Legal Rights and Responsibilities

Chapter 15

The Sources of Our LawsChapter 15

Section 1

Functions of Law

• American society developed around the principle of “a government of laws, and not of men.”

• Laws are rules that allow people to live peacefully in society.

• Laws guarantee individual liberties because they are binding on everyone.

• Laws affect nearly everything we do—the food we eat, how we drive, and even what happens when we are born and die

Functions of Law

• To discourage criminal acts, laws set punishments and establish a justice system to enforce the laws.

• Laws also set rules to resolve civil disputes.

What do Laws do?

• Keep the peace and prevent violent acts

• Set punishments

• Include the administration of justice

• Set rules for resolving disagreements

What Makes a Law a Good Law?

1. To be effective, laws must be fair and treat all people equally.

2. Laws must be reasonable. Punishment must fit the crime.

3. Ordinary people must be able to understand them

4. government must be able to enforce them.

Early Law• The Founders based the nation’s system of

laws on traditions and laws passed down from generation to generation.

• Laws of early human societies were probably passed to the next generation orally.

Hammurabi Code

• The first known system of written law was the Code of Hammurabi, a collection of 282 laws compiled by King Hammurabi of Babylonia in about 1760 B.C.

•  If a builder built a house for some one, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kill its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.

•  If any one is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death.

• If a son strike his father, his hands shall be hewn off.

•   If the slave of a freed man strike the body of a freed man, his ear shall be cut off.

Hammurabi Code

10 Commandments

• The Hebrews of ancient Palestine followed the Ten Commandments found in the Bible.

• Commandments like “thou shalt not kill” are reflected in our laws today.

Draconian Law

• A code of laws prepared by Draco

• These laws were exceedingly severe, and the term is now sometimes applied to any laws of unusual harshness.

• By clearly stating the punishments and thus taking the application of law from the field of uncertainty to a new level, in which crimes and punishments are known to everybody, they can now be applied evenly

Roman Law

• The Romans called their law jurisprudence, a word we use today to mean the study of law.

• As in the Code of Hammurabi, Roman penalties for offenses were drastic.

Roman Law

• Over centuries, the Roman senate adopted many laws, and Roman judges wrote commentaries on them, which became part of the law.

• Later Roman emperors created laws by issuing edicts, or commands.

• The laws spread as the Roman Empire grew into Asia and Africa.

Justinian Code• Emperor Justinian I boiled down Roman law into

an orderly body of rules called the Code of Justinian.

• This code became the basis of law for the Byzantine Empire.

• Roman law also became part of the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church.

Napoleonic Code

• More than a thousand years later, French emperor Napoleon updated the Justinian Code and called it the Napoleonic Code.

• Napoleon conquered much of Europe, and the code went with him. Later, Europeans carried it to Asia and Africa.

English Law

• American laws are based mainly on the English system of common law, or law based on court decisions rather than on legal code.

• When early English judges heard a case, they looked in the books for a similar case and followed the earlier ruling, or precedent.

• Precedents are legal opinions that became part of the common law.

English Law

• English judges blended Roman law and canon law into the body of common law.

• The law came to include basic rights such as trial by jury and innocent until proven guilty.

• As the English Parliament gained power, acts of Parliament–written statutes–came to dominate the English legal system.

Iroquois Confederation• A group of Native Americans that originally

consisted of five nations

• The Great Law of Peace, Iroquois Constitution

• Follow Iroquois customs (Franklin)

• Preamble and the Great Law

__ 1. A ruling that is used as the basis for a judicial decision in a later, similar case

__ 2. The study of law

__ 3. A law written by a legislative branch

__ 4. A system of law based on precedent and customs

A. jurisprudenceB. common lawC. precedent D. statute

Activity

• What is your family legal code

• Make a list of unwritten family rules

• Classify these rules according to their purpose– Protecting Rights– Keeping Order– Maintaining Safety– Deterring wrongdoing– Settling Disputes

Types of LawsChapter 15

Section 2

Criminal Law

• Criminal laws seek to prevent people from deliberately or recklessly harming each other or each other’s property.

• American courts operate on an adversary system.

– Lawyers for opposing sides present their cases.

• The judge plays an impartial role.

Criminal Law

• Critics of the adversary system argue that it encourages lawyers to ignore unfavorable evidence.

