In this classic text, translated into over a dozen languages, constitutional scholar and Columbia Law School professor E. Allan Farnsworth provides a clear explanation of the structure and function of the U.S. legal system, analysing the legislative and judicial systems on both the federal and state levels. For decades, students of American law have relied on this lucid text as an invaluable guide to basic case law and as a means of interpreting statutes, differences between civil and criminal procedure, and the distinction between private and public law.