9 7 11 Chapter 1 Types and Classifications of Law Seven types or sources of law o 1 Constitutional Federal US Constitution Each state has its own constitution DC has a charter Each state constitution is modeled after the US Constitution A statute is a law that is created by US Congress or by state legislature o 2 Statutory o 3 Common Law Law that s made by judges there is no constitution or statute that tells them what to do Common law at both state and federal law One of the most important aspects is the idea of precedent Restatements are not law they are suggestions about what the law should be judges find Stare decisis means that similar cases should be decided similarly Equity from court if plaintiff you can get money damages or equitable relief restatements extremely persuasive Kinds of equitable relief o 4 Administrative Regulations and Agency Decisions o Injunction court orders an entity to do or stop doing something Administrative Regulations like a statute except that the body that issues it is not elected Issued by an administrative agency ex FCC Securities and Exchange Commission Agency Decisions Ex An enforcement action by the FCC They have to approved by 2 3 of the Senate Like a statue but at the local or municipal level o 5 Treaties o 6 Ordinances o 7 Executive Orders Can be issued by president or by a governor An exception to the rule that the executive branch doesn t make the laws Ex A Presidential Pardon o Conflict between sources of law Priority Rules 1 Constitutions trump all other types of law 2 Federal statutes trump conflicting state statutes 3 Statutes trump common law and administrative regulations 4 Administrative regulations trump the common law Different ways to classify the law o Criminal v Civil o Substantive v Procedural Civil the obligations that private parties owe to each other Substantive establishes the rights and duties of people in society Procedural establishes the rules of the game the rules that courts operate under o Public v Private Public law deals with relations between government and private parties Criminal law is an example of public law Includes constitutional law ex First amendment law Private law deals with relations exclusively between private parties Ex Breach of contract case Functions of Law o 1 Peacekeeping Criminal law operates as a deterrent o 2 Controlling government power What constitutional law is mainly about o 3 Promoting people s reasonable expectations Mainly about contract law o 4 Promoting economic growth through free competition Mainly about antitrust law o 5 Promoting social justice Ex Employer employee law minimum wage law o 6 Protecting the environment Legal Reasoning o Case Law Reasoning Precedent is the key similar cases should be decided similarly Suppose a judge has to decide a case but there is not constitutional provision or statute that tells him what to do look for an earlier case that dealt with a similar issue to rely on for the basis of his decision If similar but still significantly different the judge can distinguish the earlier case and say that it is not precedent and that he s not bound by that earlier case o Statutory Interpretation Statutes are often ambiguous or vague for a few reasons Congressmen and state legislators are lazy and don t have time to draft an Congressmen and state legislators are incompetent they aren t smart enough to draft Courts are left to interpret vague statutes How do they do that o Means that the court will apply or interpret the statute according to its usual or unambiguous statute a statute that makes sense 1 Plain Meaning conventional 2 Legislative History o The court can deviate from the plain meaning rule if the legislative history of the statute suggests to the court that that s what it ought to do o Legislative history trumps plain meaning 3 General Public Purpose o The judge will try to figure out what really is the basic purpose of the statue and he will try to apply the statue consistent with the general public purpose 4 Prior Interpretation o Similar to precedent o If the judge thought what previous judges did was persuasive then he would act on that ruling Limits on the power of courts o 1 No advisory opinions Courts are not supposed to issue advisory opinions Ripeness the case must be ripe or else the court cannot hear it ripe genuine controversy between the plaintiff and the defendant The case cannot be moot there has to be an ongoing dispute if the case has been resolved it is moot court cant hear a case that has already been resolved The plaintiff has to have standing to sue if the plaintiff does not than the court cant hear the case Standing having a tangible stake in the outcome o Ex Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift s speech because he didn t think she should have won Kanye had no standing he had no tangible stake in the outcome award was for best female video In both state and federal court there is a Declaratory Judgment Statute permits the parties to have their rights and duties determined by the court even though no harm has yet occurred slightly an exception to the no advisory opinion but there still must be an ongoing dispute o 2 Precedent If there is some precedent then the judge must follow it o 3 Scrutiny of Published Opinions Many decisions by judges get published and anyone can read them Because their opinions are publicly scrutinized they are careful what to say Judges don t like appeals to be reversed and have people say that the first judge was wrong o 4 Fear of Reversal o Political Factors Elections All federal judges are appointed but at state level some judges can be elected You have to defend your record as a judge to get reelected Recall or Impeachment Judges can be impeached and then removed of office Threat of impeachment and or removal acts as a limit In some states you can be recalled from office if enough people get angry they can demand that a special election be held as to whether or not judges should be removed from office Discipline If you misbehave as a judge ex Sexual harassment of staff taking bribes to decide cases you can be disciplined or suspended leading up all the way to removal CASES not on exam 1 Soldano v O Daniels 1983 a An example of case law reasoning b Original case was dismissed appealed to the Court of Appeals c Key Facts i Darrell Soldano was killed at Happy Jacks a patron had gone across the street to the Circle Inn to request calling the police but was denied is suing O Daniels owner of Circle
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