Introduction to the American legal system: We’ll start with a history lesson of the law, a description of the structure of the law (branches of law and an in depth look at the court system), and then we’ll delve into the following areas of law:

Constitutional Law Criminal Law Tort Law Contract Law Legal Ethics Civil Procedure

I want to see you guys do awesome in this class and I’m here for any questions you may have – you can email me at jmcelligott@kaplan.edu and I’ll have an answer for you right away or come to office hours on Thursday nights from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

Here’s to a wicked good term!

Books for this course: An Introduction to the American Legal System by John M. Scheb and John

M. Scheb II; published by Delmar/Cengage Learning, 2002; ISBN: 0-76668-2759-3.

Rules for Writers (6th ed., 2009). Author: Diana Hacker; Published by Bedford/St. Martin's. ISBN: 0-312-66481-8.

Each chapter of these books can be accessed under the “Doc Sharing” tab in the classroom. Click on the “eTextbook” category under Doc Sharing for the Scheb textbook.

Course Description/Course Outcomes Course Calendar with Assignments Grading Criteria/Grading Scale Policies: Plagiarism, 5th Week Policy, Late Policy Incomplete Policy Writing Center Seminars, Discussion Boards, and Netiquette

Campus Tour – From your KU Campus Page (where your classes are listed), click on “Campus Tour” in the column in the right column under “Quick Links”; and

Navigating the Classroom – In the LS100 classroom, click on “Course Home” in the column to the left of the screen and click on the “Navigation” icon.

Be sure to use the column to the left of the classroom – click on Course Home or the Unit you want to go into; then you’ll see all the icons for Intro, Reading, Discussion, Seminar, Assignments, and Quiz;

Click on the “To Do” list and print it to be sure you hit all your assignments;

Click on the drop-down menu to the top right of the classroom when you’re in a unit to go through all the required assignments.

Post an Introduction (click on the “Introduction” topic under Unit 1); Reading: Click on "Reading" icon in Unit 1, where it tells you to read

Chapter 1, “Foundations of American Law,” in An Introduction to the American Legal System e-book in Doc Sharing;

Print the Key Terms in the Reading Section and once you’ve learned these terms (which we’ll go over tonight in seminar), click on the “Practice Your Vocabulary” quiz to test your knowledge of these terms;

Complete the Unit 1 Quiz (we’ll go over some practice quiz questions in class tonight);

Respond to the Unit 1 Discussion Question with a substantive, detailed response and at least two additional posts to provide substantive feedback to your classmates.

Begin the Unit 1 written assignment (due by the end of Unit 2, April 5th).

Choose a historical event that has influenced legal history and discuss it in a one to two page, double-spaced, 12 point font paper. For good ideas for a topic, check out the following websites as a starting point to find a case that interests you and describe the story behind the case and explain what the Court held in your own words. Be sure to cite your sources.

“Landmark Cases of the U.S. Supreme Court” at: http://www.streetlaw.org/en/landmark.aspx for examples of landmark cases such as Brown v. Board of Education (1954), Miranda v. Arizona (1966) and Gideon v. Wainwright (1963);

“Supreme Court History Expanding Civil Rights: Landmark Cases” at: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark.html (click on “View All Landmark Cases at the bottom for even more cases to consider);

“Ten Important Supreme Court Decisions in Black History” at: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmsupremecourt.html for a great list of key cases such as Loving v. Virginia (1967); and

“Key Supreme Court Cases for Civil Rights” at: http://www.civilrights.org/judiciary/supreme-court/key-cases.html for excellent cases on civil rights and discrimination.

To effectively present or argue a case or point in the law, it’s essential to support your statements and arguments with citations to cases, statutes, and other reliable sources. When writing papers and responding to Discussion Questions in your classes, follow the motto, “Show me the Law!” (just like the Jerry Maguire movie motto, “Show me the Money!”)

The rule for avoiding plagiarism is whenever you use words from a source, put quotation marks around those words and cite your source. In many cases of plagiarism, students do not intend to plagiarize, but take notes or copy and paste material from a source and don’t bother to keep track of the citation for the source. Plagiarism is a serious offense, whether it’s done with intent to copy or by mistake. See the “KU Plagiarism Policy” in Doc Sharing for more details on avoiding plagiarism.

Show Me the Law and Cite Your Source and you’ll be good to go!

