Com360: The U.S. Legal System

Power Point Presentations for Cal Poly Pomona COM 360

Based on J.D. Zelezny’s “Communications Law”

Copyright © 2008-2014 by Mariusz Ozminkowski

What is Law? Law is a body of rules enacted by public

officials in a legitimate manner and backed by the force of the state

Law is a body of rules of conduct governing the relationship between members of society (assures order and predictability).

Law Rules are enacted by public officials. Law must be enacted in a legitimate manner

Law is backed by the force of the state. There can be no law without sanctions.

Sources of Law Constitutional Law: U.S.

Constitution is the ultimate (final, fundamental) source of law in the United States (as state constitutions are in the individual states).

Statutory Law Administrative Executive Orders

Legal systems Most nations today follow one of two major legal

traditions:

Civil Law (Roman Law or Continental law)

Common Law (Anglo-American Law)

Legal systems today

Civil Law (from Latin: ius civile, the law applicable to all Roman citizens; Roman Law)

Origins in Ancient Greece, 6th Century BCE Expanded and perfected by the Romans in the

next several centuries; codified by the Emperor Justinian in the sixth century CE.

The era of Enlightenment produced comprehensive, systematic national legal codes, especially France’s Civil Code (known as the Napoleonic Code) of 1804.

They are the models of today’s civil law systems.

The Common Law

The Common Law was conceived in 1066 and born of a union between older Saxon law and the custom of the Norman conquerors.

The Common Law was nurtured in London lawcourts by judges and barristers.

The Common Law spread only by conquest and colonization: no one ever accepted it freely

Common Law: The role of precedent

The common law is often created and refined by judges

When there is no authoritative statement of the law, judges have the authority and duty to make law by creating precedent.

The body of precedent is called "common law" and it binds future decisions (this principle is known as stare decisis: to abide by decided cases)

Judicial review The right of the federal courts to declare laws of

Congress and acts of the executive branch void if they are judged to be in conflict with the Constitution

Established in: Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Chief Justice Marshall in 1803

“It is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular cases, must of necessity expound and interpret that rule.” 1803

The Structure of the Courts

Jurisdiction: the power of a court to decide a dispute

Hierarchy jurisdiction Subject matter jurisdiction Territorial jurisdiction

International

Subject matter Courts of general jurisdiction (state or

federal)(the limitation is mainly territorial)

Courts of limited jurisdiction (legislative):set up by Congress for special purposes over some specialized areas (e.g., bankruptcy, taxes, immigration, military)

Territorial / Geographical

Courts are authorized to hear and decide disputes arising within a specified geographical jurisdiction

All types of courts are divided into geographical areas

(The Supreme Court is the exception)

Federal courts jurisdiction To resolve legal disputes that arise under the

laws passed by Congress and federal agencies, or the U.S. Constitution

To resolve disputes between citizens of different states (diversity-of-citizenship cases), usually covers state laws

Hierarchical The Supreme Court The “inferior courts”

District (trial) courts

Appellate courts

Courts of the original jurisdiction

District courts (94) are courts of the original jurisdiction. They have the authority to try a case and decide it.

In California the equivalent of District Courts are Superior Courts (58)

Courts of Appeals Courts of Appeals have appellate jurisdiction: they have

the power to review cases which have been already decided by lower courts.

In U.S. – 12 Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals (11 multi-state +

one in D.C.), 1 Federal Circuit (nationwide) for specialized cases In California – 6 Courts of Appeals

U.S. Courts of Appeals

Getting to Court

Civil action: Action brought to enforce, redress, or protect private rights. All that does not fall into category of criminal action.

Criminal action: Action brought to punish crimes. Crime is a violation of penal law.

Civil cases It must be JUSTICIABLE.

There must be a real and substantial controversy. It cannot be academic, theoretical, or moot.

Moot case: already solved or withdrawn Remedy: the means to redress an injury or

enforce a right

Civil cases STANDING TO SUE. A concept utilized to determine if a party

has sufficient stake in an otherwise justiciable controversy. (If the party is sufficiently affected).

Civil cases: terminology Complaint (+ answer/response) Plaintiff v. Defendant (litigants) Pleadings, Discovery, Motions Summary Judgment Trial: Preponderance of evidence Damages (money awards) Injunction (decided by judge)

Criminal cases: terminology

Arrest, Criminal Complaint, Arraignment Preliminary hearing (or Grand Jury) Judges ruling (or indictment) Motions (e.g., to suppress) Trial: Beyond reasonable doubt Conviction, Sentencing

Appeals: terminology Examining lower court’s actions

(but not the facts) Appellant, Appellee Legal Brief Affirm, Modify, Reverse, Remand Opinions: majority, concurring, dissenting,

plurality

Class action lawsuit A lawsuit on behalf of a group of persons

who were harmed (injured) in a similar way and for whom the same (similar) remedy can be sought and accepted.

A person can opt-out from a class action lawsuit

How a case gets to the Supreme Court? From: District Court (or state courts) to: The Appellate courts to: The Supreme Court…

BUT THE SUPREME COURT DOES NOT

HAVE TO HEAR ANY APPEAL IT DOES NOT WANT TO HEAR.

The case load… State courts: about 33,000,000 cases filed a year

(20m civil and 13m criminal) + 60,000,000 minor infractions (traffic etc.) District Courts: about 300,000 lawsuits annually Almost 50,000 are appealed to one of the Circuit

Courts of Appeals. U.S. Supreme Court receives approximately 7,000

petitions for a hearing. Only about one hundred are granted a hearing.

A writ of certiorari (cert.)

When the Supreme Court agrees to hear a case it issues a writ of certiorari an order to the lower court requiring the latter to produce a certified record of a particular case.

Practically: an agreement to hear a case.

The selection of cases

When a U. S. court of appeals

a. has rendered a decision in conflict with the decision of another United States court of appeals on the same matter; or

When a U. S. court of appeals

b. has decided a federal question in a way in conflict with a state court of the last resort; or

When a U. S. court of appeals

c. has so far departed from the accepted and usual judicial proceedings as to call for an exercise of this Court’s power of supervision

When a state court of last resort

has decided a federal question in a way in conflict with the decision of another state’s court of the last resort or of a United States court of appeals.

When a state court or U.S. court of appeals

a. has an important question of federal law which has not been, but should be settled by this Court;

b. has decided question in a way in conflict with applicable decisions of this Court.

The Rule of Four: At least four justices must agree on

accepting a case for a review.

US Supreme Court original jurisdiction

to consider the facts and the law of a case without it having first been passed on by a lower court.

the only original jurisdiction cases commonly handled by the Supreme Court are disputes between two or more U.S. states (e.g., boundary lines, water claims, etc.)