§3. A government without some power to decide disputes, to award justice, and to punish crime according to the laws of the state, would not be complete. To allow every man to be his own judge in cases of supposed injury, and to redress his own wrongs, would endanger the rights of others. Justice is best secured to the citizens by establishing courts for the redress of injuries and the punishment of crimes; and that no person may suffer unjustly, it is provided that every person charged with crime or any other wrong, is entitled to a fair and impartial trial.
§4. For the convenience of persons who may be compelled to seek relief at law, courts are established in every town. These are courts of the lowest grade, and are called _justices' courts_, being held by justices of the peace who are, in most of the states, elected by the people of the several towns. They are called the lowest courts, because they have jurisdiction only in cases in which the smallest sums or damages are claimed, or in which only the lowest offenses are tried. The word _jurisdiction_ is from the Latin _jus_, law, or _juris_, of the law, and _dictio_, a pronouncing or speaking. Hence the _jurisdiction_ of a court means its power to pronounce the law.
§5. Although justices of the peace are generally elected in the towns, their jurisdiction extends over the county; that is, they have power to try causes arising in any part of the county, or between citizens residing in other towns. The jurisdiction of justices of the peace is generally prescribed by law. The law prescribes the sum that may be sued for, or the amount of damage that may be recovered in a justice's court, and the grade of offenses that may be tried in it. In some states justices of the peace may try suits only in which the sum in controversy does not exceed $50; but in most of them, the jurisdiction of a justice extends, it is believed, to sums of $100 or more.
§6. Causes, in which money is claimed for damage or for debt, are called _civil_ causes; those for the trial of persons charged with crime, or some misdemeanor, are called _criminal_ causes. All crimes, strictly speaking, are misdemeanors. In common usage, however, the word _misdemeanor_ denotes a smaller offense, such as is usually punishable by fine, or by imprisonment in a county jail, and not in a state prison. Causes, actions, and suits, are words of similar meaning in law language, being generally used to signify prosecutions at law, or lawsuits. The party that sues is called _plaintiff_; the party sued is the _defendant_.