At a Glance

Description
Can’t tell an affadavit from an acquittal? Learn the legal lingo.
Website

Federal Judiciary

The U.S. judicial system exists to uphold the laws initiated by the nation's legislature.

The Federal Judiciary's site, U.S. Courts, is, in large part, intended to provide individuals with forms and information relevant to legal proceedings with which they may be involved. However, noteworthy resources do exist, including an educational resources page.

This resource page offers brief overviews of major court cases and several court simulations. The simulations are designed in a number of formats including dramatic scripts and debates; and they are intended to present Constitutional amendments as relevant to teenage lives.

A number of other features may also prove handy to you. These included a comparison of federal and state courts (cases, judges, and structure) in the form of two comparable lists of bullet points; commonly used judicial vocabulary; and faqs addressing federal courts, jurors, and the Judicial Conference, among other topics.

Last, but not least, you may be searching for a way to tie current events into your history classroom, particularly in a civics class. If that is the case, you might consider looking into the courts' bankruptcy statistics, which could be used in conjunction with a lesson on the Great Depression. Note that the statistics all correspond to the past 20 years maximum.