Ch. 2 History & Sources of American Law

Question 1

_____ represents a set of rules or principles established by gov’t or some other controlling body that members of society must follow and obey.

Answer 1

Law

Question 2

A ______ _______ refers to a system of established laws.

Answer 2

Legal System

Question 3

Both laws and legal systems are designed to :
1.
2.
3.

Answer 3

Promote fairness
consistency
and order within society

Question 4

_____ (or _____) law is pursuant to which a single comprehensive code was developed and laws were established by reference to such code.

Answer 4

civil or code law

Question 5

______ ( ____) law is essentially judge-made law whereby judges make decisions on a case-by-case basis and these decisions generate a body of rules and principles.

Answer 5

common or case law

Question 6

Judges in common law refer to _____________ and judges of civil law refer to a _____ when making their judicial determinations.

Answer 6

their own decisions or the decisions of other courts; a set of code

Question 7

The American legal system is a ________ law system.

Answer 7

common

Question 8

For consistency, common law judges follow decisions of previous cases involving similar fact patterns. These decisions are knows as _____________.

Answer 8

precedent

Question 9

The notion that judges must make decisions consistent with precedent is called ______ ______.

Answer 9

stare decisis

Question 10

_____ ________ is designed to promote certainty and consistency among courts and case law.

Answer 10

stare decisis

Question 11

The _____________ represents the governing and supreme law of the United States.

Answer 11

Constitution

Question 12

The Constitution establishes ____ # of branches of government.

Answer 12

3

Question 13

Article 1 creates the _____________ branch of the government.

Answer 13

Legislative

Question 14

Article 2 creates the ____________ branch of the government.

Answer 14

Executive

Question 15

Article 3 creates the __________ branch of the government.

Answer 15

Judicial

Question 16

The Legislative branch is known as ________ and is divided into two houses, the _________ and the ______ of ____________. They are responsible for making the ____.

Answer 16

Congress; Senate and House of Representatives; laws

Question 17

The ___________ branch constitutes the president, the vice president, and other executive officers. The president is primarily responsible for enforcing the ____.

Answer 17

Executive; laws

Question 18

The __________ branch is comprised of the court system and establishes the ___________ ______.

Answer 18

judicial; Supreme Court

Question 19

Article 1 also authorizes Congress to establish _______ courts that are inferior to the _________ court.

Answer 19

federal; Supreme

Question 20

The Supreme Court consists of ____ justices (the judiciary) who are appointed by the ___________ with the advice and consent of the Senate. The judiciary interprets the ____.

Answer 20

9; president’ law

Question 21

The __________ can review the decisions of federal and state legislatures to ensure that they do not violate the Constitution. The process is called ________ _______ and gives courts the ability to declare a federal or state law unconstitutional and invalidate it.

Answer 21

judiciary; judicial review

Question 22

The Constitution establishes a system of _____ and ________, where by each brance of gov’t has specific power and authority.

Answer 22

check and balances

Question 23

There are currently 27 amendments to the Constitution; the first 10 are referred to as the ____ of _____. They are aimed at protecting citizens from gov’t intrusion, preventing the gov’t from making laws that interfere in certain rights deemed ____________.

Answer 23

Bill of Rights; fundamental

Question 24

Freedom of Speech, freedom of religion, right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, right to jury trial and counsel are all amendments that are part of the _____ of ________.

Answer 24

Bill of Rights

Question 25

Congress is empowered to make laws concerning what 3 things?

Answer 25

1. taxes
2. Foreign and interstate commerce
3. the nation’s defense

Question 26

The Constitution also enables _________ to make all laws “necessary and _______” for carrying out its responsibilities. Thus they have passed a variety of different federal ________.

Answer 26

Congress; proper; statutes

Question 27

____________ means that the states and the federal gov’t share the power of governing.

Answer 27

federalism

Question 28

Every state has __ branches of gov’t as well as a state constitution, with autonomy to govern the affairs of its citizens. States have all powers not specifically delegated to the ________ _____________.

Answer 28

3; federal government

Question 29

The ____________ clause means that state constitutions and statutes cannot violate the federal constitution or federal law.

Answer 29

supremacy

Question 30

Local gov’t (city councils or county boards) can pass laws called ____________ that are aimed at addressing local matters such as parking or traffic violations.

Answer 30

ordinances

Question 31

__________ laws were created in an effort to harmonize the laws of various states. They are established by a group of experts seeking to create consistent legislation on a given topic. Each state can _____ the law in whole or in part, making them vary state by state.

Answer 31

uniform; adopt

Question 32

__________ _______________ ______ (UCC) is one of the most prominent uniform laws. It provides legislation concerning various aspects of _____________ law. It was adopted by all states except _________.

Answer 32

Uniform Commercial Code; commercial, Louisiana

Question 33

The _______ _____________ provides that “Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the the press; or the right of people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the gov’t for a redress of grievances”. The amendment is not ____________, instead courts will analyze gov’t activity in order to determined if it constitutes an inappropriate intrusion on these protected rights.

Answer 33

first amendment; absolute

Question 34

True/False: The gov’ts ability to interfere with a person’s freedom of speech depends on the nature of the speech being regulated.

Answer 34

True

Question 35

Congress may prohibit speech that has a _____ and _______ danger of inciting violence or significant __________ consequences.

Answer 35

clear and present danger; negative

Question 36

Congress also has a broad ability to regulate ______________ _______, defined as speech regarding commercial or ____________ activities.

Answer 36

commercial speech; economic

Question 37

Gov’t regulations based on ________, are subject to strict scrutiny, meaning they will be sustained ONLY if they are narrowly __________ to serve a compelling government interest.

Answer 37

content; tailored

Question 38

Time, place, and manner restrictions, known as ______-_______ restrictions, are subject to ____________ scrutiny.

Answer 38

content-neutral; intermediate

Question 39

The ____ _________ clause, found in the 4th(applies to states) and 5th (applies to federal gov’t) amendment, requires that no person shall be deprived of life. liberty, or _________.

Answer 39

due process; property

Question 40

The Supreme Court has defined due process as the right to receive _______ of any actions that would deprive a person of life, ________, or property as well as the right to have an opportunity to present a case in a fair procedure before a neutral decision maker.

Answer 40

notice; liberty

Question 41

The 5th amendment also restricts governmental _______, which means the gov’t cannot take the property of an individual for public use without just ___________.

Answer 41

takings; compensation

Question 42

The 14th amendment contains an _______ __________ clause providing that no state shall deny any person the “equal protection of the laws.” This only applies to ________ because the Supreme Court has interpreted the 5th amendment as preventing the federal gov’t from denying all persons equal protection.

Answer 42

equal protection; states

Question 43

The 5th and 14th amendments apply to gov’t laws that are ______________; to be deemed discriminatory it must
a. be facially discriminatory because on its face it distinguishes between groups or people
b. be applied in a discriminatory manner which means applied differently to different _______
OR c. have a discriminatory purpose.

Answer 43

discriminatory; groups

Question 44

A _______ classification is based on race, ________, national origin or alienage, or otherwise involving a fundamental right.

Answer 44

suspect; religion

Question 45

A ______-______ classification includes ______ and legitimacy and when used, the courts apply ____________ scrutiny.

Answer 45

quasi-suspect; gender; intermediate

Question 46

All other classification are subject to a _________ ______ test, to which the gov’t regulation will be upheld so long as it is rationally related to a legitimate gov’t interest.

Answer 46

rational basis test