Chapter One

Objectives

• To understand the purposes of law.

• To understand the sources of law.

• To understand the American judicial system.

• To understand how one researches law.

What is law???• Definition of 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.

• Types of law– Positive laws

– Negative laws

Americans have a remarkable faith in law!!

• Land claims and boundaries

• Civil rights litigation

• Laws arising from industrialization

• Laws arising from mass production

The United States is a litigious nation! We all sue!!• One thing to remember: In

order for there to be a case, someone must sue– Seems pretty

straightforward…but…

• If no one brings a lawsuit, the courts cannot just reach out and take a question

Refresher Civics 101: How does government work?• Legislative branch makes the laws

• Executive branch carries out the laws

• Judicial branch interprets the law– Law can come from all

three of these branches,but we will focus onjudiciary mostly

The judicial branch: Two levels of courts• Trial courts: the first court that usually

gets to hear a case; establishes facts• Appellate courts: responsible for

establishing precedents based on the cases that come to it– Appellate courts DO NOT decide factual

issues!– We will focus on appellate decisions

primarily

Trial courts vs. appellate courts

Trial Courts Appellate Courts

Purpose Fact-finding Precedent-setting decisions

Who Decides Jury/Judge Panel of judges (3 or more)

Two “streams” of courts: Federal Courts• Divided into three levels

– District courts: the federal trial court; each state has at least one (CA has four)

– Circuit courts: 12 in the U.S., hear appeals from the federal district courts (CA is in the Ninth Circuit, along with AK, AZ, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, WA, and GU)

• No juries, since not deciding facts

– Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the U.S.• Nine old men and women • Appointed by the President, confirmed by the

Senate, appointed for life• Most of its cases are

discretionary: justices pickand choose what cases theywant to take (grant cert by the rule of four)– Some cases are original

jurisdiction (SC is the firstcourt to hear the case), butmost are appeals cases

The current JusticesGinzberg Souter Thomas Breyer

Scalia Stevens

CJ Rehnquist

O’Connor Kennedy

Two “streams” of courts: State Courts

• Vary state by state• CA divided into three levels

– Superior courts: the trial court; CA has 58, one per county

• Two kinds: General jurisdiction (damages more than $25,000) and Limited jurisdiction (damages $25,000 or less); plus other varied kinds of actions

– Appeals courts: CA has six districts, which divide up the 58 superior courts

– California Supreme Court: Chief Justice and six Associate Justices, with 12-year terms, elected by ballot but without opposition (if not re-elected, governor fills)

Jurisdiction: shared governance, state and federal• Federal courts: federal questions and diversity jurisdiction

– E.g., copyright, where the federal government has “preempted the field” meaning that no state law is valid, all federal law

– Where constitutional law is implicated– Diversity of citizenship: involving citizens of two

different states to provide a neutral forum• State courts: residual jurisdiction, which is anything not

covered by the fed– Murder and robbery fall here– Can also rule on some federal questions

Where do we get the law?• Constitution: supreme law of the

land; all laws must agree• Common law: made by courts and

judges, based on precedent• Statutes: laws written by legislatures

at all levels• Administrative law: rules by admin

agencies (FCC, FTC)• Equity: alternative to law where

there is no adequate legal remedy (like injunctions)

Civil vs. Criminal law• Criminal law: “the people” bring charges against

offenses against society as a whole (like rape, murder, theft)– High burden of proof: guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt”

(90%+)

• Civil law: controversy between twoparties, where one claims to havebeen harmed by another (contractdisputes, property issues)– Lower burden of proof:

“preponderance of the evidence”(50%+)

Burden of proof: in civil and criminal cases• Who has to prove what, and at what level

of precision

0% 50% 100%

Noevidence

Preponderanceof the evidence

50% +

Civil cases Beyondall doubt

Beyond areasonable

doubt

Criminal cases1A

cases

Clear andconvincingevidence

Terms for courtroom!!!

• Tort: any civil wrong that creates a right for victim to sue perpetrator– If I slug a student on the arm, that’s a tort—

battery!

• Examples:– Tort action for negligence– Tort of medical malpractice– Tort of products liability

Terms for courtroom!!!

• Defendant or tortfeasor: the person who commits the wrong

• Plaintiff: victim of the defendant’s actions

• Plantiff vs. Defendant (Ex: New York Times vs. Sullivan Times vs. U.S.)

The court is in session!!!

Plaintiff files complaint

Defendant served withcomplaint and summons

Defendant files answer to complaint(can deny and/or counterclaim)

Discovery

Pretrial conference,possible settlement

Trial

Verdict or Judgment

Appeal?

If defendant defaults:judgment

Path of a civil case

Damages• Damages: what the winner gets; several

kinds– General: no specific dollar value

(embarrassment)– Special/compensatory: dollar value (lost

wages)– Punitive: intended to punish perpetrator

(often huge!

Finding the law online• Lexis-Nexis Universe (http://www.lexis-nexis.com/universe

) and Findlaw (http://www.findlaw.com)• Regulatory agencies: Federal Communications

Commission (http://www.fcc.gov) and Federal Trade Commission (http://www.ftc.gov)

• Library of Congress’ legislative information site, Thomas (http://thomas.loc.gov)

• Cornell’s Legal Information Institute (http://www.law.cornell.edu)

• Official website of the federal courts (http://www.uscourts.gov)

How to read a case citationNew York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964).

Name of case(usually in italics)

Federal Reporters: • U.S., L.Ed., S.Ct. for Supreme Court • F.3d for appeals courts • F.Supp. for district courtsState abbreviations vary. Preceding the year will sometimes be an abbreviation denoting the court: e.g., “9th Cir.” or “9CA” means the case came from the 9th Circuit court of appeals of the federal system, CA’s circuit, located in San Francisco.Another reporter that media attorneys rely upon is the Media Law Reporter, abbreviated Med. L. Rptr.

Volume no.of reporter

Nameof reptr.

Page no.case starts on

Year casewas decided

Conclusion• Law in the U.S. comes from constitutions,

statues, administrative agencies, executive orders, common law, and equity.

• Appellate courts make precedent-setting decisions that interpret the meaning of law; trial courts are responsible for deciding factual issues such as guilt or innocence.

• Criminal law prohibits antisocial behavior; civil law involves disputes between two private parties.

Chapter One