American Psychological Association (APA) citation is required in psychology, social sciences, and similar disciplines. For your written assignment in Unit 2, here are some resources to help you get started with APA format:

See “Basic Guidelines for APA Citations” document in Doc Sharing in our classroom;

See Rules for Writers, Chapters 60 and 61 in Doc Sharing (click on the one that says “Writing APA Papers,” pages 476 – 528);

See the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) website at: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/ for info on In-Text Citations and then click on Reference Citations in the column to the left of the screen.

You might want to consider getting the “eazypaper” program for APA at: http://www.eazypaper.com/products.cfm (you can try a demo and a free trial) – it’s awesome!

“Law is a set of rules promulgated and enforced by government.” (Scheb & Scheb, p. 4)

Key Terms from Chapter 1:

Defendant: “A person charged with a crime or against whom a civil action has been filed” (Chapter 1 Key Terms from Unit 1 “Reading” section). A defendant in a criminal case is facing off against the prosecutor (district attorney) and in a civil case, against the plaintiff.

Due Process of Law: “Procedural and substantive rights of citizens against government actions that threaten the denial of life, liberty, and property.” (Key Terms). The right to due process is found in the Fifth Amendment, which provides, “No Person shall …. be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,” which protects our right to due process from the federal government and in the Fourteenth Amendment, which provides: “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,” which protects our right to due process from the State government. http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#.

Federalism: “The constitutional distribution of government power and responsibility between the national government and the states” (Key Terms). Our federal or national government deals with issues of national concern through legislation, regulations, and court decisions (such as Social Security Administration regulations, IRS regulations, immigration law, patent law), while our state governments deal with issues of local concern (family law – divorce, child custody, adoption; criminal law; traffic violations; workers’ compensation, most traffic accidents and other personal injury cases, etc.).

Lex Talionis: the law of retaliation. “The lex talionis is a law of equal and direct retribution: in the words of the Hebrew scriptures, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, an arm for an arm, a life for a life." http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GLOSSARY/LEXTAL.HTM. This theory of retaliation and retribution was found in the Code of Hummurabi, the first written legal code.

Natural Law: “Principles of human conduct believed to be ordained by God or nature, existing prior to and superseding human law” (Key Terms). The theory of natural law is a “philosophical concept – the idea that there is a set of principles of morality and justice that transcends the positive (written) law” (Scheb & Scheb, p. 4). Concepts of equality and fairness and reason exist in natural law and it is often referred to as a “higher law” to which our positive law should conform. “Natural law is derived from the concept that the entire universe is governed by cosmic laws on which human conduct should be based, and which can be deduced through reasoning and the moral sense of what is right or wrong.” http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/natural-law.html.

Plaintiff: “The party who started a legal proceeding” (Key Terms). The plaintiff is the one who brings a civil action against a defendant in a civil action, such as a tort case (personal injury case) or breach of contract action.

Positive Law: “The written law enforced by the government” (Key Terms). Positive law is human-made law, as opposed to natural law. It is law passed by the legislature or administrative agencies or the courts and enforced by the executive branch.

Rule of law: “The idea that law, not the discretion of officials, should govern public affairs.” (Chapter 1 Key Terms under “Reading” icon in Unit 1). Under the concept of rule of law, our rights and freedoms are protected and everyone is bound by the law – we are not subject to the discretion of those in power, such as a monarch or dictator. The “rule of law” can be viewed as a “legal-political regime under which the law restrains the government by promoting certain liberties and creating order and predictability regarding how a country functions. In the most basic sense, the rule of law is a system that attempts to protect the rights of citizens from arbitrary and abusive use of government power.” http://www.uiowa.edu/ifdebook/faq/Rule_of_Law.shtml.

Stare Decisis: “The principle that past decisions should stand as precedents for future decisions: To stand by decided matters” (Key Terms). Stare decisis is the concept of following precedent (previously decided relevant cases) and this is a key component of our common law system. For example, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the use of a German shepherd to carry out a robbery is the crime of “armed robbery,” a much more serious crime than robbery without a dangerous or deadly weapon because a trained German shepherd is considered a dangerous weapon when used by the defendant to scare the victim, much like using a gun or knife. Once the highest court in Massachusetts sets this precedent, all lower courts must follow this precedent in cases presenting relevant facts (such as if another defendant uses a German shepherd or a Doberman pinscher or bulldog). But what if the defendant uses a Cocker Spaniel or a Yorkshire Terrier to carry out a robbery?