• Supporters claim that it is the best system to bring out the facts of a case.

Plaintiff and the Defendant

• In criminal cases, the government is always the plaintiff–the party that brings charges against the defendant–the individual or group being sued.

• Most criminal cases are titled in terms of the state against the defendant.

Why are criminal cases titled in terms of the state against the

defendant?In criminal cases, the government is always

the plaintiff. This is because the American system of justice assumes that society is the victim when a crime is committed. Titling criminal cases this way shows that the government, rather than an individual crime victim, is bringing action against the defendant.

Felonies and Misdemeanors

• Felonies are serious crimes, such as murder, rape, kidnapping, and robbery.

• Misdemeanors are less serious offenses, such as vandalism or stealing inexpensive items.

• Misdemeanors are usually punished with a fine or jail sentence of less than one year.

Crimes Against Property

• Larceny= The unlawful taking of another person’s property with the intent of never returning it.

• Robbery= Is the taking of property from a person’s possession by using force or threats.

• Burglary= The Unlawful entry into any dwelling or structure with the intention to commit a crime.

Civil Law

• Civil cases involve disputes between people or groups, in which no criminal laws have been broken.

• A civil case is called a lawsuit–a legal action in which a person or group sues to collect damages for some harm done.

• In civil cases, the plaintiff believes the defendant is to blame for some damage or loss of something of value.

Civil Disputes

• The dispute may involve a contract in which one party believes the other did not fulfill the terms of the agreement.

• Another type of dispute involves torts, or civil wrongs.

• In tort law a person may suffer an injury and claim that another party’s negligence was the cause.

• Family law, another type of civil law, deals with issues such as divorce, child custody, adoption, and child support.

Battles for Legal Rights• John Peter Zenger a newspaper editor

published stories about the colony’s corrupt royal governor which was illegal.– Fought for freedom of the press

• Ida Wells-Barnett fought against segregation

Constitutional and Administrative Law

• Public law, or constitutional law, involves rights guaranteed under the Constitution or spelled out in legislation.

• It guides courts and legislatures when they deal with punishments and fines. Constitutional laws are the highest laws in the land.

• Administrative law includes all the rules and regulations that government agencies issue to carry out their jobs.

Statutory Law

• Statutory law includes laws written by the legislatures at all levels of government.

• They establish rules such as speed limits and the minimum age for a work permit.

International Law• International law comprises treaties,

customs, and agreements among nations.• Violations may be brought to the

International Court of Justice, or World Court, located in The Hague, the Netherlands.

United Nations

• The United Nations established the World Court to hear disputes that nations bring against other nations.

• The World Court has no enforcement powers. It must rely on the willingness of the parties to accept its rulings.

__ 1. Wrongful acts for which an injured party has the right to sue

__ 2. A person or party filing a lawsuit__ 3. Relatively minor offense such as

vandalism or stealing inexpensive items

__ 4. An individual or group being sued or charged with a crime

__ 5. A serious crime such as murder, rape, kidnapping, or robberyA. plaintiff

B. defendantC. felonyD. misdemeanorE. torts

The American Legal SystemChapter 15

Section 3

Legal Protections in the U.S. Constitution

• American colonists owed their rights to legal principles developed in England.

• Although written statutes have replaced common law, courts still refer to common-law principles when no statutes exist for a given issue.

• The Constitution gives each branch of government a role in shaping laws.

Legal Protections in the U.S. Constitution

• Courts base their rulings on written laws and on precedents of earlier cases.

• Judges then use these rulings to decide similar cases in the future. This process is called stare decisis, for “let the decision stand.”

Article I

• Article I provides a safeguard against being kept in jail unlawfully.

• It includes the writ of habeas corpus, which requires an official who has arrested someone to bring that person to court and explain why he or she is being held.

• Article I forbids enactment of a bill of attainder–a law that punishes a person accused of a crime without a trial or fair hearing in court.

Legal Protections in the U.S. Constitution

• It also forbids an ex post facto law, which would allow a person to be punished for an action that was not against the law when it was committed.

• The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments guarantee due process of law–the government may not take our lives, liberty, or property without the proper exercise of law.

Legal Protections in the U.S. Constitution

• The equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires the government to treat all people equally, regardless of gender, race, or religion.

