1. Agenda- 1/31 Grab a chrome book and a textbook!
Review test/notebooks
Set up notebooks
Current Events
Crash Course Video WS- Structure of the Courts (LS)
Unit 2 Lecture 1- Structure of the Courts (RS)
Unit 2 Pathway Part I- Judicial Branch (LS)
HW: Work on Pathway

2. Unit 2- The Three Branches of Government- Unit 2 The Three Branches of Gov.
Ch. 18- The Judicial Branch Ch. 10, 11, 12- The Legislative Branch Ch. 13 and 14- The Executive Branch

3. Crash Course Government Court Structure

4. Unit 2 Lecture 1- The Structure of the Court System
-How is the court system structured in America?
-What do the different levels of courts do?

5. First, some legal vocabulary…
Jurisdiction- the power of a court to try and decide a case
Original jurisdiction- that court is the first to hear the case
Appellate jurisdiction- that court is hearing the case on appeal
Concurring jurisdiction- the case may be tried in more than one court
Plaintiff- the one initiating the lawsuit
Defendant- the one being sued

6. What does it mean that the United States has a “dual court system?”
There are two levels of courts:
Federal Courts- jurisdiction over federal crimes
Constitutional courts deal with issues of the Constitution
Special (Legislative) courts deal with powers of Congress
State Courts- jurisdiction over state crimes, are the majority of cases in the U.S.
*We are going to focus on the federal constitutional courts.

7. Congress was given the authority to create the federal courts
Congress was given the authority to create the federal courts. How did they structure it?
District Courts
Original jurisdiction
Hear most federal cases
Spread out throughout the U.S.
Court of Appeals
Appellate jurisdiction
Divided into 12 circuits
Supreme Court
Original and appellate jurisdiction
The highest court in the land
(Will study more tomorrow)

8. And what about the judges?
Federal judges are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate
Presidents nominate justices with similar ideologies to the President. Why?
Judges are appointed for life and may only be removed by impeachment from Congress