Each state has its own courts, then you have the federales.  California once had three levels of court, now just two:  the municipal courts were subsumed into the superior courts.  Then you have the State Supreme Court.  We also have a circuit court in San Francisco, but that one is federal.  Beyond the circuit courts, you only find the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.  Let's see...there is also the difference in civil and criminal cases, but I think those exist side-by-side in all the above courts.  I'm fuzzy on that.  Also, small claims courts exist at the local level;  they are for civil cases only and have a cap on maximum judgments.  To request larger judgments, you have to go to superior court.

I still have a lot to learn.  I would really like to look at important court cases, especially Marbury v. Madison, as well as documents that preceded the founding of the U.S.  However, the specific focus for this class is the Supreme Court of the U.S., and that single topic is quite big enough.  Well, perhaps the numbers and locations of the circuit courts and how a case gets taken there and how it can (or can't) move on to the U.S. Supreme Court.

 I've been reading and commenting on other people's blogs:  the class began yesterday (zip on Sunday:  I checked) and I haven't checked yet to see what we are supposed to be doing.  I am also taking two other (credit) classes this summer, both independent study, which meet this week.  So.  I think I will see what it is I am being directed to do.

I've collected quite a big on how we vote (mostly on issues with machinery, and a fair amount on superdelegates).  Not so much on the Supreme Court, but I've found the Washington Post the best source for news on the court.  Has anyone read The Brethren?