Chapter 1

1. Regardless of how such rules are created, they all have one feature in common: they establish rights, duties, and privileges that are consistent with the values and beliefs of a society or its ruling group.

2. Primary sources of the Law include:

The U.s. Constitution of the various states.

Statues, or laws, passed by Congress and by state legislatures.

Regulations created by administrative agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Case law (court decisions)

3. Common Law: the body of law developed from custom or judicial decisions in English and U.S. courts, not attributable to a legislature. Precedent: a court decision that furnished an example or authority for deciding subsequent cases involving identical or similar legal principles or facts.

5. State decisis( two aspects:

Decisions made by a higher court are binding on lower courts

A court should not overturn its own precedents unless there is a strong reason to do so

*Precendents may be dropped because of social or technological changes.

*Brown vs. Board of Education: white and blacks did not have equal education opportunities. Separate educational facilities- conclusion

10. preemption: Congress chooses to act exclusively in a concurrent area.

11. federal forms of government: national government and states share sovereign power.

*Police powers-fire and building codes, antidiscrimination laws, parking regulations, zoning regulations, licensing requirements

12. Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution permits Congress “to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations and among the several states, and with the Indian Tribes”.

13. To prevent states from establishing laws and regulations that would interfere with trade and commerce among the state, the Constitution expressly delegated to the national government the power to regulate interstate commerce.

14. Federal (national) legistlation governs almost every major activity conducted by businesses –from hiring and firing to workplace safety, competitive practices; and financing.

16. The amendment passed in 1868 after the Civil War, provides, in part, that no State shall…deprive any person of life, liberty and the property, without due process of law.

20.The Bill of Rights limited only the powers of the national government. Over time, the United State Supreme Court “incorporated” most of these rights into protections against state actions afforded by the 14th amendment to the Constitution.

22. Bill of Rights: adopted in 1791 and embody a series of protections for the individual against various types of interference by the federal government.

23.Under the 14th amendment, a state may not “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”. The United States Supreme Court has used the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment to make the equal protection clause applicable to the federal government as well.

24. The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures of persons or property.

*The 5th guarantees the rights to indictment by grand jury, to due process of law, and to fair payments when private property is taken for public use. Also prohibits compulsory self-incrimination and double jeopardy.

Chapter 3

1. Jurisdiction over subject matter is a limitation on the types of cases a court can hear. In both the federal and state court systems, there are courts of general jurisdiction and courts of limited jurisdiction. An example of a court of general jurisdiction is a state trial court or a federal district court. An example of a state court of limited jurisdiction is a probate court. Probate courts are state courts that handle only matters relating to the transfer of a person’s assets and obligations after that person’s death, including matters relating to the custody and guardianship of children. An example of a federal court of limited subject-matter jurisdiction is a bankruptcy court.

-The highest level of the three-tiered model of the federal court system is the United States Supreme Court.

2. in both the federal and state court systems, a court’s subject-matter jurisdiction can be limited not only but the subject of the lawsuit but also by the amount in controversy, by whether a case is a felony or a misdemeanor or by whether the proceeding is a trial or an appeal.

-The court can review any case decided by any of the federal courts of appeals, and it also has appellate authority over some cases decided in the state courts.

5. rule of four- a rule of the united states Supreme court under which the Court will not issue a writ of certiorari unless at least four justices approve of the decision to issue the writ.

-answer: defandants response to the plaintiff’s complaint.

6. Thousands of cases are filed with the Supreme Court each year; yet it hears, on average, fewer than one hundred of these cases

-statue of limitations- (a state or federal statute that sets the maximum time period during which a certain action can be brought or rights enforced) as an affirmative defense.

7. Specialized U.S. Courts

Bankruptcy Courts

Courts of Federal Claims

Courts of International Trade

Tax Court

-discovery prevents surprises at trial by giving parties access to evidence that might otherwise be hidden.

8. At the federal level, the equivalent of a state trial court of general jurisdiction is the district court. There are ninety-four federal judicial districts. U.S. district courts have original jurisdiction in federal matters.

9. In the federal court system, there are thirteen U.S. courts of appeals – also referred to as U.S. circuit courts of appeals.

-motion for judgment n.o.v- a motion requesting the court to grant judgment in favor of the party making the motion on the ground that jury’s verdict against him or her was unreasonable.

11. Voir dire- old French meaning “to speak the truth”. In the Legal language, the process in which the attorneys question prospective jurors to learn about their backgrounds, attitudes, biases, and other characteristics that may affect their ability to serve as impartial jurors.

12. alternative dispute resolution (ADR)-other ways instead of traditional; negotiation, mediation, and arbitration are forms of ADR

-Methods of ADR range from the parties sitting down together and attemptin to work out their differences to multinational corporations agreeing to resolve a dispute through a formal hearing before a panel of experts.

-more than 90% of all cases are settled before trial through some form of ADR

-simplest form of ADR- negotiation

-mediation-third party involved

13. Biggest advantages of mediation is that it is not as adversarial as litigation. The mediation process tends to reduce the hostility between the disputants, allowing them to resume their former relationship without bad feelings.

