Ch. 3 American Legal Systems & Procedures Flashcards
The American legal system focuses on both ________ law and ______ law.
criminal and civil
_______ law constitutes law that addresses crimes and punishment of crimes, and this _________ the behavior of individuals to ensure behavior is consistent with society’s conception of socially and _______ appropriate behavior.
criminal; regulates; morally
Criminal laws represent crimes against the ______.
state
_______ law represents law that regulates the relationships between parties.
civil
Both the federal and state court system have 3 levels of courts - name them.
- trial court
- an appeals or appelate court
- Supreme Court
The federal trial court is referred to as the ________ _________ court. There are 94 district courts through the US and at least _____ in every state.
federal district; one
If a party appeals the district court’s decision, she can bring a case in the ________ court, known as the Federal District Court of __________ . The party is allowed the first appeal as a matter of ______. There are ____ federal appeals courts that each cover several district courts in a geographic area.
appeals; appeals; right; 12
If a party wishes to appeal the decision of the federal circuit court (appeals court), she may seek to bring a case to the _________ court. The court has the __________ to determine if it will review decisions on appeal.
Supreme; discretion
To bring an appeal to the Supreme court, a party must petition the Court for a ____ of ___________. It will be granted if ____ of the 9 justices agree to hear the case. The court only grants petitions for compelling reasons. If they hear a case and render a decision, the decision is ______.
writ of certiorari; 4; final
There are specialized federal courts that hear issues on things such as:
- federal tax courts
2. federal bankruptcy courts
States have specialized courts such as:
- family court
- probate court
- small claims court
A trial court is a court of ____________ jurisdiction, meaning it is the first court to consider an action.
original
An appeals court only has ___________ jurisdiction, meaning the power to review decisions of the ______ court.
appellate; lower
_________ jurisdiction is limited to reviewing, affirming, revising, or modifying decisions of the lower courts.
appellate
T/F The appeals courts do/ do not conduct trials
Do NOT
Appellate courts only reverse or set aside the lower court’s decision if it reflects a clear _______ or discretion.
abuse
On issues involving interpretation of law, _________ courts do not defer to the ______ court, and will reverse such decisions when they reflect an improper or unconstitutional application of the law.
appellate; lower
________ means that the appellate court will send the case back to the lower court for a new trial so that the lower court can take other actions consistent with the appellate court’s findings. Alternatively, the appellate court can ________ or set aside a previous decision.
remand; reverse
A ________ court also has appellate jurisdiction but is limited to reviewed the decision of the _________ court.
Supreme; appellate
The Constitution grants the ________ court original jurisdiction to hear certain cases including:
a. between __ or _____ _________
b. between the federal gov’t and state
c. involving officials of foreign countries
d. by a state against citizens of another state or country.
Supreme; between 2 or more states
When the Supreme courts reviews decision, they give __________ to decision of fact and only overturn such decisions if they are clearly __________.
deference; erroneous
A supreme courts review of decisions involving interpretations of legal rules is __ _____, meaning it is entirely new and does not defer to the lower court’s judgement.
de novo
The Federal Rules of ______ _________ (aka Federal Rules) govern the procedures for filing a civil suit in ________ court. States have adopted their own rules of procedures but are generally ________ to federal rules.
Civil Procedures; federal; parallel
Any party bringing suit must have _________, which is the legal right to bring the suit. This refers to the notion that the person who brings suit must have or imminently have a legally recognized injury, sometimes referred to as an _______-__-____.
standing; injury-in-fact
_______ is the person who brings the suit and the person being sued is called the _________.
plaintiff; defendant
The documents parties file in connection with their lawsuit are called ___________.
pleadings
The plaintiff files a __________ with the trial court setting forth the basis of her lawsuit. The court will isess a copy to the ____________ and a summons.
complaint; defendant
The defendant must respond to the complaint, called an _______ to the complaint. It must ______ or _____ the allegations within the complaint.
answer; admit or deny
The defendant may also raise defenses that would prevent the plaintiff from holding the defendant liable called an _____________ defense.
affirmative
The defendant can also raise a _______________, which are claims that the defendant has against the plaintiff.
counterclaim
The defendant can also file a ______, which represents a request for the court to take some action.
Motion
The defendant may file a ___________, which represents a motion to dismiss the case because the plaintiff’s complaint does not establish a legal basis for any remedy against the defendant.
demurrer
Under rule 12B, a defendant can make a motion to dismiss based on 6 things: Lack of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Lack of \_\_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Lack of \_\_\_\_\_\_ Lack of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Lack of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Failure to \_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_
- lack of subject matter jurisdiction
- lack of person jurisdiction
- lack of venue
- failure to join necessary parties
- lack of process
- lack of service of process
Each of the motions, other than the motion of lack of _______ _______ ___________, must be made at the ______ available opportunity or they will be deemed waived.
subject matter jurisdiction; first
Other motions include a motion to ______ meaning to take out certain matters or a motion for a more definitive _________ when the pleadings are _____ or ambiguous.
strike; statements; vague
At any point, either party can for a motion for _______ judgement, where the judge can grant upon finding that there is no genuine issues of material fact and as a result, one party is entitled to prevail in the case as a matter of law.
summary
If a case is not dismissed, it will proceed to _____. Before that begins, the parties have a right to _________, which is the ability to gain information concerning the other party and her witnesses.
trial; discovery
Most civil cases are tried before a ____, also called a _____ ____.
jury; petit jury
In federal court, there are ___ members of a petit jury. The petit jury will deliver a _______, deciding whether the defendant should be held liable for the complained action.
