PREVIEW: Protecting our Rights and Our Constitution: Communicating About America's Courts

The judicial system in the United States occupies a unique position in the American imagination. It is one of the most familiar ways that government touches the lives of individuals, as portrayed in books, on television, and at the movies. School children learn about the courts’ important role in our system of checks and balances. Supreme Court justices are celebrated in memes on social media. But judges and courts are also wrapped in jargon and guided by rules and procedures that many Americans know little about. So-called “activist judges” are excoriated from both sides of the political aisle. And yet, most Americans say they know very little about the third branch of government.

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