Legal Foundation Flashcards
What are the primary sources of the law?
Constitutional law
Common law/Case Law
Statutory law/Legislation
Administrative law
What is Constitutional Law?
Constitution applies to government action and not private business mandates.
14th Amendment to USA Constitution
What was the summary for Federal Employment discrimination law protects gay and trans employees?
The Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination “because of sex”, also protects gay and transgender employees from being fired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The decision was 6-3, with Justice Neil Gorsuch writing the majority opinion. He argued that firing someone for being gay or transgender necessarily involves discriminating against them because of their sex, which is forbidden by Title VII.
The decision resolved three different cases that were argued on the same day in October 2019. Two cases involved gay men who were fired from their jobs, and one case involved a transgender woman who was fired from a funeral home after announcing her transition.
The decision was a major victory for LGBT rights advocates, who had been seeking federal protection for LGBT employees for decades. However, the decision also raised questions about the potential conflicts between LGBT rights and religious freedom, which the court did not address in this case.
Summarize Jacobson v. Massachusetts case
Jacobson v. Massachusetts was a Supreme Court case in 1905 that upheld the authority of states to enforce compulsory vaccination laws for the public health and safety. The main points of the case are:
The plaintiff, Henning Jacobson, was a pastor who refused to be vaccinated for smallpox in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was fined $5 for violating the state law.
The defendant, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, argued that the law was a reasonable exercise of the state’s police power to protect the public from a contagious disease.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the defendant, by a 7-2 majority, and affirmed the constitutionality of the law. The Court held that individual liberty is not absolute and can be subject to reasonable regulations for the common good.
The Court also suggested that there may be exceptions to the law for individuals who can show that vaccination would be harmful to their health or violate their religious beliefs, but Jacobson did not present such evidence.
The case has been cited as a precedent for other cases involving the state’s power to regulate public health and safety, such as quarantine, abortion, and mask mandates.
What is Common Law ?
Common law, also known as judicial precedent or case law, is a body of law that is based on custom and general principles and embodied in case law.
It’s derived from judicial decisions rather than statutes.
These decisions set a precedent that must be applied to future cases on the same subject.
Made by appellate courts.
Based on the fundamentals of previous cases that had similar facts.
What is a case precedent?
A precedent is usually only binding within the jurisdiction of the court setting the precedent.
The decision becomes precedent once an appellate court has decided a particular case.
What is Stare Decisis
The principle of stare decisis, a fundamental concept in American law, holds that cases with similar facts and issues should have the same judicial outcome.
What is an example of Stare Decisis
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org
The Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case was a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court in 2022. This case questioned Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act, which prohibited most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. In a decision that overturned both Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), the Supreme Court maintained that the Constitution does not grant the right to abortion.
The principle of stare decisis, which means following previous legal decisions, played a significant role in the case. The court ruled that stare decisis required adherence to what it called Roe’s “central holding” - that a state cannot constitutionally protect fetal life before “viability” - even if that holding was incorrect.
What is Statutory Law?
Laws written and enacted by a legislative body, such as the U.S. Congress. They are published in the U.S. Code and must comply with the Constitution.
How are Statutory Law and Common Law different ?
Statutory law is a type of law that is passed by a legislature, which is a group of elected officials.
In contrast to statutory law, there’s something called common law, which is a law made by judges based on previous decisions. In the American system of law, statutes (or statutory laws) trump common law.
This means that if there’s a statutory law that contradicts a common law rule, the statutory law is what applies.
What is the Plain Meaning Rule ?
The Plain Meaning Rule is defined as a rule in statute or contract interpretation that uses the ordinary meaning of the language of the statute or contract.
If the words are clear and unambiguous, judges and lawyers must follow the exact words, not what they think the person who wrote it might have meant. This helps to keep things fair and consistent.
Statutory Interpretation in the Oxford Comma Case
The case involved a lawsuit by dairy drivers who claimed they were owed overtime pay by their employer, Oakhurst Dairy.
The dispute hinged on the lack of an Oxford comma in a Maine labor law that listed the activities exempt from overtime pay.
The law said that overtime pay did not apply to “the canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of” certain foods.
The drivers argued that the law was ambiguous and that “packing for shipment or distribution” was one activity, not two. Since they only did distribution, they should be eligible for overtime pay.
The employer argued that the law meant that both packing and distribution were exempt from overtime pay, and that the drivers were not entitled to any extra compensation.
The court ruled in favor of the drivers, using other methods of statutory interpretation to determine the legislative intent of the law. The court said that the law was poorly drafted and that the lack of a comma created uncertainty.
The court also considered the punctuation and grammar rules, the legislative history, and the purpose and policy of the law to support its decision.
The case was settled for $5 million in 2018.
Statutory Interpretation in U.S v. Ulbright & Bostock v. Clayton County
U.S v. Ulbright: This case was about whether the government could collect IP address information without a warrant. The court said that collecting IP addresses is like using a pen register (a device that records all numbers called from a particular phone line), which doesn’t require a warrant. So, the government didn’t need a warrant to collect IP addresses.
Bostock v. Clayton County: This case was about whether a law that protects people from discrimination based on sex also protects people from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The court said yes, it does. They read the law in a way that included protection for sexual orientation and gender identity.
What is Administrative Law
It’s a set of rules that government agencies have to follow.
Federal, state, and local agencies
Congress cannot oversee all the laws it enacts so delegates tasks to agencies
Examples of Administrative Law agencies
The Civil Rights Act of 1964: This act created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to enforce laws that prevent discrimination in the workplace1.
Environmental Protection Acts: These acts led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970. The EPA enforces laws to protect the environment1.
The Department of Transportation Act of 1966: This act established the Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT regulates all aspects of American transportation1.
OSHA