12; verdict
At trail, the ________ has the obligation to establish their claims first, called the _______ of _____.
plaintiff; burden of proof
After the plaintiff presents their case, the defendant can file a motion for ________ or a motion for a ________ verdict, which constitutes a motion claiming that the plaintiff has not established enough evidence to prove the case.
dismissal; directed
If motions are not granted the __________ must present evidence to defend the plaintiff’s claims. Afterwards, the petit jury goes to ___________ where they will decide the outcome of the case.
defendant; deliberation
The just must decide if the plaintiff proved her case by _______________ of the evidence, meaning the evidence favored the plaintiff’s allegations over the evidence presented against them.
preponderance of the evidence
The verdict generally must be ___________. If the they don’t reach consensus, it’s referred to as a ____ _____, and the parties will need a new trial with a different jury.
unanimous; hung jury
Once the verdict is out, the losing party can make several post-trial motions, including a motion for a ___ ______, or a motion for a __________ ________________ the verdict (aka judgement nov, that requires the court to find that the evidence does not support the jury’s verdict. This can overturn the jury’s verdict.
new trial; judgement notwithstanding
The losing party has the right to _______ the decisions, this party is known as the _________. The other party is referred to as _________ or __________.
appeal; appellant; appellee or respondent
The appeals court reviews the trial record and in some instances allows parties to provide their arguments, called ____ arguments. The court then delivers its _______.
oral; opinion
If the appellant loses the appeal, they can seek another appeal to the _________ court. These are ____________ and generally only granted in cases with broad legal or policy implications.
supreme; discretionary
If the appellants appeal is denied or the time for bringing an appeal has _________, the judgement becomes final, referred to as ___ _______ and prevents the parties from re-litigating the same action.
expired; res judicata
True/False In criminal matters there is no plaintiff, instead the prosecution brings a case against the defendant.
True
Before going to trial the prosecution must present an ____________ which are written charges against the defendant to a ______ jury.
indictment; grand
The grand jury is a group of ___ to ___ jurors who decide whether there is sufficient evidence to charge the defendant with a crime.
16-24
The Constitution guarantees additional rights in a criminal trial such as the right to a ______ trial, the right to trial by ____ for serious offenses, as well as the right to counsel.
speedy; jury
For a defendant to be found guilty, the petit jury must find the prosecution to have established the defendant’s guilt beyond a _____________ _____.
reasonable doubt
If the defendant is found guilty, they can challenge the conviction by making _______. After they have had the opportunity to appeal or the time as expired, they may be eligible to apply for a _____ of ______ ______, which represents the defendant’s request for a new proceeding to determine if she is being unlawfully deprived of her liberty.
appeals; writ of habeas corpus
Habeas Corpus is limited to people in _________. It also can only be used after other remedies have been exhausted.
custody
In order for a court to hear a case, it must have two types of jurisdiction:
______ ______ jurisdiction
__________ jurisdiction
subject matter jurisdiction
personal jurisdiction
_______ ________ jurisdiction constitutes the power to decide the type of case at issue. ________ courts do not have broad subject matter jurisdiction because they can only hear particular types of cases, and are know as courts of ________ jurisdiction.
subject matter jurisdiction; federal; limited
Federal courts subject matter jurisdiction results from either ________ jurisdiction or ________ ________ jurisdiction.
diversity; federal question
________ ________ jurisdiction refers to the courts’ power to hear cases arising under the Constitution, federal laws, or US treatises. These are exclusive and cases involving such questions may be brought in federal court only.
federal question
_________ jurisdiction refers to the courts’ ability to hear cases where the parties are “diverse”, meaning the _________ parties are citizens from different states or one of the parties is a citizen of a foreign country, and the amount in controversy exceeds ____.
diversity; opposing; $75k.
Diversity jurisdiction is not exclusive, meaning _____ courts also may hear such cases.
state
_____ courts have broad subject matter jurisdiction, they can hear any case not exclusively reserved for federal courts, and thus the state courts are courts of _________ jurisdiction.
State; general
_________ jurisdiction constitutes the power over the particular parties in a case. When a plaintiff brings case in a given court, the plaintiff has ________ such court personal jurisdiction over him.
personal; granted
Personal jurisdiction only poses a concern for a _________. Personal jurisdiction over a defendant can be established in one of the following ways:
a. a defendant’s _______ presence in a state is sufficient to allow courts within the state to exercise personal jurisdiction over them.
b. A person can be subject to personal jurisdiction in her state of permanent residence knows as ________.
c. A person can consent to personal jurisdiction __________ by appearing in court or agreeing to a court’s exercise of jurisdiction.
d. if a person has minimum contacts within a state, even if they never entered the state.
defendant; physical; domicile; voluntarily
Many states have _____-___ statutes that allow them to exercise personal jurisdiction over defendants having sufficient minimum contacts with their state. This type of jurisdiction is referred to as ___-__ jurisdiction.
long-arm statutes; long-arm jurisdiction.
Even if a court has both personal jurisdiction and subject matter jurisdiction, the plaintiff’s lawsuit must be brought in a court that has proper _____, which represents a geographic limitation on such courts’ jurisdiction by limiting the courts in which a plaintiff may bring her suit to courts in the geographic area in which they _____ or where the events occurred.
venue; reside