• A person can be convicted of treason for waging war against the U.S., joining its enemies, or giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

• The Constitution defines treason so that the government cannot misuse the law to punish people for political acts.

What groups have used the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to support their causes?

Rights of the Accused

• Rights of accused people are based on the idea that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

• The prosecution must prove guilt.

• The defendant does not have to prove innocence.

4th Amendment

• The Fourth Amendment protects against “unreasonable searches and seizures.”

• To intrude on someone’s property, police must first get a search warrant–a judge’s authorization specifying the place to be searched and items that may be seized.

• Police must have good reason to believe that the wanted person or evidence can be found there.

Examples??

• In Mapp v. Ohio, the Supreme Court established the exclusionary rule= If police gain evidence in a way that violates the Fourth Amendment, the evidence may not be used in court.

5th Amendment

• The Fifth Amendment states that people do not have to say anything that might incriminate themselves.

• They can “take the Fifth” and decline to answer questions.

• Miranda v. Arizona

WHAT IS THIS CALLED????

5th Amendment: Double Jeopardy

• The Fifth Amendment bans double jeopardy.

• Once tried and found not guilty, a person may not be tried again for the same crime.

5th Amendment: Grand Juries

• The Fifth Amendment says that people accused of serious federal crimes must be brought before a grand jury.

• If the grand jury decides there is enough evidence to proceed to trial, it indicts or issues a formal charge against the person.

6th Amendment

• The Sixth Amendment says that an accused person has the right to a lawyer (What Supreme Court Case dealt with this Amendment?).

• The Sixth Amendment says that accused people must be informed of the accusations against them.

6th Amendment

• They have a right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury and may question witnesses against them.

• Impartial means that jury members must not know anyone involved in the case and must not have made up their minds before trial.

Juries

• Jury members usually come from the area where the crime was committed.

• In federal courts, all trial juries, called petit juries, have 12 people who must reach a unanimous decision.

• States have juries of 6 to 12 members.

• Defendants may choose to have a bench trial–appear before a judge without a jury.

Requirements to Serve on a Jury in North Carolina

• Citizen of the State

• Resident of the County

• Not served as a juror in the past two years

• 18 years of age or older

• Mentally and physically competent

• Understand English

• Not convicted of a felony

Plea Bargaining

• Few criminal cases come to trial. Most are settled through plea bargaining.

• The defense attorney and prosecutor negotiate.

• The prosecutor offers the defendant a chance to plead guilty to a less serious crime in exchange for receiving a less severe penalty.

• A judge must agree to the plea bargain.

Plea Bargains

• Plea bargains reduce the time and expense of a trial.

• They also reduce the huge volume of cases courts must process.

8th Amendment

• The Eighth Amendment outlaws “cruel and unusual punishments.”

• The punishment must fit the crime.

8th Amendment

• The Supreme Court ruled in Furman v. Georgia that the death penalty as then administered was not constitutional.

• It was being imposed in unfair ways and mainly on African Americans and poor people.

• In response, most states revised their death penalty laws to comply with the Court’s guidelines.

8th Amendment: Excessive Bail

• The Eighth Amendment prohibits “excessive bail.”

• Bail is money an arrested person pays to a court to win release from jail while awaiting trial.

• Its purpose is to guarantee that the person will return for trial.

• After the trial, the person gets the money back.

Bail

• Courts may not set bail so high that a person is unfairly forced to stay in jail.

• In cases involving serious crimes, however, the judge may set a very high bail.

• In extreme cases, like murder, or if the arrested person is likely to flee, the judge may deny bail.

Our Legal Responsibilities

• Americans have a responsibility to serve on a jury and testify in court.

• Americans have the responsibility to obey laws and cooperate with law enforcement officials.

• Americans must work peacefully to change unfair, outdated laws.

__ 1. A sum of money used as a security deposit to ensure that an accused person returns for his or her trial

__ 2. A law that punishes a person accused of a crime without a trial or a fair hearing in court

__ 3. Putting someone on trial for a crime of which he or she was previously acquitted

__ 4. A court order that requires police to bring a prisoner to court to explain why they are holding the person

__ 5. A law that would allow a person to be punished for an action that was not against the law when

it was committed

A. writ of habeas corpus B. bill of attainderC. ex post facto law D. double jeopardyE. bail