law midterm Flashcards
Law and Society
All societies have had systems of the law that vary in scope and complexity
Homogenous societies may rely on an informal legal system based on customs
larger societies systems become more complex and formal
Law and sociology
Similar themes and areas of inquiry
-values, morality, norms, interpersonal relations, social processes of society
Historically the two have been considered non-compatible disciplines
some difficulties with interactions of legal scholars and sociologists because of terminology, methodology, and professional culture
Law - defined
Not easily defined
-each discipline, area of distinction and scholar may provide a distinct definition
Max Webber argues that there are 3 basic features of law
1. External pressure to comply
2. Pressure is coercive
3. Individuals enforce law coercively under authority of state
Donald Black and styles of social control
Donald Black argues that four styles of social control are represented in law
Penal
–Policies, law, criminal code, legislation
Compensatory
–Sue people, torts,
Therapeutic
–Correcting, rehabilitating people
Conciliatory
Categories of law
Can be categorized as substantial or procedural
further distinction is made between public and private
more specifically civil law and criminal law
4 main law systems
Romano-germanic system
Common law system
socialist legal system
islamic system
Functions of law in society
3 most common factors
1. social control
2. dispute settlement
3. social change
Consensus perspective
Considers members of society as a stable, functional system, composed of diverse groups with conflicting interests
conflict perspective
Views society as disharmonious and composed of groups with conflicting values
role of sociologists in law
some consider their role as understanding social processes, describing and explaining social phenomena
others consider that their role is to be critical of a social system and its processes
lastly some argue for the notion of praxis- combining theory with practice
substantive law
laws made by city council
governs how members of society are supposed to behave
contrasted with procedural law
ex. laws on legalizing marijuana
procedural law
process that the criminal justice system must follow
ex. offender is arrested, everything that follows that like rights must be read, how evidence must be handled, everything that goes from the arrest all the way to the justice system
private law
anything that has to do with jones and smith- person a suing person b
private matters not public
civil laws
ex. divorce, you and your tenants
torts
a civil wrong that causes a claimant to suffer
criminal law
kings bench
investigating and prosecuting people who may have broken the law
common law
judge made laws
formed in England after the Norman conquest
basis for the us legal system
code
systematic collection of statutes
principle function of law
social control, dispute settlement, social change
consensus perspective
law is a neutral framework
maintains societal integration, society characterized by diverse groups with conflicting interests
public law
Deals with affair between government and individual
Criminal laws
Levels of court - Lowest to Highest
Provincial court- 50,000 or less for suing- judge only
King’s Bench- 50,000 or more for suing- judge only or judge and jury
Court of Appeal- 3 judges, you go here when you think an error has been made at the King’s bench
Federal court- immigration stuff
Supreme Court of Canada- 9 judges- chief justice and 8 other highly accomplished judges
Formal codified law
Emerges when the social structure becomes so complex that informal mechanisms of social control are no longer adequate
regulatory systems and methods of dispute can no longer be dependent on customs, social, religious or moral sanctions
primitive legal systems
typically found in hunting/gathering and simple agrarian societies
laws not written or codified
coexist with ancient norms
no well developed political system
laws enacted by elders, chiefs, councils, or kin leaders
transitional legal systems
advanced agrarian and early industrial society
economic, educational, and political subsystems are increasingly different from kinship relationships
legal subsystems become more complex
greater differentiation between law and tradition, custom and religion
baron de Montesquieu
influenced the framework for the constitution of the United States
active in polictics
against the absolutism of French monarchy
law is integral to peoples culture
Marx’s theory of law
every society rests an economic foundation
three principle assumptions of law
1. law is a product of revolving economic forces
2. law is a tool used by the ruling class to maintain power and control over the lower class
3. in a communist society law with wither away and disappear
