The law and judicial system in the United States thus plays a very important role in peopled everyday life in the American society, not only limited to political issues, but also extending to social and economic matters.

The blueprints for the U.S. judiciary were laid out in 1789 when the U.S. Constitution was formally adopted by the states. However, a system of state courts already existed before the Constitution was drafted, and there was considerable controversy among the delegates to the Constitutional Convention (1787) as to whether a federal court system was needed, and whether it should supplant the state courts. The delegates finally reached a compromise in which the state courts continued their jurisdiction while the Consdtudon mandated a federal judiciary with limited power.

Article III of the Constitution states the basis for the federal court system: “The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.M It guarantees that the Supreme Court and federal judiciary will be politically independent The Consdtudon also lists the kinds of cases and controversies the federal courts may decide. Later, the Judiciary Act of 1789 added more details of federal judicial power that were not addressed by the Constitution.

Today, the U.S. judicial system comprises a system of state and federal courts，administrative bodies, as well as the judges and other judicial officials who preside over them. It has three principal

characteristics. Firstly, it is part of a federalist system of gpvemmenc, and the U.S. judiciary is the only branch of government supposed to be totally impartial and hence apolitical. Secondly, it has a specific role under the separation-of-powcrs doctrine. That is, the judiciary shares power with the executive and legislative branches of government at both the state and federal levels. It forms a system of courts that interprets and applies the laws passed by the legislative branch and enforced by the executive branch. The courts attempt to resolve conflicts in order to protect the individual rights guaranteed by the Consdtudon. They try criminal cases or civil cases. Some courts try original cases, whereas others act as courts of appeals. And thirdly, the American judicial system is organized in a hierarchical fashion.

IL The Court System As has been noted, the U.S. court system consists of the federal court system and the court systems of the fifty states. Such dual system is often recognized as the most striking feature of the structure of the courts in the United States. The federal and the state systems usually operate independently of each other. In each system there are two basic types of courts: trial courts and appellate courts.(Trial courts are courts of original jurisdiction, where most dvil and criminal cases begin. Appellate courts review trial court proceedings with respect to issues of law, such as whether the trial court judge fiuls to observe the constitutional ri^its of the accused.) And courts at both levels have their own areas of authority and jurisdiction.