Overview of the U.S. Legal System Flashcards
Fifth Amendment
The Fifth Amendment privilege can be asserted in any proceeding, civil or criminal, administrative or judicial, investigatory, or adjudicatory.
Criminal and civil actions for fraud may proceed simultaneously even though such “parallel proceedings” present a dilemma for the defendant. For example, a defendant lawfully may assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid answering questions or producing certain documents in the criminal investigation. But he may not do so in the corresponding civil case without suffering the possibility of sanctions that can include the dismissal of affirmative defenses or the striking of testimony. Additionally, if a defendant takes the stand in a civil case and testifies on his own behalf, he cannot later invoke the Fifth Amendment and refuse to answer questions concerning the same subject matter on cross-examination. If he does, the judge may order that his testimony on direct examination be stricken from the record.
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the power of a court to hear and decide a given case; it refers to the subject matter or persons over which lawful authority may be exercised by a court. A probate court, for instance, only has jurisdiction to hear cases related to wills and other probate matters. Lower trial courts (e.g., a justice of the peace court) may only have jurisdiction to hear matters under a certain dollar amount (e.g., cases with less than $5,000 in controversy).
Determining the proper court requires a three-part test. First, does the court hear cases of the type in question? For example, if a plaintiff brings a civil complaint claiming $500,000 in damages, the plaintiff needs a court that hears civil complaints of that magnitude. Second, does the court have the authority to exercise its power over a particular defendant or piece of property? For instance, a plaintiff can sue a Nebraska company in a Nebraska state court because state courts have personal jurisdiction over all enterprises that do business in that state. Third, does the claim arise within the court’s venue? Venue is an element of jurisdiction. It refers to the physical location where the lawsuit is to be tried. A trial court in Dallas County, Texas, for example, can only hear cases that have some connection with either parties or events that occurred in that county
Two sources of substantive law
There are two sources of substantive law: statutory law and common law.
Statutory law includes statutes passed by the federal or state legislatures (and regulations passed by administrative bodies).
The common law consists of the usages and customs of a society as interpreted by the judiciary; it often is referred to as “judge-made” law.
Criminal law is statutory, while civil actions can be based on either statutory or common law.
In common law systems, there are laws established by court decisions (called the common law). As opposed to legislative statutes, the common law is developed on a case–by-case basis. That is, the common law is a system of legal principles developed by judges through decisions made in courts. It consists of the usages and customs of a society as interpreted by the judiciary, and it is often referred to as “judge-made” law. Common law originated as a legal system in England, and some of the principles established hundreds of years ago in court decisions remain influential to contemporary legal issues. Today, common law systems exist in the United Kingdom, the United States, India, Australia, and many other countries that were once part of the British Empire or were influenced by such legal systems.
Basic type of law system can be classified basically in two type:
Almost every country can be classified as having either a common law or a civil law judicial system, and knowing the differences between the two is essential to understanding how legal and judicial processes work in foreign jurisdictions.
Civil law systems apply laws from an accepted set of codified principles or compiled statutes. Individual cases are then decided in accordance with these basic tenets. Under a civil law system, judges or judicial administrators are bound only by the civil code and not by the previous decisions of other courts. In deciding legal issues, a civil law judge applies the various codified principles to each case.
In the US there are two categories of law:
In the United States, there are two main categories of law: substantive law and procedural law.
Substantive law is comprised of the basic laws of rights and duties (contract law, tort law, criminal law, etc.) as opposed to
procedural law, which involves rules governing pleadings, evidence, jurisdiction, and so on.
If someone says an act is “against the law,” he means substantive law, which includes statutes and ordinances at every level; common law, or case law, from all the various courts; and state and federal constitutions. The mail fraud statute is a criminal statute; therefore, it is most properly characterized as substantive law
Roles of judge and jury during a trial
In general, the judge and jury serve important roles during a trial. In the trial setting, the jury finds the facts and the judge applies the law and rules on evidence. The judge also generally moderates the proceeding to ensure a fair trial. If, however, a jury is waived by the defendant and government, the judge decides both the facts and the law in what is called a bench trial.
Appeals involve questions of law or questions involving both law and fact. Most questions of law are decided by precedent; that is, prior court decisions of equal or higher authority that have considered similar cases.
Rules of Appeal: Who can appeal
The rules for appeal differ in civil and criminal court. Either party in a civil case may appeal a judgment.
Because of the Fifth Amendment’s double jeopardy provisions, only a convicted defendant in a criminal case can appeal a verdict. The government cannot appeal an acquittal on the merits of the case. The prosecution may, however, appeal adverse pretrial rulings on the admissibility of evidence and certain other matters that may temporarily terminate a prosecution (but do not result in a decision on the merits in favor of the defendant).
How many tiers in federal court model:
The federal court system uses a three-tier model.
• U.S. District Courts conduct trials on criminal charges and civil complaints under federal law.
• Courts of Appeals, including the Court of Military Appeals, review trial court decisions.
• The U.S. Supreme Court reviews lower court decisions. It is sometimes called the court of last resort.
Each federal district has a chief prosecutor, a political appointee, known as the United States Attorney, and a staff of prosecutors, known as Assistant United States Attorneys. Almost all cases are prosecuted by assistants. Criminal cases at the local level are prosecuted by the district attorney’s office or the attorney general’s office.
In most cases, appeals from decisions of the U.S. District Courts are heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the “Circuit,” which covers a particular geographic area. The United States has 13 Courts of Appeals. There are 11 numbered judicial circuits, plus the District of Columbia, all of which are defined by a geographic area. There is also the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which has nationwide jurisdiction over appeals involving certain subject matters. The U.S. Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in the federal system and may hear certain appeals from state courts, particularly on constitutional grounds.
How many tiers in state court system?
Most U.S. states use a three- or four-tier court system.
• Lower-level trial courts try misdemeanors and hold preliminary hearings for felony cases, as well as civil disputes below a certain dollar amount (e.g., $10,000 or less).
• Higher-level trial courts (sometimes called superior courts) try felony cases, as well as civil disputes above a certain amount (e.g., $10,000 or more).
• Appellate courts review trial court decisions.
• Superior appellate courts, or supreme courts, review lower appellate court decisions.
A higher-level trial court would be responsible for trying civil disputes above a certain amount. Superior appellate courts generally do not hold trials; instead, they review lower appellate court decisions.