Pamphlet:

(Supreme Court:

-does not retry cases on appeal.

-no witnesses, juries or testimony

-to qualify for election, one must have been licensed to practice law for eight years and have lived in the appellate district for two years.

(Court of appeal:

-fourteen judges, two elected from each of seven appellate districts, serve.

-sit in three-member panels

-panels do not sit permanently in one location but move about the state to hear appeal

-serve a term of eight years

(circuit courts:

-civil matters more than $4000

-jurisdiction of capital offenses and felonies, dissolution or marriage, adoption, termination of parental rights, land disputes, and contested probate cases.

-power to issue injunctions, writs of prohibition, writs of mandamus, and to hear appeals from District

Court and administrative agencies.

(district court:

-“the people’s court”

- limited jurisdiction-hear only certain types of cases

-juvenile matters, city and county ordiances, misdemeanors, traffic offenses, probates of wills, felony preliminaries, and civil cases the amount is less than $5000

-matters less than $1500-Small Claims commission

-to qualify as a district judge, one must have a law degree, be a licensed attorney for at least two years, and live in the district for two years.

(Family court projects:

-ten family court projects in the commonwealth

(drug courts

-1993, established

(court clerks

-responsible for the custody, control, and safe storage of Circuit Court and District Court records.

-term of six years

Chapter 4

1. torts- wrongful actions; a breach of a legal duty that proximately causes harm or injury to another

2. through tort law, society tries to ensure that those who have suffered injuries as a result of the wrongful conduct of others receive compensation from the wrongdoers

-purpose of a tort law is to provide remedies for the invasion of various protected interests. Society recognizes an interest in personal physical safety, and tort laws provides rememdies for acts that cause physical injury or interfere with physical sercurity and freedom of movement.

3.special damages compensate the plaintiff for quantifiable monetary losses (medical, losts wages and benefits)

-general damages-nonmonetary aspects of the harm suffered such as pain and suffering

-punitive damages are appropriate only when the defendant’s conduct was particularly egregious

-*consent

-*self-defense

-*defense of others

-*defense of property

-assault-any word or action intended to make another person fearful of immediate physical harm; a reasonably believable threat.

-battery-the unexcused, harmful or offensive, intentional touching of another

4.Critics of the current tort law system contend that it encourages trivial and unfounded lawsuits, which clog the courts, and is unnecessarily costly

5. Critics wish to reduce both the number of tort cases brought each year and the amount of damages awarded.

-making a negative statement about another person is not defamation unless the statement is false and represents something as a fact

6. punitive damages are available mainly in intentional tort actions and only rarely in negligence lawsuits

7. a person will not be liable for defamatory statements because he or she has a qualified, or conditional, privilege. If the statement made in good faith and the publication is limited to those who have a legitimate interest in the communication, the statements fall within the area of qualified privilege.

-public figures: fair game, and false and defamatory statements about them that appear in the media will not constitute demotion unless the statements are made with actual malice

-actual malice: knowledge of falsity or a reckless disregard of the truth.

9. fraudulent misrepresentation

10. Necessary for wrongful interference with a contractual relationship:

11.-a valid, enforacable contract must exist between two parties

-a third party must know that this contract exists

-the third party must intentionally induce a party to breach the contract

12. wrongful interference with a business relationship- unreasonably interfering with another’s business in their attempts to gain a share of the market

13. Unintentional Torts (negligence)

-That the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff

-That the defendant breached that duty

-That the plaintiff suffered a legally recognizable injury

-That the defendant’s breach caused the plaintiff’s injury

*people are free to act as they please so long as their actions do not infringe on the interests of others.

*In determining whether a duty of care has been breached, the courts ask how a reasonable person would have acted in the same circumstances.

Strict Liability:

-liability without fault

-involves acts that depart from a reasonable standard of care and cause injuries

-caused by abnormally dangerous or exceptional activity is one application of this doctrine

-persons who keep dangerous animals

Online Defamation:

Liability of Internet Service Providers: those who repeat or otherwise disseminate defamatory statements made by others can be held liable for defamation- newspapers, radio and television stations can be subject to liability for defamatory

Under the federal Communications Decency Act of 1996-

Copyright infringement:

Determining if it is fair use:

-the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes

-the nature of the copyrighted work

-the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole

-the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work

No Electronic Theft Act of 1997- extended criminal liability for the piracy of copyrighted materials to person who exchange unauthorized electronic copies of books, magazines, movies, or musi for personal use.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act: protect copyright holders

Chapter 6

Differences between criminal and civil crime

-burden of proof

Civil law: preponderance of the evidence (who has the best evidence)

Criminal law: beyond a reasonable doubt (unanimity is the key)

The main difference however is who the law is aimed at.
Theoretically criminal law is a considered to be harming all members of society. Consequently, the victim of the criminal case is all of society; hence the case is brought on behalf of the police and prosecution on behalf of society. In contrast to this, civil/private law, the offence is committed against the individual

Corporate criminal liability: