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Definition
| a governing document adoted by the people |
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Term
| What does the constitution do |
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Definition
1. establishes the framework for the operation of the government.
2. defines the powers of government
3. guarantees the fundamental rights of the people |
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| What 2 governments have a constitution |
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Definition
| all law that has been adopted by a legislative body or the people |
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Definition
| constitutions, statutes, ordinances, regulations |
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| laws passed by legislative bodies |
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| actions of administrative bodies that have the force of law |
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| the process of finding the law that applies to a client's problem. |
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| process of determining how the law applies to the problem |
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| the body of enforceable rules that govern individual and group conduct in a society |
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| establishes the structure of the state government that defines the powers and limits of teh authority of the state government and the fundamental rights of the citizens of the state. |
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Term
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Definition
laws passed by legislative bodies that declare the rights and duties or command or prohibit certain conduct. it is any law that is passed by any legislative body (federal, state, local)
such laws are referred to as any of the following: acts, codes, statutes, ordinances
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Definition
| body of law created by administrative agencies composed of the rules, regulations, orders and decisions promulgated by the administrative agencies when carrying out their duties. |
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Definition
| the law created by the courts in the absence of enacted law |
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Definition
| includes law created by courts in the absence of enacted law and also the law created when courts interpret or apply enacted law. |
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Definition
| resolve disputes in society that arise frim specific fact situations. The creation of new law and the interpretation and application of existing law by the courts becomes new law itself. |
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Definition
| the result reached by a court |
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Definition
| the court's written decision which includes the reasons for the decision. |
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| the extent of a court's authority to hear and resolve disputes |
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Definition
| the authority of a court over the parties to resolve a legal dispute involving the parties. |
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Term
| subject matter jurisdiction |
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Definition
| court's authority over the types and kinds of cases it may hear and decide. |
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| 2 types of courts in both the federal and state court system |
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Definition
| courts of general jurisdiction and courts of limited jurisdiction |
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| Courts of General Jurisdiction |
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Definition
| courts that have the authority to hear and decide any matter brought before them. |
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| Courts of limited jurisdiction |
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Definition
| court that are limited in the types of cases they can hear and decide. |
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Term
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Definition
| exist when more than one court has the authority to deal with the same subject matter |
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Definition
| the law itself. composed of 2 main categories: enacted law and case law |
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| 3 basic levels of the federal court system: |
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Definition
| Trial Courts, Court of Appeals, United States Supreme Court |
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Definition
| court where the matter is heard and decided |
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| United States Supreme Court |
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Definition
| the final court of appeals in the federal system. highest court in the land. party who disagrees with the decision of the court of appeals must ask the Supreme Court to review it. |
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| Petition for Writ of Certiorari |
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Definition
| a request of a party asking the Supreme Court to review an appellate court decision. |
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| State Court system is composed of 3 basic levels of courts: |
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Definition
| trial courts, court of appeals, state Supreme Court |
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Term
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Definition
| an earlier court decision on an issue that applies to govern or guide a subsequent court in its determination of an identical or similar issue based on identical or similar facts |
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Definition
| a case that is precedent. when a previous case has the same or nearly the same facts/issues as the current case. |
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Definition
| principle of case law that requires a court to follow a previous decision of that court or a higher court when the current decision involves issues and facts similar to those involved in the previous decision. this doctrine doesn't apply when there is good reason not to follow it. |
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Term
| 3 reasons not to follow Doctrine of Stare Decisis: |
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Definition
1. the earlier decision has become outdated becuase of changes conditions or policies
2. the ligislature has enacted legislation that has overruled the decision of an earlier court
3. the earlier decision was poorly reasoned or has produced undesirable results. |
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Term
| United States Constitution separates the powers to govern between what 2 governments: |
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Definition
| state and federal governments |
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| the separation of powers between federal and state governments |
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| Article VI of the Constitution provides that between federal and state law, federal law is supreme. |
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| anything a court may rely on when deciding an issue. includes the law and any non law source that a court may look to in order to reach a decision. |
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Definition
| any source a court may rely on that is NOT the law, it is not primary authority. consists of legal resources that summarize, compile, explain, comment on, interpret or in some other way address the law. should not be relied on when there is mandatory authority. |
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Term
| Uses for Secondary Authority |
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Definition
| to obtain a background or overall understanding of a specific area of law, locate primary authority (law) on a research question, to be relied on by the court when reaching a decision. can be used to support primary authority. can be used when there is no primary authority. |
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Term
| Examples of secondary authority |
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Definition
| ALR, treatises, digests, law reviews, Restatements of the Law. |
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Term
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Definition
| notes and comments on the law. American Law Reports is one of the well known annotations |
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Term
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Definition
| include definitions of legal terms and usually a citation to the authority for the definition |
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Definition
| scholarly publications published by law schools |
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Definition
| multivolume set of books that provides a summary of the law |
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Term
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Definition
| published by the American Law Institute, presents a variety of topics and discusses what the law is on each topic or what it should be. |
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Term
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Definition
| single or multi volume work written by an expert in an area that covers that entire area of law. |
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Term
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Definition
| any source that a court must rely on or follow when reaching a decision. an example would be the decision of a higher court in the jurisdiction on the same or similar issue. |
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Term
| 3 step process to determine if enacted law applies to govern a legal question: |
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Definition
| 1. Identify all laws that may govern the question. 2. Identify the elements of the law/statute. 3. Apply the facts of the case to the elements. |
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Term
| Conditions for a court opinion to be mandatory authority: |
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Definition
| 1. the court opinion must be on point. 2. the court opinion must be written by a higher court in that jurisdiction. |
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Definition
| any authority a court is not bound to consider or follow but may consider or follow when reaching a decision. |
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