Law & the Courts Ch. 13 The Nature of Law At a very basic - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Law & the Courts

• Ch. 13

The Nature of Law

• At a very basic level, “the law” has to

distinguish & categorize the many ways people can harm each other

– Examples

• Important distinctions:
• 1. Civil vs. criminal law
• 2. State vs. federal crimes
• 3. Felonies vs. misdemeanors

Civil Law

• Torts (wrongs) done by one person to another

– Liability, not guilt – Trials award damages, rarely punishment – Lower standard of proof than criminal cases

• “Preponderance of the evidence”

– Examples: defamation, fraud, wrongful death

Criminal Law

• Torts deemed so serious that they harm the

whole society

– Trials find defendants “guilty” or “not guilty” – Punishment can include jail time, death – High standard of proof – “Beyond a reasonable doubt”

• In the US, there is not one legal system – there

are at least 51

– State & federal laws – States have jurisdiction over much of what happens purely inside their borders – The federal gov’t generally has jurisdiction over interstate matters

Felonies & Misdemeanors

• Crimes fall into 1 of 2 general categories,

depending on their seriousness.

– Misdemeanors: crimes punishable by 1 year of jail

• r less
• Ex: assault, DUI, theft, voter fraud, illegal use of stink

bombs

– Felonies: crimes punishable by > 1 year in prison

• Ex: murder, kidnapping, bribery, DUI with bodily injury

• The criminal law must:

1. Compartmentalize bad behavior AND

• 2. Draw specific distinctions between similar

actions

• Like killing someone

– What’s murder?

• First degree? Second degree? Huh?

– Manslaughter?

• The “details” of a criminal case get sorted out

at a trial

– A trial is about 2 things:

• 1. Law
• 2. Facts (evidence)

– Judge’s role is mostly that of a referee

• So, consider a killing:

– Murder requires the intent to kill, or for the killing to occur during another felony (ex: robbery) – First degree murder requires premeditation; the intent to kill formulated beforehand – Killing without intent generally falls into the manslaughter family of crimes

• In a criminal trial, lawyers for both sides try to

convince the jury to agree with them

– The judge mostly functions as a referee

• Makes sure procedure is followed

– Fair process = fair outcome

• Evidence, testimony, rules, etc.

– Example: automobile searches

– The jury decides what the facts are

Structure of Court System

US Supreme Court State supreme courts State appeals courts State trial courts US Courts of Appeals US District Courts

• Note the 2 major divisions:
• 1. State and federal courts
• 2. Trial and appellate courts
• Appeal: a request to a higher court to

address mistakes made at trial

• 2006:

– 101,000,000 appeals requested – 168,000 granted

• 2 granted for every 1000 requested
• Why so few?

• Remember: fair process = fair outcome

– Even if it’s wrong!

• Appeals are generally granted if and only if

the trial judge made legal or procedural errors

– Violated Constitutional rights – Applied wrong law

• 2 things that don’t get you an appeal:
• 1. Jury “mistake”
• 2. New evidence (usually)
• There’s a strong tendency to preserve jury

verdicts, even if they’re shown to be wrong later

• One thing this system DOES do is, over time,

fills lots and lots of “holes” in the legal system

– What’s an “unreasonable” search? – What’s “effective counsel”?

• Over many years and many cases, some issues

get taken off the table, while new ones emerge

• Internet crime

– Especially pornography & child pornography – “Sexting”???

• Terrorism
• Juvenile justice

3 Eras of Supreme Court Decisions

• 1st Era (1798 – 1860)

– Key issue: limits on national government power – Key cases:

• Marbury v. Madison
• McCulloch v. Maryland

• 2nd Era (1865-1930s)

– Key issue: government authority over economy – Key case: US v. Carolene Products

• Commerce clause
• “Rational basis” test

• 3rd Era (1950s – present?)

– Key issue: government authority over personal conduct

• Privacy, contraception, abortion, flag burning,

surveillance, discrimination, obscenity, …