Varughese 1 Legal Studies Final Study Guide Due to the fact that this final is cumulative this guide is separated into two parts everything before the midterm and everything after the midterm This has been split into two parts for the convenience of those that have already mastered everything before the midterm Part 2 begins on Page 27 Part 1 Contains everything the midterm before Law establishes the parameters of what s acceptable in society Who can make laws in the United States Statutory Law Law made by the legislature Legislature is broken up into 3 branches Congress State City Council SO the state has a legislature the city has a legislature and the congress has a legislature Common Law Law made by the Court Legislation Names Bill proposed law If the bill gets passed it becomes a Statute Statutes are passed by the federal government or the state Ordinance passed by the city Trials are based on Testimony and Testimony is based on Evidence Our Law is based on Precedent What does that mean Our legal system is based on precedent and whenever we have a case we look at prior decisions and see if there has been a case like this before Basing things of precedent keeps things consistent and makes sure The proper legal term for Precedent is Stare Decisis everyone s treated fairly Tyler s Bar Biographies Two people opened up this business but never signed a partnership agreement One guy runs the restaurant the other guy put in all the money without an agreement how do they share profits We need a partnership agreement we can t just be registered as a sole proprietorship Example of Common Law Champion Vs Dumphy page 10 Issue Whether a passenger in a car which she neither owns or controls owes a duty to another passenger to prevent a drunk driver from operating his own car Facts Dunfee consumed some beers and agreed to take the plaintiff to a party Dunfee s girlfriend s in the front and plaintiff s in the back He gets buzzed and starts to speed and then loses control and hits a tree injuring the plaintiff The plaintiff sues the driver and then sues the girlfriend because she had a duty to prevent him from driving the car Question Did the girlfriend have a duty to stop the boyfriend from driving Varughese 2 the car while intoxicated Ruling Absent a special relationship or encouragement to the driver a passenger who is not the owner or custodian of the vehicle is not liable What is she owned the car Would she be responsible Yes Negligent Entrustment is the term for an owner being an idiot and giving his her keys to a drunk driver What if he had been drinking in a bar Could he sue the bar Dram Shop Liability If the bar sells alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person the bar is responsible for that person s actions This law prevents bars from providing as much liquor as What do special relationships include they want Parent Child Landlord Tenant Guardian Ward Example of Statutory Law Washington vs Glas Upskirt Voyeurism When someone takes pictures underneath a girl s skirt without her knowing about it The Case Glas took photos up the skirts of two women at a wall He squatted a few feet behind the women and police confiscate pictures of their undergarments Sorrells used a video camera to film underneath little girls The Law A person commits the crime of voyeurism if for the purposes of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of any person he or she knowingly views photographs or films another person w o their consent while the person is in a place where he or she would have a reasonable expectation of privacy Statute Ruling It is the physical location of the person that is at issue and not the person s body Because this place was public she had no expectation of privacy therefore the man that took those photos was not responsible for those pictures he took Twist If someone put a camera in a dressing room that would be illegal because dressing rooms have an environment of privacy Liquor Liability in PA Klein v Raysinger Page 17 Deals with social host liability What is a social host Someone that serves liquor in a house to friends as opposed to Dram Shop Liability when bars sell the liquor Varughese 3 Parts of Case Caption Name of the case identifies the parties to the lawsuit Plaintiff s name usually appears first Plaintiff person that files the lawsuit Defendant person being sued Appellant the person who files the lawsuit Nothing to do with plaintiff or defendant but who did the appeal Appellee the person who is being appealed Google it for more clarification Underneath the name of the case there s going to be a group of numbers a citation Citation tells you where your case can be found 470 A 2d 507 Pa 1983 470 The volume of the book that you want to grab A The name of the book that this case is in In this case atlantic it means that the case is in states that are on the atlantic coast 2d 2nd edition 507 page Pa 1983 Tells you where the case is from the year of the decision Opinion The actual decision itself Justice McDermott Types of Opinions Why does this judge s name appear on the case He wrote the opinion Unanimous all 7 agrees with the opinion Majority 4 7 or more Judges agree Concurring A judge that agrees with the outcome but for a different reason Dissenting A judge that disagrees Actions on Appeal Affirm they agree with the trial judge Reverse they don t agree with the trial court Remand the appellate court is going to send the case to trial court to do something more to the case What is a case of first impression A case with no precedent Briefing of Case Action why the person filed the lawsuit Facts of Case what happened Issue for Court what was the legal question the court had to decide Court Holding what did the court say How did the court decide the case Varughese 4 January 28th 2014 Klein v Raysinger Case of First Impression No precedents Facts Klein s car was hit by a vehicle being driven by Raysinger who was drunk The defendant had been served liquor at the home of the Gilligans Klein sues Raysinger AS WELL as the Gilligans Is a social host who serves liquor to a house guest who is visibly intoxicated liable to a person who is injured by the guest while driving drunk Court No social host who gives liquor to a guest is a liable to another as the result of the consumption of such beverages It s the consumption of the liquor rather than the furnishing of it that causes the harm Basically social host has no liability Did the court discuss any situation in which the host has a