美国法律简介Outline of US Legal System.docVIP

Outline of U.S. Legal System Chapters Introduction Chapter 1 History and Organization of State Judicial System Chapter 2 History and Organization of the Federal Judicial System Chapter 3 Jurisdiction and Policy-Making Boundaries Chapter 4 Lawyers, Litigants, and Interest Groups in the Judicial Process Chapter 5 U.S. Criminal Court Process Chapter 6 U.S. Civil Court Process Chapter 7 Federal Judges Chapter 8 Implementation and Impact of Judicial Policies Editions: Espa?ol Fran?ais Русский ????? 中文 ???? Introduction: Outline of the U.S. Legal System ? Painter Junius Brutus Searns depicted George Washington (standing, right) addressing the 1787 Constitutional Convention. (? AP Images) By Michael Jay Friedman Every business day, courts throughout the United States render decisions that together affect many thousands of people. Some affect only the parties to a particular legal action, but others adjudicate rights, benefits, and legal principles that have an impact on all Americans. Inevitably, many Americans may welcome a given ruling while others – sometimes many others – disapprove. All, however, accept the legitimacy of these decisions, and of the courts role as final interpreter of the law. There can be no more potent demonstration of the trust that Americans place in the rule of law and their confidence in the U.S. legal system. The pages that follow survey that system. Much of the discussion explains how U.S. courts are organized and how they work. Courts are central to the legal system, but they are not the entire system. Every day across America, federal, state, and local courts interpret laws, adjudicate disputes under laws, and at times even strike down laws as violating the fundamental protections that the Constitution guarantees all Americans. At the same time, millions of Americans transact their day-to-day affairs without turning to the courts. They, too, rely upon the legal system. The young couple purchasing their first home, two busines