Offers a supplement on American courts and their functions that 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. This text answers questions about justiciability, standing, jurisdiction, and judicial power. Preface ix Acknowledgments xv A Brief History of English and American Courts 1(36) The United States Constitution 2(1) English Origins 3(23) Colonial and Early State Courts 26(3) Development of the Federal Courts 29(4) Development of the State Courts 33(4) Jurisdiction 37(18) The Four J's 38(5) Types of Jurisdiction 43(11) Conclusion 54(1) Litigation 55(30) Civil Cases and Criminal Cases 56(2) Civil Procedure 58(10) Criminal Procedure 68(5) Appellate Procedure 73(6) Expedited Consideration of Constitutional Issues 79(5) Conclusion 84(1) Federal and State Courts 85(30) Federal Courts---The Powers of Congress 86(17) State Courts 103(10) Conclusion 113(2) The Supreme Court 115(28) The Structure of the Supreme Court 115(2) The Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court 117(6) Supreme Court Procedure 123(13) Deciding Cases and Preparing Opinions 136(3) Effect of Appellate Decisions and Opinions 139(4) Appendix A Finding and Citing Legal Sources 143(13) Appendix B Analyzing Opinions and Briefing Cases 156(8) Appendix C Theories of Judicial Decision-Making 164(12) Appendix D Additional Federal Courts 176(4) Appendix E The Funnel Effect 180(5) Index 185