Ch 1

Question 1

What are the 7 Types of laws?

Answer 1

Constitutions, Statutes, Common law, Administrative Regulations/decisions, treaties, ordinances, and executive orders.

Question 2

Constitutions

Answer 2

Establishes the structure of the government between Federal and State. Supreme law of the land. (Exists at state and federal level).

Question 3

Statutes

Answer 3

Statues are laws created by elected representatives in congress or a state legislature. Basically, laws congress (Federal) makes.

Question 4

Common Law (case law)

Answer 4

Is law created by judges or courts. Based on precedent. Judges follow the decisions of other judges in similar cases.

Question 5

Administrative Regulations/Decisions

Answer 5

Regulations created by government agencies to (help) implement and enforce statues. (Ex. The SEC)

Question 6

Treaties

Answer 6

Formal agreements between nations, ratified by their respective governments. Often dealing with international relations or trade. Approved by 2/3 majority vote by the senate and president.

Question 7

Ordinances

Answer 7

A law at the local level, usually of a city or county (local governments) usually pertaining to zoning, building codes, or community issues.

Question 8

Executive Orders

Answer 8

Formal orders issues by the president to direct action. A way to make law and bypass congress. Goes all the way back to the first president. (Ex. Trump getting out of the Paris climate accord). But if it conflicts with a law, it should be struct down.

Question 9

What is “Priority Rules”?

Answer 9

Rules for determining which law takes priority.

Question 10

Rank “Priority Rules”

Answer 10

1. Federal Supremacy (Fed law defeats conflicting state law)
2. Constitutional Law
3. Statues
4. Common Law

Question 11

Constitutional law (priority rules)

Answer 11

Defeats all other state laws inconsistent with it. The U.S. constitution defeats inconsistent laws of any type. Federal Constitutional law > any other type of law.

Question 12

Statues (priority rules)

Answer 12

Statues defeat conflicting law within state or federal laws that depend on legislative delegation.

Question 13

Common law (priority rules)

Answer 13

Statues defeat inconsistent common law.

Question 14

Classification of law

Answer 14

There are 3 ways to classify law.
1) Criminal law vs Civil Law.
2) Substantive Law vs Procedural law.
3) Public Law vs Private Law

Question 15

Criminal Law

Answer 15

Criminal law is laws dealing with offenses against society such as murder, rape, or arson. Prosecuted by the government, violation results in fines or prison sentences.

Question 16

Civil law

Answer 16

Civil Law concerns noncriminal disputes between private parties. Oldest, most popular form of law. Plaintiff v. Defendant seeking money damange.

Question 17

Substantive Law

Answer 17

Substantive law is law that defines the rights and duties of individuals with respect to each other. (Ex. A statue making murder a crime).

Question 18

Procedural law

Answer 18

Procedural law is the rules of the game. Controls the behavior of government bodies… mainly courts, as they establish and enforce substantive law. (Ex. The rules describing how a case makes its way to the courts.)

Question 19

Public Law

Answer 19

Public law is a body of law dealing with the relationship of the government to private individuals and other private entities. (Government vs. Private party)

Question 20

Private law

Answer 20

Private law is a body of law with relationships between private individuals, such as contracts, civil injuries, domestic relations, and partnerships. (Government is not involved).

Question 21

The Functions of Law

Answer 21

What purpose does the law serve? Well it serves 6 purposes.

Question 22

What are the functions of law?

Answer 22

1. Peacekeeping (criminal law)
2. Controlling government power (constitutional).
3. Promoting people’s reasonable expectations (contracts)
4. Prompting economic growth (antitrust laws)
5. Promoting social justice (private, employment laws, Overtime, Breaks…)
6. Protecting the enviroment - EPA (clean water act)

Question 23

Legal Reasoning

Answer 23

The process of reasoning by which a judge harmonizes his or her decision with the judicial decisions of previous cases.
2 Categories:
Case Law Reasoning and Statutory Interpetation

Question 24

Case Law reasoning

Answer 24

The law extracted from decided cases. If no applicable precedent exists, the court is free to develop a new common law rule to govern the case.

Question 25

Precedent

Answer 25

based on a doctrine called stare decisis, similar cases should be decided similarly. If there is none, creates new law = new common law.

Question 26

Statutory Interpretation

Answer 26

When there are ambiguous laws created, judges will have to interpret. Legislators may deliberately use ambiguous language when they are unwilling or unable to deal with each situation a statue was enacted to regulate.

Question 27

Statutory interpretation techniques.

Answer 27

a. Plain meaning: 1st definition in dictionary. b. Legislative History: Judges should use legislative history to figure out what lawmakers intended. c. General purpose: determine main goal of statute, and then interpret given that goal. d. Prior interpretations: from another judge… takes precedent.

Question 28

How many limits do judges have? What are they?

Answer 28

6 limits, 1. Not supposed to issue advisory opinions 2. Declaratory Judgement 3. Scrutiny of other judges (Professional Scrutiny) 4. Fear of Reversal (being overruled) 5. Review of written opinions 6. Political Factors

Question 29

Limit 1: Not supposed to issue advisory opinions

Answer 29

a. Ripe Cases must be ripe, there has to be an actual dispute between the parties, not suspicions. Courts may throw the case if it’s not developed into an actual controversy. b. Moot If a case has already been resolved (moot), it’s no longer a problem and no longer valid. Courts toss the case. c. Standing Plaintiff must have standing to sue. Must have a direct, tangible, and substantial stake of the outcome of the case. OR the case must be thrown out. (Ex. Texas sued Florida after the 2020 election but had no standing so the case got tossed.)

Question 30

Limit 2: Declaratory Judgement

Answer 30

Plaintiff asks courts to issue ruling setting forth the parties rights and obligations going forward rather than money. (Courts do not award money, it simply clarifies the legal situation, so everyone knows where they stand.) Ex. Recently Florida state wants to leave the ACC division but there’s an exit penalty of $120m so they filed an action of declaratory judgement against the ACC. They just want the court to say they don’t have to pay the money. They don’t want money in damages, but they want the court to do something.

Question 31

Limit 3: Scrutiny of other judges

Answer 31

Judges are subject to review and criticism by their peers, legal scholars, and professionals, which discourages poorly reasoned decisions.

Question 32

Limit 4: Fear of reversal

Answer 32

Lower court judges may avoid innovation to prevent their rulings from being overturned by higher courts.

Question 33

Limit 5: review of written opinions

Answer 33

Written opinions expose judges to academic and professional criticism, discouraging poorly reasoned decisions.

Question 34

Limit 6: Political Factors

Answer 34

Judges may be influenced by elections or the possibility of removal. (Ex California votes to put judges in or out of office)