Law Quiz 2 Flashcards
6, 7, 8, 9, 21
4 purposes/goals of US criminal justice system
- protect society
- punishment
- deterrence
- rehabilitate
the burden of proof
how much the plaintiff needs to win by in court
burden of proof for civil case
plaintiff must prove their claims by a preponderance of their evidence
- this means by just enough proof. could be 49% to 51% and still mean a win
(50 plus a feather)
burden of proof for criminal case
claim must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt
- its hard to ever be 100% sure so the law doesn’t require that, but it needs to be significantly more proof than the civil standard
definition of a crime
- any act or omission
- forbidden by law
- to protect society
- punishable by the government
- in court
why do all crimes need to be written down somewhere in a law book
because someone could say I didn’t know that or where does it say that, and so that the government can prove its an existing real crime
7 ways people who commit crimes are punished
- jail (where you are held before your trial) and prison (where you go after being found guilty)
- death penalty
- monetary fines
- home confinement (become popular during war on drugs/zero tolerance that overcrowded prisons)
- revocation of rights (ex. driving, holding gun, child possession)
- community service
- probation
for an act to be a crime, there must be a _____ and ____
for an act to be a crime there must be a bad act and bad intent
(bad act–pulling the trigger. doesn’t matter if it hits target)
larceny
crime
trespassory (without permission) taking and carrying away of the property of another with the intent (as measured or determined at the moment the property as taken, the jury decides the intent) to permanently deprive the victim of the property
embezzlement
crime
wrongfully taking money or property while you are in lawful possession of it
false pretenses
crime
making false statements of fact (not opinion) to obtain money or property with the intent to defraud (trick/deceive)
has to be statement of fact, not opinion, for it to be false pretenses)
robbery
crime
same thing as larceny but with force or the threat of force
burglary
crime
breaking (breaking the seal/threshold, regardless if lock etc. is broken. can still be burglary even if the door was open) and entering into a building with the intent to commit a felony (serious crime)
extortion/blackmail
crime
making threats to obtain something of value
bribery
crime
offering something of value to a public official to influence that official’s decision
forgery
crime
making or giving a false document with the intent to defraud
tort
comes from word “to twist”
instances where people hurt each other on purpose, all types of harms that impact people or businesses that is done with intent to harm
the tort system
the system that allows people to sue other people who hurt them
3 objectives of our tort system
- compensation of victims
- prevent future similar harms in society, sending signal to society
- require the wrongdoer to pay the compensation
can the same action be a crime and a tort
yes
4 criteria for an action to be considered a tort
- duty/obligation
- breach
- causation
- damages
something is only worthy of a lawsuit if all of these factors were involved
what criteria of something being a tort does the court struggle with the most
they struggle the most with causation, did the person really cause the damages or did something else cause it
where does the person’s responsibility stop and the other end (foot and bus example, is it your fault he got hit by bus)
compensatory damages
money intended to compensate people for their injuries
if I ran over your foot what are the 4 elements that factor into calculating compensatory damages
- medical bills
- lost wages
- physical therapy
- pain and suffering (this is where most of the money will come from)
punitive damages
extra damages over and above compensatory damages intended to punish the wrongdoers for their wicked and awful conduct and send a message to society that such behavior will not be tolerated
the amount of this is determined by proportion of pain, not by a specific number
(ex. these would be awarded to the professor who lied to make a student not graduate, or a doctor for unethically conducting research)
what types of cases can punitive damages be recoverable in
intentional tort
NOT breach of contract cases
battery
tort
intentional infliction of harmful or offensive bodily contact
assault
tort
conduct that places someone in imminent (close proximity) fear of battery
difference between assault and battery
assault: a threat (swinging)
battery: the actual contact (hitting face)
- swing and miss: assault
- swing from behind and hit: battery
- swing and they see it coming and hit: assault and battery
false (bad) imprisonment (confinement)
tort
confining someone against their will and they are either aware of the confinement or harmed by it
ex. holding someone on suspicion of shoplifting
infliction of emotional distress
tort
to sue someone for this tort, you must show symptomatology. physical symptoms of your emotional distress (weight changes, insomnia, panic attacks, comparable data)
