Exam 1 Flashcards
Why Study Law and Courts:
- Legal Issues are everywhere
-Everything in America seems to be political, and ultimately, it ends up in court. - The making of the law is political
-Making the law is a political process involving government actors. It includes a separation of powers that all make law. No clear distinction between political and legal issues, and they have social ramifications as well. For example: Bush V Gore (2002) Judges had to decide election with no legal basis. - To understand our adversarial system
-Our system is made to have people oppose each other. Ex “Smith v Jones” two people/sides against each other. The irony is most cases end in compromise ex: arbitration or plea - Law and courts can be used for social change and continuity
-Ex: Roe v Wade, Brown v Board of Ed, and Dobbs v Jackson - Courts tend to be the “secretive” branch of government
-In general, most have no idea how the courts work or who the staff is or who the judges are. They are the wizard of oz: magically pulling levers to make things worse. They are not publicized like the other two branches and camera are not even allowed in the court room.
Why have law and courts?
- To Resolve Disputes:
- It would be very difficult to resolve claims and issues peacefully with no force without the courts. - To Calculate Consequences:
-Having laws and knowing their consequences shape how we behave and help us avoid breaking the law. Consequences keep us from making bad decisions and creating issues. - Teaches (to some degree) right and wrong in society:
-Our unique federalist systems have different laws throughout the states. We have some uniformity but many differences. Depending on who passes certain ordinances and who doesn’t, we see what is acceptable in society. Ex: Alcohol laws vary community to community - Allocate Gains and Losses:
-Examples: civil cases you can sue someone to recover damages and gain economically what you have lost. - Protect individuals and groups (in tension with majoritarian principles of governing)
Democracy- government by the people, of the people, for the people.
In the constitution there are majortian principles that say whatever the majority wants it gets. But we have to have groups to protect the interests of others. - Courts and Judges are policymakers
-They do it differently from the legislature but they both make policy.
MYTH- judges only apply law
(They make law as well.)
8 layers of law
- Federalism
- Multiple sources of law
- Judicial decisions
- Public vs private law
- Criminal and Civil law
- Substantive vs Procedural
- Remedies
- Access
Layer One: Federalism
Federalism: Division of power
Federal law, state law, local law
One federal body law but variation in state and local laws
Eg: state law: Nevada Vs. Kentucky
Federalism gives states incentives to get creative in enacting local laws.
Ex: Nevada legalized gambling & weed & prostitution to attract people to visit their states
Kentucky has a beautiful landscape so they don’t have to get as creative.
Local law- city and county- parks and school boards
We are subject to two different jurisdictions (federal and state) potentially for the same act.
“One federal court system, 50 different state systems”
Federal Laws supercede state laws (in most cases)
Layer two: Multiple sources of law
- Constitution: superior to all other laws.
Constitutions set up institutions and structures of governments and define what powers they will have. Framework of government
Article 3 sets up the court system and creates the federal judiciary - Statutes: source of law enacted or passed by congress
(local legislature would be “ordnance”)
More statutes were being passed and less common law (decisions passed by judges) at the beginning of our country. - Administrative regulations: Legislative bodies delegate rule-making authority to a host of governmental bureaucracies variously called agencies, boards, bureaus, commissions, or departments. Administrative law concerns the duties and proper running of an administrative agency.
- Executive orders:
Ex: Joe biden mandating covid vaccines w/ OSHA
Layer three: Judicial Decisions
Case law or precedent (judge made law)
“legislatures make law wholesale, whereas courts make it retail”
-appellate court decisions also remain an important source of law.
Layer Four: Public and Private Law
Public law includes criminal, international, and unconstitutional law. Private law is private because the government is not directly involved in being one of the parties. Examples include torts, property, and contracts.
– You CAN sue the government. In a private law matter. If the state brings charges against you its public.
Layer Five: Civil and Criminal Law
-Civil: dispute b/w 2 parties
-Criminal: a violation of a government’s penal laws.
-Who is harmed? Private wrong vs. Public Wrong.
-Who prosecutes (crminal) /files suit (civil)?
-Remedies differ to some extent
Criminals usually want punishment of jail or fines or service or restitution
Civil cases usually want punishment for money. Most civil cases end in a settlement.
-Can be involved in BOTH criminal and civil
Ex: OJ Simpson
Layer Six: Substantive and Procedural Law
Substantive: Defines what legal rights you have. All rights come with a duty:
Ex: Pedestrians have the right to the sidewalk, the driver in front has a duty to not hit them and let them walk.
In creating rights (and their corresponding duties), the law defines the legal relationship between the citizen and the state, and among citizens themselves. Prime examples of substantive law include contracts, property, torts, wills, and criminal prohibitions
Procedural: Establishes methods for enforcing legal rights
All procedural rules designed for a fair trial in civil and criminal cases
procedural law prevents people from taking the law into their own hands. In U.S. law, the most essential procedures are captured by the phrase “due process of law,”
example- Miranda Warning: A PROCEDURE they have to do if they want to interview them and use the information in a court of law later
example-rules of courts Procedural concerns:
If proper procedures are not followed that is grounds for an appeal
Ex: “Object” is to note unfairness and raise a procedural concern that can be used for an appeal down the road.
