Chapter 1 Law Rules which if broken result in a penalty or sanction Method of settling dis putes between two parties and Framework that helps guide human conduct and con trol behavior Common law discovered law or judge made law an inductive system in which a legal rule and legal standards are arrived at after consideration of many cases involv ing similar facts Judges should look to the past to follow court precedents Stare decisis is the key phrase Let the decision stand The oldest source of our law developed in England to distinguish itself from church law Uses an Inductive system in which a legal standards are arrived at after considera tion of many cases involving similar facts Deals with resolving issues involving individual grievances and concerns Precedent an established rule of the law set by a previous case 4 options when handling Precedents 1 Accept Follow 2 Modify Update 3 Distinguish a situational difference between the facts of the current case and that of the precedent 4 Overrule When the U S Supreme Court establishes a precedent it may only be over ruled by the U S supreme Court Hunch theory a judge decides a case based on gut feeling of what is right and wrong and then seeks out precedents to support the decision Invasion of privacy A civil tort that emerged in the early 20th century and contains four distinct categories of legal wrongs appropriation intrusion publication of pri vate facts and false light Case reporter a book containing a chronological collection of the opinions ren dered by a particular court for cases that were decided by the court precedents Each case collected has an individual Citation identification number which re flects the name of the reporter in which the case can be found the volume of that reporter the page on which the case begins and the year the opinion was rendered Chapter 1 385 U S 39 1966 1 385 Volume of the United States Report 2 39 The page on which the case appears 3 1966 The year in which the case was decided Equity law judge made law more flexible than common law because it is not bound by the rigid precedents judges are empowered to decide unique cases on the basis of equity or fairness Rulings in the form of judicial decrees to restrain an individual corporation or gov ernment from taking an action Can be preventive prohibiting potential behavior or remedial stop doing some Injunction temporary restraint thing it is currently doing A B Preliminary injunction immediate restraint C Permanent injunction severe punishment Statutory law All criminal laws deals with problems affecting society or large groups of people can anticipate problems before they happen collected in codes and law books Statue laws adopted by legislative bodies at the local state and federal levels Statutory construction the process undertaken by courts to interpret or con strue the meaning of statues Consider the legislative intent of a statute to de termine its meaning There are two primary ways to argue that a statue violates the First Amendment right of free speech 1 attacking problems with its wording terms and language 2 attacking problems with its actual application to a particular factual scenario Constitutional law The supreme law of the land Constitution Provides the plan for the establishment and organization of the govern ment outline the duties responsibilities and powers of the various elements of gov ernment and guarantee certain basic rights to the people Federal constitutions can be amended by 2 3 vote of the members both the U S House of Representatives and the Senate or 2 3 of the the state legislature can call for a constitutional convention Chapter 1 There are 27 amendments 1 10 are the bill of rights which guarantee basic human rights to all citizens A direct restriction on speech or press is protected by the first amendment State constitutions can give more rights to citizens than provided by the U S consti tution but can t reduce rights given by the federal constitution State constitutions can be changed or approved by a direct vote of the people Supreme court is the only mandatory court under the constitution A statue might be declared unconstitutional if it violates A overbreadth docterine if it does not aim only at problems within the allow able area of legitimate government control but also sweeps within its am bit or scope other activities that constitute an exercise of protected ex pression Limits more activity than necessary to address the problem B void for vagueness doctrine a law will be declared unconstitutional and struck down if a person of reasonable and ordinary intelligence would not be able to tell what speech is allowed and what is prohibited Executive orders orders issued by elected officers of government presidents gov ernors mayors Administrative rules rules generated by the administrative agencies of govern ment at the federals state and local levels boards and commissions in the nation that produce rules and regulations i e FTC and FCC Deals with technical and complicated matters requiring levels of expertise that member of traditional legislative bodies do not normally posses All regulations pertaining to advertising and broadcasting fall under administrative law Members are appointed by presidents or governors or mayors and supervised and funded by legislative bodies Their tasks are narrowly defined and their rulings can always be appealed Courts can overturn ruling if the original act is unconstitutional 1 2 exceeds authority 3 violates its own rules 4 there is no evidentiary basis whatsoever to support the ruling 52 different judicial systems in U S 1 federal system Chapter 1 1 for the District of Columbia 50 state systems one for each state Each are divided into two sets of courts 1 Trial Courts determine the facts in the case 2 Appellate Courts law reviewing court when decisions are appealed Determine whether the law was properly applied and or legal procedures fol lowed using the factual record established by the trial court Not obligated to hear all cases Petitioner one who petitions a court to an action someone who starts a lawsuit or carries an appeal to a higher court appealant Litigant a party in a lawsuit a participant in a litigation Pleading written complaint of the parties in a lawsuit containing their allegations de nials and defenses Federal courts U S Supreme Court U S Court of Appeals U S District Courts and several specialized tribunals Federal courts can hear cases involving 1 The U S
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