1. JUDGES, JURIES, AND THE COURT SYSTEM

2. COURT SYSTEM The trial court system in the US is an adversarial system
A contest between opposing sides (or adversaries)
Plaintiff (civil) or prosecutor (criminal) vs. the defendant

3. Is this the best option? What potential problems could this create?
COURT SYSTEM
The theory is that the judge or the jury will be able to determine the truth if the opposing parties present their best arguments and show the weaknesses in the other side’s case
Gathering and presenting of evidence is left up to the competing parties and lawyers
Is this the best option? What potential problems could this create?

4. QUICK DISCUSSION: HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT?
“The goal of trial is victory, not truth or justice.”

5. QUICK DISCUSSION: HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT?
“It is better that ten guilty persons go free than one innocent person suffer conviction.”

6. QUICK DISCUSSION: HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT?
In a criminal case, should a lawyer defend a client he or she knows is guilty? Explain.
Yes bc it’s their job. A lot of times, lawyers will ask their clients not to tell them if they’re innocent or guilty/

7. JUDGES AND JURIES
In nonjury trials, a judge determines the facts of the case and renders a judgment
Think: small claims court, Judge Judy, small tort lawsuits (suing people)
Stuff that needs to get settled quickly

8. JUDGES AND JURIES
In jury trials, the judge instructs the jury as to the law involved in the case
The jury comes to a conclusion; the judge issues a punishment based on the jury’s conclusion
Think: criminal cases, high-profile cases tort law cases

9. JUDGES AND JURIES
The judge will give instructions that contain the interpretation of the relevant laws that govern the case, and that jurors are required to adhere to these laws
Jurors are to base their conclusions on the evidence as presented in the trial
The opening and closing arguments of the lawyers are not evidence

10. STATE V. FEDERAL COURTS STATE COURT FEDERAL COURT
Hears cases that deal with state law and federal law
Family, traffic, criminal, small claims court
Civil and criminal cases involving federal law
Civil cases involving parties from different states when the amount in dispute is greater than $75,000

11. FEDERAL CASES
STATE CASES

13. WHICH COURT? FEDERAL OR STATE?

14. A state sues a neighboring state for dumping waste in a river that borders both states

15. A wife sues her husband for divorce

16. A person is prosecuted for assaulting his neighbor

17. Two drivers crash their cars into each other
Two drivers crash their cars into each other. One driver sues the other for medical bills and car repairs.

18. She was caught smoking on the plane from Portland to Sacramento and threatened to kill everyone.

19. SUPREME COURT JUSTICES
Serve for life, unless they retire or are impeached for misconduct

20. SUPREME COURT
Most legal precedents are established by the Supreme Court
Brown v. Board of Education
8,000 cases are appealed to the Supreme Court per year
Hear about 80 of them
This year’s docket:
Transgender rights
Disabilities in education
Masterpiece Cakeshop vs. Colorado Civil Rights Commission
Gerrymandering
Which … ended segregation

21. SUPREME COURT
Page 61 – answer question B
If time – p 182, A and B

22. Tomorrow: How to draft laws
Through examining a sexting scandal at a Colorado High School
And, why you need lawyers