Understanding the role and functions of the various U.S. court systems gives victim service providers and victims themselves a solid foundation for understanding the dynamics of the law. This chapter attempts to help students understand the principle of federalism and how it affected the structure of the U.S. court system; how the dual system of State and Federal courts functions; the characteristics of American court systems; and how the juvenile court system functions. During fiscal years 1996 and 1997, U.S. district courts terminated an average of 296,000 cases, approximately 84 percent civil and 16 percent criminal. Of the nearly 500,000 Federal civil cases terminated during the same period, 19 percent were tort claims in which plaintiffs claimed injury, loss or damage from defendants’ negligent or intentional acts. Of the estimated 1.76 million cases involving delinquency charges handled in U.S. courts with juvenile jurisdiction in 1996, 53 percent were processed formally, either by filing a delinquency petition in the juvenile court or waiving the case to criminal court. Glossary, tables