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| laws passed by legislatures |
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| legal traditions developed through court cases going back to england |
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| disputes between individuals or organizations that do not involve law-breaking |
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| a plantiff pays nothing in attorney fees unless the attorney wins an award |
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| pain and suffering awards |
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| added compensation for the victim of a crime, beyond actual costs for medical care and lost wages |
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| multiples of the actual damages found; designed to deter and punish persons or firms found to be at fault |
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| multiples of the actual damages found; designed to deter and punish persons or firms found to be at fault |
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| state courts' authoirty to interpret their own state's constituional guarantees beyond those in the US constitution |
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| Forum, venue, court Shopping |
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| common strategy of lawyers; it involves the serach for a court that will be most favorably dispoed to one's argument |
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| friend of the court- a person or group not directly involved in a case who submits written arguments to the case |
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| Courts of limited jurisdiction |
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Definition
| courts that are concerned principally with traffic cases, small claims, divorces, and child custody, juvenile offenses, and misdemeanors |
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| a serious violation of criminal law that can bring a penaly of one year or more in prison |
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| cases that are handled informally at the bench in discussions with teh judge |
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| a case where a jury decides guilt or innoncences and the judge determines the sentence |
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| court in whihc two parties simply tell it to the judge without the need for lawyers |
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| specialty courts that deal with defendants facing minor charges, like county drug courts and domestic violence courts |
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| trial courts of general jurisdiction |
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Definition
| courts that handle major civil and criminal cases arising out of statutes, common law, and state constituions |
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| cases brought by government prosecutors against persons or organizations charged with law-breaking |
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| attorneys provided by the state to those who could not otherwise afford an attorney |
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| discretionary jurisdiction |
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| state law dictates types of cases appellate courts must hear on appeal |
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| appointment retention election (Missouri plan) |
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| a method of judicial selection in which a nomination committee sends names o the governor; who then makes the appoitment |
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| the sum of all the goods and services produced in the United States in a year; a measure of hte size of the US economy |
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| taxes that require high-income groups to pay a larger percentage of their income in taxes than lower income groups |
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| a dollar per thousand dollars of assessed value of property; used to calculate a property owner's tax bill |
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| taxes that take a larger share of the income of low-income groups than of high-income groups |
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| taxes that require all icome groups to pay thes ame percentage of their income taxes |
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| unemployment compesnation |
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Definition
| payment received by unemployed workers, who become unemployed through no fault of their own |
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| a form of insurance held by employers that provides medical care and compensation for employees who are injured in the course of employment |
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| excludes a certain portion of the value of owern-occupied homes from property taxes |
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| limits rate of increase in expenditures to the cost of living or consumer price index |
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| limits the proportion of an individual's income that is used to pay property taxes; designed to protect poor property owners from losing their home as property values escalate |
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| limits the amount of money a gvoernment can borrow to a proportion of the tax base |
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Term
| gerneral obligations bonds |
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Definition
| bonds issued by governments that pledge their full fiath and credit including tax revenues to repayment |
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Term
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Definition
| bonds issued by governments for specific projects and backed only by whatever revenues the projects generate |
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Term
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Definition
| govenrment onds sold to assist traditional services such as road maintenance schools, law enforcement, prisons, parks, and running of gvoernment offices |
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