Com360: The U.S. Legal System
Power Point Presentations for Cal Poly Pomona COM 360
Based on J.D. Zelezny’s “Communications Law”
Copyright © 2008-2014 by Mariusz Ozminkowski
What is Law?
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Law is a body of rules enacted by public
officials in a legitimate manner and backed
by the force of the state
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Law is a body of rules of conduct governing
the relationship between members of
society (assures order and predictability).
Law
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Rules are enacted by public officials.
Law must be enacted in a legitimate manner
Law is backed by the force of the state.
There can be no law without sanctions.
Sources of Law
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Constitutional Law: U.S. Constitution
is the ultimate (final, fundamental) source
of law in the United States (as state
constitutions are in the individual states).
Statutory Law
Administrative
Executive Orders
Legal systems
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Most nations today follow one of two major legal
traditions:
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Civil Law (Roman Law or Continental law)
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Common Law (Anglo-American Law)
Legal systems today
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Civil Law (from Latin:
ius civile, the law
applicable to all Roman citizens; Roman Law)
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Origins in Ancient Greece, 6th Century BCE
Expanded and perfected by the Romans in the
next several centuries; codified by the Emperor
Justinian in the sixth century CE.
The era of Enlightenment produced
comprehensive, systematic national legal codes,
especially France’s Civil Code (known as the
Napoleonic Code) of 1804.
They are the models of today’s civil law
systems.
The Common Law
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The Common Law was conceived in 1066 and
born of a union between older Saxon law and the
custom of the Norman conquerors.
The Common Law was nurtured in London
lawcourts by judges and barristers.
The Common Law spread only by conquest and
colonization: no one ever accepted it freely
Common Law: The role of precedent
The common law is often created and refined by
judges
When there is no authoritative statement of the
law, judges have the authority and duty to
make law by creating precedent.
The body of precedent is called "common law"
and it binds future decisions (this principle is
known as stare decisis: to abide by decided
cases)
Judicial review
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The right of the federal courts to declare laws of
Congress and acts of the executive branch void if
they are judged to be in conflict with the
Constitution
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Established in: Marbury v. Madison (1803)
Chief Justice Marshall in 1803
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“It is emphatically the
province and duty of
the judiciary to say
what the law is. Those
who apply the rule to
particular cases, must
of necessity expound
and interpret that
rule.” 1803
The Structure of the Courts
Jurisdiction: the power of a court to decide a
dispute
 Hierarchy jurisdiction
 Subject matter jurisdiction
 Territorial jurisdiction
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International
Subject matter
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Courts of general jurisdiction (state or
federal)
(the limitation is mainly territorial)
Courts of limited jurisdiction
(legislative):
set up by Congress for special purposes
over some specialized areas (e.g.,
bankruptcy, taxes, immigration, military)
Territorial / Geographical
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Courts are authorized to hear and decide
disputes arising within a specified
geographical jurisdiction
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All types of courts are divided into
geographical areas
(The Supreme Court is the exception)
Federal courts jurisdiction
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To resolve legal disputes that arise under the laws
passed by Congress and federal agencies, or the U.S.
Constitution
To resolve disputes between citizens of different
states (diversity-of-citizenship cases), usually covers
state laws
Hierarchical
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The Supreme Court
The “inferior courts”
District (trial) courts
Appellate courts
Courts of the original
jurisdiction
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District courts (94) are courts of the
original jurisdiction. They have the
authority to try a case and decide it.
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In California the equivalent of District
Courts are Superior Courts (58)
Courts of Appeals
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Courts of Appeals have appellate jurisdiction: they have
the power to review cases which have been already
decided by lower courts.
In U.S. –
12 Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals (11 multi-state +
one in D.C.),
1 Federal Circuit (nationwide) for specialized cases
In California – 6 Courts of Appeals
U.S. Courts of Appeals
Getting to Court
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Civil action: Action brought to enforce,
redress, or protect private rights. All that
does not fall into category of criminal
action.
Criminal action: Action brought to punish
crimes. Crime is a violation of penal law.
Civil cases
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It must be JUSTICIABLE.
There must be a real and substantial
controversy. It cannot be academic,
theoretical, or moot.
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Moot case: already solved or withdrawn
Remedy: the means to redress an injury or
enforce a right
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Civil cases
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STANDING TO SUE.
A concept utilized to determine if a party
has sufficient stake in an otherwise
justiciable controversy. (If the party is
sufficiently affected).
Civil cases: terminology
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Complaint (+ answer/response)
Plaintiff v. Defendant (litigants)
Pleadings, Discovery, Motions
Summary Judgment
Trial: Preponderance of evidence
Damages (money awards)
Injunction (decided by judge)
Criminal cases: terminology
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Arrest, Criminal Complaint, Arraignment
Preliminary hearing (or Grand Jury)
Judges ruling (or indictment)
Motions (e.g., to suppress)
Trial: Beyond reasonable doubt
Conviction, Sentencing
Appeals: terminology
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Examining lower court’s actions
(but not the facts)
Appellant, Appellee
Legal Brief
Affirm, Modify, Reverse, Remand
Opinions: majority, concurring, dissenting,
plurality
Class action lawsuit
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A lawsuit on behalf of a group of persons
who were harmed (injured) in a similar way
and for whom the same (similar) remedy
can be sought and accepted.
A person can opt-out from a class action
lawsuit
How a case gets to the
Supreme Court?
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From:
District Court (or state courts) to:
The Appellate courts to:
The Supreme Court…
BUT
THE SUPREME COURT DOES NOT
HAVE TO HEAR ANY APPEAL IT
DOES NOT WANT TO HEAR.
The case load…
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State courts: about 33,000,000 cases filed a year
(20m civil and 13m criminal)
+ 60,000,000 minor infractions (traffic etc.)
District Courts: about 300,000 lawsuits annually
Almost 50,000 are appealed to one of the Circuit
Courts of Appeals.
U.S. Supreme Court receives approximately 7,000
petitions for a hearing.
Only about one hundred are granted a hearing.
A writ of certiorari (cert.)
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When the Supreme Court agrees to
hear a case it issues a writ of certiorari
an order to the lower court requiring
the latter to produce a certified
record of a particular case.
Practically: an agreement to hear a
case.
The selection of cases
When a U. S. court of appeals
a. has rendered a decision in conflict
with the decision of another United
States court of appeals on the same
matter; or
When a U. S. court of appeals
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b. has decided a federal question in a
way in conflict with a state court of the
last resort; or
When a U. S. court of appeals
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c. has so far departed from the
accepted and usual judicial
proceedings as to call for an exercise
of this Court’s power of supervision
When a state court of last resort
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has decided a federal question in a way
in conflict with the decision of another
state’s court of the last resort or of a
United States court of appeals.
When a state court
or U.S. court of appeals
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a. has an important question of federal
law which has not been, but should be
settled by this Court;
b. has decided question in a way in
conflict with applicable decisions of
this Court.
The Rule of Four:
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At least four justices must agree on
accepting a case for a review.
US Supreme Court
original jurisdiction
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to consider the facts and the law of a case
without it having first been passed on by a
lower court.
the only original jurisdiction cases
commonly handled by the Supreme Court
are disputes between two or more U.S.
states (e.g., boundary lines, water claims,
etc.)