Legal Issues

Unit 1

Review

Jurisprudence

• The study of law and legal philosophy

Trial Courts

• Listens to testimony, considers evidence, and decides facts disputed in situations.

Appeals Courts

• Reviews decisions of lower courts

Common Law

• The result of courts establishing legal principles and rules

Errors of Law

• When a judge makes a mistake as to the law applicable in the case.

• Error of law is only valid when the error affects the outcome of the trial.

*Judge gives jury wrong instructions, judge permits evidence that should not have been allowed.

Precedents

• Are set when an appellate court write their opinion or ruling. The precedent then tells lower courts how they must rule in similar situations.

Mitigating Circumstances

• Factors that might lessen the severity of a crime

Statutes

• A law enacted by a legislature

Supremacy Clause

• Makes the Constitution the supreme law of the land

• Holds federal law above state laws unless otherwise noted in the Constitution

U.S. Supreme Court

• Comprised of 9 members appointed by the president

• Decides on what cases they will or will not hear

Writ of habeas corpus

• Petition of an individual to ask the court to review if his or her imprisonment is just

Writ of certiorari

• A petition of superior court to call up the records of an inferior court or a body acting in a quasi-judicial capacity

Human Rights

• Rights all humans have simply for being alive

Judicial Review

• Enables a court to void any law passed by Congress or any state legislature that conflicts with the Constitution.

• Ex: If Congress passed a law forbidding the media to criticize public officials, a court challenge would find the law unconstitutional.

Legislative Intent

• The reason for enacting a law or statute

Lobbying

• Persuasion of legislatures for a particular interest

Felonies

• Crimes punishable by more than one year in prison

Misdemeanors

• Crimes punishable by less than one year in prison

Initiatives and Referendums

• Initiatives are when voters propose laws and then submit them to their legislatures.

• Referendums occur when a legislative act is referred to voters for final approval or rejection.

Dissenting Opinions

• an opinion filed by a judge who disagrees with the majority decision of a case.

Concurring Opinions

• an opinion filed by a judge that agrees with the majority opinion on the case but that bases this conclusion on different reasons or on a different view of the case

Litigators

• Lawyers who go to court

Fees associated with lawyers

• Retainer- down payment on total fee

• Contingency fee- attorney gets % of winnings in the case. If you don’t win there is no fee assessed

Attorney-client privilege

• Encourages client to speak freely

• Cannot be abused or broken

Settling issues outside of court

• Negotiation- typically informal, may involve attorneys

• Settlements (civil cases)• Arbitration (decision made by arbitrator)• Mediation (third party mediates, does not

resolve issue)• Ombudspersons- investigate complaints

and help parties come to agreements.

3 main theories of punishment

• The theory of rehabilitation assumes that external factors brought about by society causes the criminal to commit the crime. Therefore, the criminal has the ability to be rehabilitated and returned back to society without the want or need to commit more crimes.

Deterrence

• Deterrence is one theory of punishment and consists of two branches, general deterrence and specific deterrence.

• The purpose of general deterrence is to deter other people from committing a similar crime by displaying to society the punishment they would receive.

• Specific deterrence is to deter the actual criminal from committing the same crime again by giving him a punishment he would not want to experience again. 

Retribution

• The final theory of punishment is retribution, in which punishment is used as revenge – an eye for an eye.

Gideon v. Wainwright

• Overturned Betts v. Brady

• States must supply attorneys for criminal cases

• Due process of law, equal protection (14th amendment)

• Rights of the accused in criminal prosecutions (6th amendment)

Betts v. Brady

• Although the Court found in favor of Betts, it decided that the right to counsel must be decided on a case- by-case basis.

• This ruling was upheld for 20 years until it was overturned by Gideon v. Wainwright in 1963.

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

• Part of jury instructions

• You must be very certain of the defendant’s guilt.