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| A body of rules of conduct prescribed by controlling authority and having binding legal force. (txt p. 2) |
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AS A SYSTEM OF LAW: The total system of law that originated in medieval England and adopted by the US at the Revolution. It is judge-made law that reflects the customs of the people. AKA unwritten law. (txt p. 7)
AS A TYPE OF LAW: This is the modern meaning. It is that law which comes from the common courts as opposed to a legislature or court of equity. Independent courts have the power to contribute to the law. (txt p. 8,9) |
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| Decreed supremacy of law over personal authority of the king. Precursor of our constitutional democracy. (txt p. 8) |
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| A civil trial held without jury when relief sought by the plaintiff is equitable in nature. I.e. an injunction, divorce, sale of land. Separate from the courts in law in feudal England. (txt p. 8) |
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| A government consisting of a union of more or less self-governing states under an umbrella of federal government. (txt p. 9) |
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| Accept testimony and other evidence to determine guilt or innocence or to place financial responsibility. (txt p. 9) |
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| Review trial court procedures to ensure that correct laws were applied during trial. (txt p. 9) |
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| Latin for "to stand by things that have been settled". It is the common law doctrine that binds an inferior court to follow and apply decisions and interpretations of higher courts when similar cases arise. Also called the "doctrine of precedents". (txt p. 9) |
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| A court decision on a question of law that gives authority or direction on a similar question of law in a later case with similar facts. See stare decisis. (txt p. 9) |
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| A set if books that contains the written opinions of justices of specified appellate courts. They contain the decisional, or unwritten, law. (txt p. 10) |
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| All reported judicial decisions; the law that comes from judges' opinions in lawsuits. Aka court law, judge law, and sometimes common law. (txt p. 10) |
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| Laws enacted by Congress or by state legislatures. (txt p. 12) |
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| A written law enacted by a city or county. (txt p. 12) |
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| Collections of statutes and ordinances. In contrast to unwritten (case) law. (txt p. 12) |
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| Compilations of statutes that are organized into categories. I.e. vehicle code, health code, business code. (txt p. 12) |
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| A requirement that courts may decide only cases which an actual conflict between persons exist. I.e. Bergstrom couldn't sue UW until he was forcefully searched by the police. (txt p. 13) |
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| Any part of a court opinion that is unnecessary to the resolution of dispute before the court. Such digression by a judge is not binding on later courts. (txt p. 15) |
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| An electoral process for making new statutes or changing the constitution by filing appropriate formal petitions to be voted upon by the legislature or by the people. Not available in all states (txt p. 15) |
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| abbreviated reference to a variety of legal authorities including court cases (txt p. 33) |
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| a judicial decision with complete agreement by all judges (txt p. 34) |
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| a written opinion by a judge outlining the views of the majority of the judges of the court deciding the case (txt p. 34) |
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| a written opinion wherein a judge agrees with the result reached by another judge, for different reasons from those stated by the other judge. (txt p. 34) |
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| a written opinion by a judge or judges who vote(s) contrary to the majority opinion and holding of the court. (txt p. 34) |
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| The party who appeals to a higher court. (txt p. 36) |
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| the party who, on appeal, defends the earlier court determination. (txt p. 36) |
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| Article I, Section 8: "The Congress shall have Power... To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States..." This gives Congress the power to enact most of the federal regulations of business (txt p. 41) |
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| necessary and proper clause |
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| Gives congress the power to do things that are "necessary and proper" for the overall benefit of the country. I.e. the government was exempt for being liable for the victims of nuclear accidents because it would harm the development of clean, nuclear energy. Something the Congress argued was in the best interest of the US. (txt p. 41) |
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Maryland questioned whether Congress had the right to form a national bank since it didn't say it was a power of Congress in the Constitution. Justice John Marshall used the necessary and proper clause to uphold the constitutionality. It established:
1st. The clause is placed among the powers of Congress, not among the limitations on those powers.
2nd. Its terms purport to enlarge, not diminish the powers of government.
This established the supremacy clause. The government has the power to act under the constitution and they take precedence over the actions of other governments. (txt p. 41) |
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| Established in McCulloch v. Maryland. Federal laws take precedence over state laws. (txt p. 42) |
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| Established by Justice Marshall in 1824 in Gibbons v. Ogden. Commerce between states is interstate commerce and complies to federal commerce laws. Upheld in Wickard v. Fillburn when federal regulators punished a man for growing more wheat than he was allowed. (txt p. 42) |
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| the fundamental law of a nation. (txt p. 490) |
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| Is concerned with the rights and responsibilities that exist among members of society or between individuals and the the government in noncriminal matters. Must find that preponderance of the evidence favored the injury party, lower standard of proof than a criminal trial (txt p. 499) |
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| the President or Governor can issue these which require agencies to do certain things under the executive's scope of power. (txt p. 497) |
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