Chapter 1 law

What are the three branches of government?

- judicial - executive - legislative

What are three important ideas about law?

- power - importance - fascination

When was the constitution written?

1787

What is the idea of collective responsibility in partnerships? How was it like back then and how is it like now?

Because there were so few officers to keep the peace, Anglo-Saxon society created an interesting method of ensuring public order. Every freeman belonged to a group of 10 freemen known as a "tithing," headed by a "tithingman." If anyone injured a person outside his tithing or interfered with the king's property, all 10 men of the tithing could be forced to pay. Today, we still use this idea of collective responsibility in business partnerships. All partners are personally responsible for the debts of the partnership. They could potentially lose their homes and all assets because of the irresponsible conduct of one partner. That liability has helped create new forms of business organization, including limited liability companies.

What is a type of law that precedents are vital to?

Common law

What are examples of administrative laws?

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), IRS.

What does the executive branch do?

Executive Power is the authority to enforce laws. Article II of the Constitution establishes the president as commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the head of the executive branch of the federal government.

What type of government system do we have?

Federalist system

What does the judicial branch do?

Gives the right to interpret laws and determine their validity. Article III places the Supreme Court at the head of the judicial branch of the federal government. Interpretive power is often underrated, but it is often every bit as important at the ability to create laws in the first place. For instance, the Supreme Court ruled that privacy provisions of the Constitution protect a woman's right to abortion, although neither the word "privacy" nor "abortion" appears in the text of the Constitution

What is juriprudence? What types of questions does it ask?

It's the philosophy of law. It asks - What is the real nature of law? Can there be such a thing as an "illegal" law?

What is a common law?

Judge-made law based on prior precedents.

What does the legislative branch do?

Legislative power gives the ability to create new laws. In Article I, the Constitution gives this power to the Congress which is comprised of two chambers—a Senate and a House of Representatives.

England was divided into shires, and daily administration was carried out by a "shire reeve," later called a sheriff. The shire reeve collected taxes and did what he could to keep peace, apprehending criminals and acting as mediator between feuding families. What type of resolution method is that called today?

Mediation

What is an example of a statutory law?

Posted speed limit signs are examples of statutory law. A statutory law is any law that the legislature establishes as a statute, which means it is formally written and enacted.

How do you pass a Statutory Law?

Power given to the Congress (a legislative body) to pass laws on various subject. An idea for a new law is proposed to the Congress. This idea is called a bill. The House and the Senate then independently vote on the bill. To pass Congress, the bill must win a simple majority vote on each of these chambers. If the Congress passes the law, then it must go to the president for approval. If the president accepts the bill, it becomes a statute which is the law of the land. If the president rejects it, the House and Senate must approve the bill by 2/3rd's majority vote by vetoing the president. If this occurs and is approved, it is a statute without the president's signature

How do precedents help?

Precedent ensures predictability

What is an example of a common law?

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble, or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances". Its interpretation has been decided by consulting common law. The 1964 case of New York Times v. Sullivan is an example. The Supreme Court overturned an Alabama jury award of $500,000 against the Times for publication of a political advertisement that allegedly defamed Montgomery County Commissioner L. B. Sullivan. The Court said that when public officials were being criticized, people were only liable for false statements if they were published with knowledge of their falsity, or reckless disregard of their truth or falsity. This was called the "actual malice" standard. In later decisions, the Court extended the standard to cases involving public figures as well as public officials. Today, this decision still keeps people from restricting their speech from a fear of liability.

What is stare decisis? How is it useful?

The principle that precedent is binding on later cases is called stare decisis which means let the decision stand. Stare decisis makes the law predictable, and this in turn enables businesses and private citizen to plan intelligently.

What are precedents?

The tendency to decide current cases based on previous ruling

What are examples of a civil law?

Tracy agrees in writing to lease you a 30,000-square-foot store in her shopping mall. She now as a legal duty to make the space available. But then another tenant offers her more money, and she refuses to let you move in. Tracy has violated her duty, but she has not committed a crime.

What are examples of criminal law?

Tracy is so upset over losing a civil court case that she becomes drunk and causes a serious car accident. She has committed a crime while being intoxicated, and the state will prosecute her. She may be fined or imprisoned or both.

What is a code?

all statutes of a jurisdiction, organized, catalogued, and indexed

What is a natural law?

an unjust law is now law at all; In his Summa Theologica, he argued that an unjust law is no law at all and need not be obeyed. It is not enough that a sovereign makes a command. The law must have a moral basis.

What is criminal law?

concerns behavior so threatening that society outlaws it altogether; most criminal laws are passed by Congress or a state legislature

What is legal positivism? What's an issue with this?

law is what the sovereign says; - The primary criticism of legal positivism is that it seems to leave no room for questions of morality. A law permitting a factory owner to fire a worker because she is Catholic is surely different from a law prohibiting arson. Do citizens in a democracy have a duty to consider such differences?

What is a Statutory Law?

laws passed by legislature (US Congress or state legislature). - created by legislative branch

In what cases are stare decisis binding?

precedents is binding in only lower courts (i.e not the Supreme Court).

What is a civil law?

regulates the rights and duties between parties.

What are administrative laws?

the body of law that regulates the operation and procedures of government agencies.

What is legal realism?

who enforces the law counts more than what is in writing; They claim it does not matter what is written as law. What counts is who enforces that law and by what process. All of us are biased by issues such as income, education, family background, race, religion, and many other factors. These personal characteristics, they say, determine which contracts will be enforced and which ignored, why some criminals receive harsh sentences while others get off lightly, and so on.