Foundations of Legal Studies Course

Miller, Primer ch. 4 (pp. 85-114), Sarat Ch. 11 (J.B. White, "Law as Rhetoric"), Sarat Ch. 14 (Cover, "Violence and the Word")

1. Miller's chapter is purely descriptive, but it is material people should know. What sorts of cases go to federal Article III courts? How about state courts? What routes are there to the U.S. Supreme Court and what steps are involved (see esp. p. 87)? If you had to explain the logic of the U.S. court system to a friend who was totally unfamiliar with the structure of the courts in four sentences or less, how would you do it?