Chapter 1 Real-life CouRt Cases Real-life court cases aren’t quite like the ones on TV They don’t follow a script They don’t end in an hour But they are dramatic And they affect real people They can even affect kids This is a scene from the TV show Law Order Los Angeles How are real-life court cases different from the ones on TV 4
Consider this case A fourth-grade boy wears a T-shirt to school with the name of his favorite sports team printed on it His school bans clothing printed with messages His teacher makes him turn his shirt inside out The boy thinks it’s unfair His parents agree They take the case to court Courts handle cases like this every day The cases affect real-life people people just like you Sometimes kids are involved in court cases Courts are used to settle disagreements between people or between a person and the government 5
Who’s Who Like any drama courts have a cast of characters The plaintiff is the person who goes to court for help The defendant is the person accused of doing something wrong Lawyers argue each side of the case They ask witnesses questions Witnesses have special knowledge of the case A group of people called a jury listens to the case They decide if the defendant is guilty Sometimes plaintiffs and defendants accept a jury’s decision Other times they appeal This means they go to another court to try to get the decision changed This picture shows a lawyer LefT asking a witness rigHT questions in front of a judge CenTer A judge’s job is to know the law and to keep the court in order 6
Where the Courts fit in The courts have a big job But they don’t work alone Where do they fit into the government The answer is in the U S Constitution The Constitution guarantees rights for all Americans These rights appear in amendments changes people made throughout the years within the Constitution The Constitution also sets up a federal national system of government Within the federal system three parts share the government’s work The parts are called branches The three branches are the legislative branch the executive branch and the judicial branch This is the first page of the U S Constitution The entire Constitution is four pages 7