Layer Seven: Remedies
A relief granted by courts decision
1. Declaratory Judgment: Decision made by court to declare rights in an issue
2. Others: Jail, fine, restitution, money for damages (compensatory such as medical bills or rehab bills lost wages “compensate victim for loss” or punitive damages that are designed to punish the person to avoid future issues)
3. Injunctions: can be temporary or permanent actions or restrictions being asked of the court by the people under equity
Ex: Stadium people don’t want to be built.
Layer Eight: Access to Law and Courts
Courts are passive institutions. They must wait until the suit is brought to them. They can’t be proactive and seek policy. Courts are REACTIVE. Before Courts can act or entertain a suit:
1. Jurisdiction: Must have authority to hear it
2. Real dispute: it must be a REAL dispute not a hypothetical one. The federal courts do not issue an ADVISORY decision (state courts can). Someone has to have suffered in some way
3. Standing: Parties have to have standing, they have to be the ones affected in order to bring the lawsuit.
ex: Pledge of Allegiance court case. Father can’t bring the case to court because he wasn’t the custodial parent.
General Courts vs. Specialized Courts
Local level example of specialized courts: drug court, tax court
What is Law?
The law can be many things in many different situations. It can be a set of documents, ideas, reasoning, or a set of actors in the legal system. Overall, law is a body of rules made by legal officials in a legitmate manner backed by the force of the state
The U.S. Constitution:
-Why is it important?
-Contains government structure & outline for important processes (ex making law)
-Amendments (first 10- bill of rights)
Article 1 - Congress
Article II - President
Article III - The Judiciary
Article IV - VII - other issues
Amendments: individual rights and liberties
-Within the articles there is a very strong theme of majoritarian rights and will.
-Amendments were added on and they are all about individual rights and liberties
-Within this document you have inherent tension between majoritarian ideals vs individual rights.
-Article III did very little. It is composed of three sections
Article III Section One
Section 1: Gives congress the right to create courts.It sets that the justices must have good behavior and receive compensation for this that can’t be diminished. (makes it difficult to get rid of judges.
Article III Section Two
Jurisdiction
Original Jurisdiction (cases that would go directly to the supreme court)
Appellate Jurisdiction (comes through appeal)
Writs of certiorari: A person wants to appeal their case and they file this with the supreme court
Writs of habeas corpus, happen when you have someone detained from the state
Congress to regulate appellate jurisdiction- Congress can hear whatever cases they want to hear
Writs of certiorari:
This is filed after a losing side wants to appeal their case to the Supreme Court. The legal petition asks the Supreme Court to review their case. The cases the Supreme Court hears comes from this.
Writs of habeas corpus
A court order that challenges the detention of someone and requires the government to prove the validity of the persons imprisonment.
Court Structure - Judiciary Act of 1789
The act itself had three main goals:
1. Structured the fed court system
-trial courts, circuit courts
Set number of supreme court justices at 6, now 9
2. Created Jurisdictions of federal court
-provided info on what cases they could hear and what authority they had
3. (Appellate) Jurisdiction of Supreme Court
-Power to issue writs of mandamus- an order from a judge that commands a lower court to do something.
Basic Principles of Court Organization:
- In reality we have 2 separate and complete court systems
-US Supreme Court sits at the top or “caps” our court systems
-Each of our different courts are designed to do something different.
Writs of mandamus
It is an order from a higher court or judge that commands a lower court or public official to do something.
3 types of Jurisdiction
- Geographic
Geographical boundaries tend to follow the boundaries of other gov bodies
Example- cities, counties, states
2 complications:
Events that occur near borders or boundaries
extradition - Subject matter:
This type of crime matters for what court has jurisdiction. General Jurisdiction Vs Limited Jurisdiction
Examples:
Juvenile matter - juvenile court
Bankruptcy - bankruptcy court
Bank robbery - federal court
Tax matters- tax court
Traffic violation - city. County - Concurrent Jurisdiction
-Authority to hear case is shared with other courts
-Cases can be tried in state or federal court sometimes both
EX: Micheal Vick
Civil examples: trying to move hearings from state to federal court - tobacco litigation
Simplified US Court System Chart
Draw correctly
Basic Principle of Court Org.
Types of Jurisdiction:
-Hierarchical Jurisdiction: Courts have a right to hear appeals from lower courts under certain conditions.
-Original Jurisdiction
Trial courts hear most original cases
State Supreme Court Vs. Us Supreme Court
-Appellate Jurisidction
Trial Courts and Appellate Courts
Almost all cases begin at the trial court
The losing side can appeal at a higher appellate court
Trial and Appellate Courts have different functions: facts and evidence vs error correction and devising legal rules. # of judges for case, written opinions, facts to review to multiple judges .