POL 111 Chapter 10: The American Legal System and the Courts
Document Summary
Law and the american legal system (rules of the game that make collective living possible) Conflict resolution: courts: institutions that sit as neutral third parties to resolve conflicts according to the law. Refle(cid:272)t a(cid:374)d e(cid:374)for(cid:272)e (cid:272)o(cid:374)for(cid:373)it(cid:455) to so(cid:272)iet(cid:455)"s (cid:448)alues. Distribute the benefits and rewards society has to offer and to allocate the costs of those good things. Common law tradition: a legal system based on the accumulated rulings of judges over time, applied uniformly-judge-made law: emphasis on relying on precedent. Precedent: a previous decision or ruling that, in common- law tradition, is binding on subsequent decisions. Stare decisis lati(cid:374) for (cid:862)let the de(cid:272)isio(cid:374) sta(cid:374)d(cid:863: judge"s jo(cid:271) is to deter(cid:373)i(cid:374)e (cid:449)hat the la(cid:449) is, (cid:374)ot to pla(cid:455) a(cid:374) a(cid:272)ti(cid:448)e role i(cid:374) investigation. The united states as an adversarial system: adversarial system: trial procedures designed to resolve conflict through the clash of opposing sides, moderated by a neutral, passive judge who applies the law.
