Want advice on buying a home, renting, default, foreclosure, credit issues or reverse mortgages? HUD sponsors certain housing counseling agencies throughout the country who in turn give advice free or at low cost.

Courts are presided over by judicial officers. In the courts of appeals, district courts, and other courts, most of the judicial officers are called judges . Where a jury is used, the jury decides questions of fact and the judge decides all questions of law .   When all the evidence has been heard, and the lawyers for both sides have addressed the jury, the judge charges the jury, telling it what rules of law apply to the case. A jury is not always used. In some cases, the law requires a judge to decide on the facts. Or perhaps the parties do not want a jury to decide the case. In these cases, the judge decides based on fact and law.

Utah's highest court is the state supreme court. This court has five justices , elected to 10-year terms. The justice with the shortest remaining period in office serves as chief justice.  Each of Utah's 8 districts has one or more district court judges , depending on population.

In the United States Supreme Court , the judicial officers are called justices.  There are currently nine justices on the Court: a chief justice and eight associate justices. When a vacancy opens, the President nominates a new justice who is then confirmed or rejected by the Senate .

FREE makes it easier to find teaching and learning resources from the federal government. More than 1,500 federally supported teaching and learning resources are included from dozens of federal agencies. New sites are added regularly. Get new resources delivered to you several times a week: sign up for the FREE RSS .Federal agencies, if you're looking to involve teachers in developing teaching resources, see our lessons learned . FREE was originally conceived in 1997 by a federal working group and launched a year later. It was redesigned and relaunched for the first time in November 2006. FREE is among the most popular K-12 websites maintained by the U.S. Department of Education because of the many great resources being offered by participating

Article I of the Constitution specifies that there shall be two separate legislative bodies: a House of Representatives and a Senate . Together they are called the Congress . The two bodies of Congress work

1. Today, senators are elected by the citizens of the state they represent.  Prior to 1913 who selected senators?
2. Besides passing laws, name 3 powers of the U.S. Congress.
3. How many years is a representative's term?  a senator's?  Why do you think the term lengths differ?
4. Which chamber of Congress (House of Representatives or Senate) has the power to start laws that make people pay taxes?
5. Who is known as the president of the Senate?

Although Congress has numerous responsibilities and powers under the Constitution, its chief function is to make laws.   The legislative process can be quite complicated.  A proposed law, or bill, must pass through a series of steps before it is voted upon on the House and Senate floors. At any one of these steps, a bill can be delayed, defeated, or amended (changed). Most bills that are introduced do not survive this process and do not become law. For more information on how laws are made go to Ben's Guide to U.S. Government or to Thomas: The Legislature Process .  SchoolHouse Rock also offers a musical explanation of How a Bill Becomes a Law .  Suppose you had fifteen minutes to describe the ten most important features of the U.S. Congress - could you do it? Don't worry, help is close by. The CongressLink web site provides an easy to understand list of  What Every Student Should Know About Congress .  In addition, Thomas: U.S. Congress on the Internet is a great source on pending legislation.  Be sure not to miss CongressLink's lesson plans and student activities .   

federal court system is viewed as a pyramid, at the top is the Supreme Court of the United States , the highest court. On the next level are the 13 United States Courts of Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces .

Utah is in the Tenth Circuit along with the states of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Wyoming, plus those portions of the Yellowstone National Park extending into Montana and Idaho. On the following level are the 94 U.S. district courts and the specialized courts, such as the Tax Court , the Court of Federal Claims , the Court of Veterans Appeals , and the Court of International Trade . The U.S. District Court for Utah is located in Salt Lake City. Federal cases are usually begun at the district court level. If a party is not satisfied with the decision, they may have the decision reviewed in one of the courts of appeals. If dissatisfied with the decision of a court of appeals, the party may seek additional review in the Supreme Court of the United States; however, the Supreme Court primarily reviews only cases that involve a matter of great national importance and only accepts a small number of cases each term. Read some of the current and past Supreme Court Decisions . Have some fun and take a Virtual Tour of the Supreme Court Building. (Note: You need the QuickTime 4.1 plugin installed.)

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