Chapter 1 - Introduction to Law Flashcards
Define Federalism
A double-layered system of government, with the national and state governments each exercising important but limited powers.
Define Legislative Power
The ability to create new laws
Define Executive Power
The authority to enforce laws
Define Judicial Power
The power to interpret laws and determine their validity.
Define Bill
An idea for a new law
Define Statute
A law that passed by Congress or state legislature
Define Veto
Constitutional right of the president to reject a decision or proposal made by congress. Overturned by a 2/3 majority by the House and the Senate
Define Stare Decisis
The principal that precedent is binding on later cases.
It means “Let the decision stand”
Define Precedent
An earlier event or action that is regarded as an example or guide to be considered in subsequent similar circumstances
Where is precedent binding?
Only in lower courts.Supreme Court has no obligation to follow precedent.
Define Injunction
Court order to stop doing something
Define Criminal Law
Concerns behavior so threatening that society outlaws it altogether
Define Civil Law
Regulated the rights and duties between parties.
Define Regulation
Laws created by Administrative agencies
How are basic criminal law prosecutions handled?
The government prosecutes the wrongdoer, regardless of what the injured party wants. A district attorney brings the case to court. The injured party is not in charge of the case, but may appear as a witness. The government will seek to punish the defendant with a prison sentence, fine, or both. The money won goes the the state.
Define Plaintiff
The person who is suing
Define Defendant
The person being sued
Define Holding
A court’s decision
Define Reverse
To declare the lower court’s ruling wrong and void.
Define Remand
To send a case back down to a lower court.
Define Affirm
To uphold a lower court’s ruling
What are the five primary source of contemporary law?
- United States Constitution
- States
- Common Law
- Court Orders
- Administrative Law
What is Common Law?
Judge Made Law, that is the body of cases decided by judges, as they follow earlier cases
What are Court Orders?
When a judge places binding obligations on specific people and companies
What is Administrative Law?
The rules and decisions made by federal and state administrative agencies.
What are the two sources of constitutional law?
The constitution and the state constitutions
How can you identify something as Legislative/Statutory Law? Where can they come from?
It mentions acts, ordinances, bills, or resolutions. Can be on the federal, state, county, and city level
What are other names for Common Law? 4
Case Law
Judge Made Law
Precedence
Old English Law
What is the standard of evidence for criminal trials? civil trials?
Criminal - Beyond a reasonable doubt - 99% sure
Civil - Preponderance of the evidence - 51% sure
Define Legal Positivism
The legal philosophy holding that law is what the sovereign says it is, regardless of its moral content
Define Legal Realism
The legal philosophy holding that what really influences the law is who makes and enforces it, not what is put into writing.
Define Natural Law
The theory that an unjust law is no law at all, and that a rule is legitimate only if based on an immutable morality.
Define Amendment
Any addition to a legal document. The constitutional amendments, the first ten of which are known collectively as the Bill of Rights, secure numerous liberties and protections directly for the people.
Who are the Founding Fathers?
Or Framers - The authors of the US Constitution, who participated in the Constitutional Convention in Philly in 1787.
Define Jurisprudence
The study of the purposes and philosophies of the law, as opposed to particular provisions of the law.
Define Law Case
The decision a court has made in a civil lawsuit or criminal prosecution.
Define Procedural Law
The rules establishing how the legal system itself is to operate in a particular kind of case.
Define Substantive Law
Rules that establish the rights of the parties. For example, the prohibition against slander is substantive law, as opposed to procedural law.
Define U.S Constitution
The supreme law of the US
