Unit Six Flashcards
The study of law
Jurisprudence
Stare decisis
The practice of using earlier Judicial rulings as a basic for deciding cases
A court order that guarantees a person who is arrested the right to appear before a judge in a court of law
Writ of habeas corpus
A law that punishes a person accused of a crime without a trial or a fair hearing in court.
Bill of attainder
A law that would allow a person to be punished for an action that was not against the law when it was committed.
Ex post facto law
A group of from 16 to 23 citizens that hears evidence a prosecutor presents.
Grand jury
Means that The judge believes the person obstructing or interfering with the judicial process.
Contempt of court
The juries that hear trials
Petit juries
A trial by a judge
Bench trial
Concerned with disputes between people of groups of people or between the government and its citizens
Civil law
A legal action in which a person or groups sues to collect damages for some harm that is done.
Lawsuit
The person who files the lawsuit
Plaintiff
The party being sued
Defendant
An agreement between two or more parties
Contract
A special kind of lawsuit
Suits of equity
A court order commanding a person or group to stop a certain action.
Injunction
A formal notice that a lawsuit is being brought
Complaint
Crimes defined in the state’s criminal laws
Penal code
Suit of equity
Special kind of lawsuit
Larceny
The taking of property unlawfully
Vandalism
Deliberate destruction of property
Fraud
Taking property by dishonest means
Mandatory sentence
A judge must impose whatever sentence the law directs
Summons
Directing someone to appear in court
Arraignment
A hearing where the suspect pleads guilty or innocent to the charges
Prosecution
The state’s side of the proceedings
Testimony
The statements the witness makes under oath
Cross-examination
Designed to cast out doubt on the truth or reliability of the witness’s testimony
Acquittal
A vote of not guilty
Hung jury
Rules the trial mistrial, must decide whether to drop the charges or ask for a retrial
Juvenile
A person not yet legally an adult
Juvenile delinquent
A child or teenager who commits a serious crime or repeatedly breaks the Laws
Offenders
Lawbreakers
Foreign policy
Strategies and principles to guide nations
National security
The ability to keep a country safe from attack or harm
Diplomacy
The process of conducting relations with forgein governments
Foreign aid
Money, military assistance, food, or supplies given to help a country
Alliances
Formal agreements or unions among nations
Trade sanctions
Efforts to punish a nation by imposing certain trade barriers
Embargoes
Prohibiting ships, planes, trains, or trucks from entering or exiting a nation’s ports or crossing its borders
Isolationism
When a nation does not form an alliance with other countries, and remains neutral during disputes and war
Collective security
The formation of political and military alliances to protect member nations from communist aggression
Disarmament
Arm deduction
Internationalism
The idea that individual nations promote common aims through membership in an organization made up of many nations
Developing nations
Countries that are struggling to build industrial economies And meet the basic needs of their people
Developed nations
Nations that have already built strong industrial economies
Nuclear proliferation
The growth and spread of nuclear weapons
Secular
Non religious
Apartheid
A government plan of racial segregation and discrimination against the country’s black population
Interventionist
Becoming involved in the internal affairs of another country
