LEGL 2700 Exam 1 Study Guide Lectures 1 6 Lecture 1 August 13 3 Primary elements that make a law enforceable has to be a rule has to be laid down by the government has to be enforced by the government Common Law when judges have a lot more power to apply and interpret the law U S has common law system Civil Law when judges have less authority to interpret the laws as they please Criminal Law government filing a suit against someone to punish them for breaking the law Civil Law lawsuit between two private parties U S Constitution most important source of law State Constitution also important source of law but federal law ALWAYS trumps state law Lecture 2 August 15 Statute Act another name for a legislation passed by congress Requirements for overturning regulations in court congress did not give power to the agency correctly the agency failed to properly go through the correct steps the agency exceeded its authority Stare decisis Latin term meaning let the prior decision stand Advantages of reliance on judicial decisions predictability can make exceptions can make adaptations Disadvantages of reliance on judicial decisions expense conflicting precedent lack of precedent conflicts of law Hierarchy of Law IN THIS ORDER U S constitution federal statutes federal administrative regulations state constitutions state statutes state administrative regulations local ordinances judicial decisions Questions of fact parties in lawsuit dispute what actually happened Questions of law how does the law apply to this factual situation Trial court judge considers both questions of fact and questions of law Appellate judge considers only questions of law Lecture 3 August 20 Petit Jury 6 12 people responsible for deciding the verdict in a case Grand Jury 16 23 people responsible for deciding whether or not the prosecution has enough evidence to try a case Types of cases in federal court questions under federal law any case in which U S government is a party controversy of suit between 2 different states diversity of jurisdiction cases Supreme court you do not have the right to appeal in the U S Supreme Court 95 of cases end at the trial case level Counterclaims when defendant gets sued and then sues the plaintiff for something either related or unrelated to the original case Third part defendant when defendant brings another defendant into the case because he she believes if they are being sued for this then so should this other person Class Actions 1 plaintiff filing suit on behalf of many other people Lecture 4 August 22 Requirements for bringing suit actual case or controversy personal stake in the resolution of the dispute personal jurisdiction Ways to establish jurisdiction over defendant if the defendant voluntarily shows up to court if defendant is served in the state which the court is located if lawsuit contains a tort in the state which the court is located if the defendant owns property in the state where the court is located and the property is the basis of the lawsuit if defendant entered a contract or conducted business in the state which the court is located Complaint filed by the plaintiff says exactly what happened how that violated the law and what they want in relief Answer Defendants response to the complaint must respond to each and every allegation in the complaint Reply Plaintiff s response to the Answer ONLY if the answer contains a counterclaim Discovery when both sides prepare all the information they need for trial and notify the other side of all their findings helps encourage settlement longest phase of most cases Types of Discovery ALL under oath Interrogatories written question and answer Requests for Production of documents requesting ANY physical evidence from someone Deposition in person question and answer Requests for admission yes or no questions and answer Trial Process IN THIS ORDER Jury selection Opening statements Presentation of evidence Closing arguments Jury Instructions Jury Verdict Lecture 5 August 27 Settlement when 2 parties compromise usually with money Arbitration instead of going to court you go to a private arbitrator and have them decide the outcome of the case Voluntary arbitration at some point in the past both sides have agreed to have the case arbitrated Mandatory arbitration when the law itself says that this case must be arbitrated before it can go to trail 3 ways to get a voluntary arbitration decision overthrown the arbitration admits to randomly choosing a winner the decision was obtained via fraud the decision is contrary to public policy Mandatory arbitration decisions are much easier to get overthrown because you have an AUTOMATIC right to review the case in a court system in which they will look at the case from scratch Mediation similar to arbitration except it is not binding Full faith and credit clause says that each state must respect the laws and judicial decisions of the other 50 states Privileges and Immunities clause says that states can not discriminate against residents of other states Supremacy clause says that federal law trumps state laws and a state law can not contradict a federal law but can supplement it Preemption says that the federal law is not only supreme but the ONLY law Contract clause says that no state shall pass a law impairing an obligation of contracts Dormant commerce clause says when states are regulating the police powers their laws must not interfere with interstate commerce Lecture 6 August 29 Bill of rights protects many civil liberties but NONE of these rights are ABSOLUTE and the amendments ONLY apply to the government First amendment freedom of speech freedom of the press freedom of religion Freedom of speech verbal and non verbal Commercial speech advertisements etc gets less protection under the 1st amendment Freedom of the press government can not enforce a prior restraint Establishment clause government can not establish a set religion or show favoritism to any certain religion over another religion Free exercise clause your right to practice religion as you wish Second Amendment right to bear arms Due Process of Law government must give citizens fair treatment comes up under the 5 14 amendments Equal protection clause government can not discriminate against people unfairly comes up under the 14th amendment