix C: Theories of Judicial Decision-Making  Appendix D: Additional Federal Courts  Appendix E: The Funnel Effect.

Dr. William Milleris Professor of Politics at Marymount University