POSC150 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Statutory Law, Judicial Activism, Strict Constructionism
31 May 2018
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CH 10: The American Legal System and the Courts
Law and the American Legal System
The Role of Law in Democratic Societies
● The five important functions of laws:
○ Laws provide security
○ Laws provide predictability
○ Laws are known in advance and that they identify punishable behaviors leads to
the conflict resolution in courts
○ Laws reflect and enforce conformity to society's values
○ Laws distribute the benefits and rewards that society has to offer
The American Legal Tradition
● Civil-law tradition: a legal system based on a detailed comprehensive legal code, usually
created by the legislature
● Common-law tradition: a legal system based on the accumulated rulings of judges over
time, applied uniformly-judge made law
○ Precedent: a previous decision or ruling that, in common law tradition, is binding
on subsequent decisions
○ United State is not a pure common law 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
○ United States’ system
○ Inquisitorial systems: trial procedures designed to determine the truth through the
intervention of an active judge who seeks evidence and questions witnesses
○ Emphasis on individualism and procedural values
● Litigious system
○ Americans sue one another (or litigate) a lot
○ Civil suits
○ Litigation is unavoidable in democracies committed to individuals’ freedoms
Kinds of Law
● Substantive and procedural laws
○ Substantive laws: laws whose consent, or substance, defines what a person can
or cannot do
○ Procedural laws: laws that establish how laws are applied and enforced-how
legal proceedings take place
○ Procedural due process: procedural laws that protect the rights of individuals who
must deal with the legal system
● Criminal and civil laws
○ Criminal laws: prohibit specific behaviors that the government has determined
are not conductive to the public peace; harmful to society; violation of a criminal
law is called a crime
■ The government prosecutes these cases
■ The penalty will be some form of payment to the public
Document Summary
Ch 10: the american legal system and the courts. Laws are known in advance and that they identify punishable behaviors leads to the conflict resolution in courts. Laws reflect and enforce conformity to society"s values. Laws distribute the benefits and rewards that society has to offer. Civil-law tradition: a legal system based on a detailed comprehensive legal code, usually created by the legislature. Common-law tradition: a legal system based on the accumulated rulings of judges over time, applied uniformly-judge made law. Precedent: a previous decision or ruling that, in common law tradition, is binding on subsequent decisions. United state is not a pure common law 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. Inquisitorial systems: trial procedures designed to determine the truth through the intervention of an active judge who seeks evidence and questions witnesses. Americans sue one another (or litigate) a lot.
