ADV 3352 MASS MEDIA LAW CHAPTER 1 The American Legal System STUDENT OUTLINE I SOURCES OF THE LAW Law A set of rules that attempt to guide human conduct and a set of formal governmental sanctions that are applied when those rules are violated A COMMON LAW I An inductive system in which a legal rule and legal standards are arrived at after consideration of many cases involving similar facts II Developed in England replaced Anglo Saxon customs with a system of law managed by judges and jurists British supplied Americans with an outline III Stare decisis Let the decision stand The concept that judges should look to the past and follow court precedents IV Precedent An established rule of law set by a previous case courts should follow precedent when it is advisable and available 1 A lot of previous cases will be overruled due to changing times Ex Laws of sodomy laws of same sex relationships Sometimes it is okay not to follow precedent when it is a bad law V Four options for handling precedents 1 Accept follow for guidance 1 ADV 3352 MASS MEDIA LAW STUDENT OUTLINE 2 Modify update so it corresponds with what the judge perceives to be contemporary sensibilities and circumstance 3 Distinguish the differences between the precedent and the current case 4 Overrule declaring the prior decision wrong and thus no longer the law Courts generally overrule precedents when there are changes in A Factual knowledge and circumstances B Social morals i Example of this is in 2003 the U S Supreme Court in Lawrence v Texas overruled 1986 opinion Bowers v Hardwick that had held up a Georgia anti sodomy law prohibiting certain sexual acts between consenting gay adults By 2003 American society had started accepting homosexuality and also growing recognition of consenting adults being able to do private sexual acts in their own home C Judges Justices in the court I 2010 Citizens United v Federal Elections Commissions overruled 1990 Austin v Michigan State Chamber of Commerce 2 ADV 3352 MASS MEDIA LAW STUDENT OUTLINE because the composition of the court had shifted over the past 20 years pp 11 VI Damages Money awarded to winning party in a civil suit typical remedy VII Jurisprudence Judge decides case on gut feeling then checks VIII Case reporter Book containing a chronological collection of precedents to support decision opinions rendered by the court VII Citation B EQUITY LAW I System of jurisprudence in which courts are empowered to decide cases on the basis of equity or fairness II Case by case basis Judges are free to do what they think is right III Examples include restraining order tenant landlord broken oven clock example and visitation rights pp 14 for examples of cases IV Equity suits typical remedies are for a judge to issue preventative or remedial orders such as injunctions or retraining orders V Equity suits are never tried before a jury Rulings come in the form of judicial decrees 3 ADV 3352 MASS MEDIA LAW STUDENT OUTLINE VI Judicial decrees Declaration of court announcing legal consequences of facts found to be true by court not by yes or no response C STATUTORY LAW i Created by elected legislative bodies at the local state and federal levels to anticipate problems that may affect large numbers of people a Deal with problems affecting society or large group of people b Can anticipate problems c All criminal laws in the U S are statutory laws d Statutory law is collected in codes and law books instead of reports like common law ii Statutory construction the process undertaken by courts to interpret or construe the meaning of statutes iii Legislative intent when judges rule on the meaning of a statute they are supposed to determine what the legislature meant when it passed the law D CONSTITUIONAL LAW i Written outline of the organization of a government that provides for both the rights and responsibilities for various branches of the government and the limits of the power of the government If it s in the constitution then it is constitutional ii Constitutions 4 ADV 3352 MASS MEDIA LAW STUDENT OUTLINE a Provide the plan for the establishment of gov t outlines duties and responsibilities of the gov t and guarantees basic rights to its people iii State constitutions a Are approved or changed by a direct vote of the people b Can give more greater rights to citizens than provided under U S constitution they cannot reduce or roll back rights given by the U S constitution iv Federal Constitutions a 2 3 of members of both the house and senate to propose and amendment and then of the state legislatures or constitutional conventions called in all of the states to approve b U S constitution is the supreme law of the land v 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 from looking at its terms what speech is allowed and what speech is prohibited a They are problematic because they don t provide fair notice of what speech is permitted and can be enforced unfairly and discriminatorily because they give too much discretion those who enforce them vi Overbreadth Doctrine Laws are overbroad if they do not aim only at problems within the allowable area of legitimate government control but also sweeps within its ambit or scope 5 ADV 3352 MASS MEDIA LAW STUDENT OUTLINE other activities that constitute an exercise of protected expression a United States v Stevens 2010 declared as unconstitutionally overbroad a federal statute that criminalized the commercial creation sale or possession of certain depictions of animal cruelty Look at page 18 for the full case b Prohibits the government from banning unprotected speech if a substantial amount of protected speech is prohibited in the process E EXECUTIVE ORDERS AND ADMINISTRATIVE RULES i Two streams a Executive orders issued by elected officers b Rules generated by administrative agencies ii Administrative agencies Specialized federal administrative agencies existing at both federal and state levels which deal with a specific set of problems too technical or too large for the legislative branch to handle iii Federal Communications Commission FCC regulates broadcasting and other telecommunications in the US iv Member criteria must be citizens of the US and are appointed by the president No more than 3 5 members can be from the same political party v Courts can overturn rulings if 6 ADV 3352 MASS MEDIA LAW a The original act that established the commission
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