United States Constitution: “The fundamental law of the United States of America setting forth the structure and powers of the government and the rights of the people” (Key Terms). Articles I, II, and III set up the government and give each branch its powers while the Amendments place limitations on the government’s power and ensure rights and freedoms for the people. See the Appendix in Scheb for the Constitution and for an online Constitution, see: http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html.

1. Max Weber argued that a capitalist society requires a highly developed legal system. True or False?

The answer is ….. True! Max Weber, a social theorist, recognized that “a capitalist economy requires a highly developed legal system” (Scheb & Scheb, p. 8). In order for business and commercial enterprises to grow it’s essential to have a system that will enforce contracts and property interests.

2. Under the “doctrine of incorporation,” the U.S. Supreme Court has held that most of the Bill of Rights are embraced within the terms of “liberty” or “due process” and are applicable to the states. True or False?

The answer is … True! The Bill of Rights initially provided protection for people only against the federal government. By using the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause as the vehicle and a process called the “selective incorporation” doctrine, the U.S. Supreme Court has applied key rights in the Bill of Rights to protect individuals from State action that violates fundamental freedoms. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, added to the Constitution in 1868, provides: “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted this clause to mean that a State cannot take away a criminal defendant’s life or liberty unless the defendant is accorded the fundamental rights of a fair trial.

Through the “doctrine of selective incorporation” on a case by case basis, most of the rights found in the Bill of Rights are now protected from the federal government as well as the state governments. The only rights not incorporated are the Third Amendment “right against the quartering of soldiers in times of peace,” the Fifth Amendment “right to indictment by grand jury,” the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial in civil cases, and the Eighth Amendment “right against excessive bail and fines.”

3. American law is derived largely from Roman law. True or False?

The answer is … False! “American law is derived largely from the English common law” (Scheb & Scheb, p. 11). From English law, we gained the concept of common law and stare decisis. The Magna Carta also served as the basis for our constitution. Roman law has consisted of statutory codes such as the Twelve Tables and the Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law) and this law became the basis of law in other countries in Europe such as France, but not in England and in America. (See Sheb, p. 10).

4. One key to the success of the common law system was the emergence of the right to a trial by jury. True or False?

The answer is … True! “[O]ne key to the success of the common law was the emergence of the institution of the jury trial,” in which jurors sit as fact-finders, determining the credibility of witnesses and assessing the evidence presented at trial (Scheb & Scheb, p. 13). Prior to trial by jury, trials were by combat, ordeal, or compurgation – none of which were rational ways to determine the guilt or innocence of a defendant.

Trial by combat – the opposing parties would fight each other or hire knights to fight on their behalf on horseback with lances; the winner of the fight won the lawsuit under the theory that justice and truth would prevail in the combat;

Trial by compurgation – the parties would each bring in men to attest to their honor in an attempt to show the party was honorable and trustworthy and should therefore should win the lawsuit; and

Trial by ordeal – defendants were forced to do very painful tasks such as put their hand into a pot of boiling water and then check three days later to see if the burns healed – if so, the defendant was declared innocent; if not, guilty. Trial by ordeal was used in the witch trials: Accused witches were dunked into a body of water on a “dunking stool” and “if they floated they were declared to be witches and were hanged. If they drowned they would be declared not guilty of witchcraft - but by then it was usually too late to save them anyway.” http://lcjb.cjsonline.gov.uk/Cambridgeshire/1611.html.

5. The 19th century writer ____________ is best known for his advocacy of civil disobedience when the demands of conscience conflict with the dictates of law.

James Fenimore Cooper Herman Melville Henry David Thoreau Nathaniel Hawthorne

The answer is Henry David Thoreau. “Henry David Thoreau is best known for his advocacy of civil disobedience when the demands of conscience conflict with the dictates of law” (Scheb & Scheb, p. 5). Thoreau contended that one must follow his or her conscience and do what is right and just, even if that means violating the law.

Thoreau was vehemently opposed to slavery, so he refused to pay a poll tax, which he knew went towards supporting the institution of slavery. He was arrested and jailed and wrote Civil Disobedience in 1849 about his experience.

Others famous for civil disobedience are Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Mahatma Gandhi.