We studied the nature of the American adversarial system by discussing the role of the lawyers, the judge and the jury in both civil and criminal matters. In terms of criminal trials. we reviewed the rights of the accused under the 6th Amendment, and I discussed the US Supreme Court case of Gideon vs Wainwright that required states to provide lawyers for indigent criminal defendants. We also examined the purpose and role of plea bargains in the criminal justice system as well as settlements in the civil system. As we will be more closely studying the role of each specific level of the court system , I further defined the difference between a trial court and an appellate court and defined the term "original jurisdiction ." Last, we examined jury selection cases that prohibited striking potential jurors solely due to the prospective juror's race. For homework,I assigned completing the study guide on appeals.