"The Steps to the Supreme Court follows two real cases--one civil, one criminal--as they work their way through the system from initial charges and complaints all the way up to the Supreme Court. Step by step, you'll track the criminal case involving the murder trial of Paul House, following the defendant from the night of the murder through his conviction, death sentence, appeals, and final chance for exoneration. The controversial civil case concerns the Ten Commandments being displayed on public property. You'll follow the parties from the plaintiffs' first filing of their suits through the Supreme Court decisions and back to their aftermath in the lower courts, where judges struggle to make practical law from a complex and divided ruling."--P. [4] of cover.