This text is a general introduction to American judicial process. The authors cover the major institutions, actors, and processes that comprise the U.S. legal system, viewed from a political science perspective. Specifically, they discuss each component of the judicial process in terms of justice. How do the structure and processes of American law and courts further or inhibit justice? Could justice be better served by changes to existing practices? Toward that end, the authors take an innovative approach to the topic. Grounding their presentation in empirical social science terms, they incorporate three unique elements of a "myth vs reality" framework into each of the topical chapters on the major structures of the American legal process:

1) "Pop culture" boxes that provide students with popular examples from film, television, and music that tie-in to chapter topics and engage student interest

2) brief excerpts from scholarly research on each topic in order to demonstrate how social science answers the pressing questions under consideration

3) "How Do We Know?" boxes at the end of each chapter that discuss the methods of social scientific inquiry and debunk common myths about the judiciary and legal system.

Unlike other textbooks, American Judicial Process emphasizes how pop culture portrays—and often distorts—the judicial process and how social science research is brought to bear to provide an accurate picture of law and courts. The key take-away is that judges are political actors situated in a separation of powers system. In addition, a rich companion website will include PowerPoint lectures, an instructor’s manual, and a test bank of objective questions for use by instructors. Students will have access to relevant weblinks, key objectives from each chapter, flash cards of key terms, and practice quizzes.