The Americal Legal Systen Flashcards
What are the 2 basic subsystems of law?
- Criminal Law or Public Law
2. Civil Law
Law
Minimal acceptable standard of conduct in society
- principles & rules organized by society to control human conduct, avoid conflict bw individuals & bw individuals and government
- rules must be followed or citizens are subject to sanctions (legal consequences)
What are the four main sources of Law?
- Constitutional
- Statutory (congress, fed govt, state legislatures)
- Administrative (govt agencies)
- Common (court)
What are the 2 types of constitutional Law?
- Federal Constitution- pre-eminent source of legal authority. All other laws and regulations are subordinate. Supreme court makes the final decision in interpretation and enforcement
- State Constitution
Explain the Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments to the constitution.
- Personal rights and freedoms outlined in the amendments to the constitution
- some rights are now recognized but not expressly defined in the Bill of Rights are derived from Supreme Court decisions
Statutory Law
- laws created by congress and state legislatures are known as statutes
- organized in the United States Code (U.S.C0 by topic or titles
- Ex Title 9
Administrative Law
Legislatures delegate responsibilities to government agencies
Ex: FDA, CMS, OSHA, MSOT
-agencies such as these fill in details left out by the legislature by creating regulations or rules
-further, they have enforcement and management roles
Common Law
Judicial case law or common law involves decisions made by courts that create legal precedent.
what is the meaning of state decisis?
to stand by a decision. Courts are bound to abide by decisions made previously by courts of equal or higher power. This provides consistency
Name a few other sources of legal authority.
- professional association practice standards or guidelines
2. Accreditation standards and guidelines
Wt is jurisdiction?
The power or authority to interpret or administer the law
- States have broad jurisdiction over state matters such as family law, most criminal cases, and civil torts.
- Federal courts: limited jurisdiction; over issues specific to federal interests
what is diversity jurisdiction?
diversity jurisdiction happens in civil cases with parties from different states
How many court systems are there? how many of those are federal? state? district of columbia?
52 Court Systems
- 1 Federal
- 50 State
- 1 District of Columbia
What are the Levels of Jurisdiction?
- courts of Original Jurisdiction: u.s. district courts, stat trial courts
- Courts of Middle Appeals: courts of appeal, state courts of appeal
- Courts of final appeals: u.s supreme court; state supreme court
What is appeal?
the losing party in a trial court may take the case to an appellate court
- the appellate court looks for mistakes of law
- the appellate court may reverse a court’s decision or “remand” it back to the trial court.