defamation
tort
false bad statement (must be a statement of fact, not opinion) about another person and told to a third party
libel and slander
libel
written form of deformation
what a newspaper could do
slander
spoken form of defamation
what a radio or tv could do
invasion of privacy
tort
- misusing a person’s name or likeness (putting someones name on a petition they wouldn’t support)
- intruding onto the seclusion of another person (looking somewhere you’re not supposed to look)
- unreasonable public disclosure of private facts
trespass
tort
- entering property without permission
- remaining on property after permission has expired
- failing to remove something from property that you are legally obligated to remove (building a fence on someone else’s property, leaving broken down car in someone’s driveway)
nuissance
tort
similar to trespass, but involving things like noise, lights, smell/odor, smoke, dust, vibration
negligence
failing to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances for a person or property and which causes injury or damage
strict liability
if you are engaging in an inherently dangerous activity, you are automatically liable for whatever damages or injuries you cause, no matter how careful you were
ex. transporting gasoline or a virus, working at a nuclear plant, construction blasting
how does one decide if a risk is reasonable
if PxG > B, then the risk is unreasonable, don’t take it
P: probability of harm (%)
G: gravity of harm (a number)
B: burden of taking precautions to avoid harm
ex. 90% chance of a candle catching a curtain on fire. gravity of harm of the curtain catching on fire 10. 1 burden of gravity to blow out the candle. 9>1, don’t take the risk
the reasonable person standard
we expect adults to act reasonably at all times in all situations
the reasonable person standard, children
compared to other children of similar age in a similar situation
the reasonable person standard, people with physical disabilities
measure conduct against what a reasonable person with the same disability at the same level of progression would have done in that situation
the reasonable person standard, mental disabilities
compared to what a reasonable person without this mental disability would have done in that situation
reasonable person standard, people with superior skills and knowledge (lawyers, doctors, CPAs)
compared to other reasonable people in their same profession
3 defenses to negligence
- contributory negligence
- minority rule, only in about 5 states
- says if the injured party is even slightly responsible for their injuries, they cannot recover at all from the other party - comparative negligence
- more popular and better overall
- we compare and allocate fault proportionately between the parties - assumption of the risk
contract definition
a binding agreement that a court would enforce
breach of contract
someone not doing what they’re supposed to do in a contract
2 ways to breach a contract
say the contract is for sale of 100 shirts
1. imperfect performance, partial breach. (not giving enough shirts, or not paying enough)
2. complete failure of performance, total breach. (giving no shirts or no money)
nonbreaching party’s two options when the other party breaches a contract
- sue
what do they most often sue for? compensation - stop performing
ex. refuse to pay if they send the wrong shirts
the golden rule of contract law
the goal of contract law is to put the nonbreaching party in the same position they would have been in had the contract been performed
car situation breaching of contract
A was going to sell to B for $1,000
B was going to sell to C for $2,500
if A breaches contract, they owe B $1,500 because if they hadn’t breached thats the position (plus 1500) that B would have been in
equitable remedies
sometimes the non-breaching party does not want money, they just want what is fair (equitable) under the circumstances
ex. sentimental blanket, not building to block view
efficient breach
sometimes it makes economic sense to breach a contract
ex. if breaching your walmart contract to sell to target ultimately made more profit then you would breach it
4 agreements for valid contract (if any are missing, there is no contract)
- mutual assent (agreement)
“meeting of the mind” two different kinds of car example, each thinking the contract is involving a different one. help to avoid this by putting contract in writing - consideration/value
each party must do or give something under the contract - legality of the object(ive)
the purpose of the contract must be legal (ex. can’t have a binding contract to sell crack. government won’t enforce it) - capacity
over 18, competent person has capacity to enter into a contract
implied contract
**implied, not inferred
where we infer from the parties conduct that they have a contract
they imply, you infer
express contract
where it is clear from the parties words that they have a contract
sale
the transfer of a title (ownership) to goods from a seller to a buyer in exchange for a price
movement of ownership
lease
the temporary possession of goods in exchange for a price
temporary use of it
