CIVICS STUDY GUIDE – CHAPTERS 15 and 16
1.
What characteristics must good laws possess?
2.
Name the first set of written laws.
3.
How does the Code of Hammurabi compare with the laws of western societies
today?
4.
What were eventually included in Roman laws?
5.
Name the English legal system brought to North America by colonists.
What did English common law include? How did this influence U.S. laws?
6.
7.
Define “common law”
8.
What are written laws called?
9.
Define “precedent(s)”
10.
What is a defendant?
11.
What is a plaintiff?
12.
Who updated the Justinian Code? What was the new body of law called?
13.
With what is public law concerned?
14.
Can judges show partiality?
15.
By whom is a civil lawsuit filed?
16.
Describe the American adversary system (key players & their functions).
17.
Which sorts of laws do most criminal trials in the United States involve?
18.
Which type of serious crime has serious consequences for the victim and the
criminal?
19.
What is a misdemeanor? How do its consequences compare with those of a
felony?
20.
What is a civil case that has gone to court called?
21.
With what crime was John Peter Zenger charged?
22.
What is a tort?
23.
Which two legislative bodies that we’ve studied can write statutes?
24.
Which type of law is involved if a defendant argues that he or she is the victim of
an unreasonable search?
25.
Name and define a right that serves as a safeguard against being kept in jail
unlawfully.
26.
Which type of law punishes a person without trial or a fair hearing in court?
27.
Which right requires an official who has arrested someone to bring that person to
court and explain why he or she is being held?
28.
Which type of law punishes a person without a trial?
29.
What’s an ex post facto law?
30.
What does the phrase, “due process of law” mean?
31.
Who was Ernesto Miranda?
32.
What does the “equal protection” clause forbid?
33.
What sort of protection was intended in the creation of the exclusionary rule?
34.
What does a grand jury decide?
35.
How long may a grand jury sit?
36.
Why was the two-stage process for death penalty cases established? Briefly
describe it.
37.
What does a grand jury do when it finds sufficient evidence? What’s this action
called?
38.
Like judges, jury members must be _____________.
39.
What is a search warrant? Who issues it, and what is first required?
40.
What is bond?
41.
Name and describe a popular way to avoid having a case go to trial.
42.
Name four types of civil lawsuits.
43.
What, in order, are the steps in a civil lawsuit?
44.
In which stage in a civil lawsuit do attorneys on both sides check facts and gather
evidence by questioning the other parties and possible witnesses?
45.
What is a “complaint”?
46.
Which document announces that the defendant is being sued and sets the time and
place for a court appearance?
47.
What is an arbitrator?
48.
What is the purpose of a settlement?
49.
Which type of civil lawsuit is filed when property is destroyed because someone
has been careless?
50.
If a person decides to sue another person, what is the first step?
51.
Name two ways that a case can be resolved before trial.
52.
What must the plaintiff prove in a civil case? How is this different from what the
prosecution must prove in a criminal case?
53.
What are two reasons the losing side in a lawsuit may appeal the verdict to a
higher court?
54.
What is the term for the “written criminal laws of a state”?
55.
In a criminal case, what is the role of the government?
56.
Define “testimony”.
57.
In which procedure is a defendant formally presented with the charges and asked
to enter a plea?
58.
What is an acquittal?
59.
What is the term for early, supervised release from prison?
60.
What is one argument made by opponents of mandatory sentencing?
61.
Which type of case would go directly to the state supreme court on appeal?
62.
Which type of crime might require a fine or a jail sentence of 1 year or less?
63.
Name, in order, the steps in a criminal case.
64.
What is the legal definition of a juvenile?
65.
What is the term for a young person who commits a crime?
66.
How does the treatment of juvenile delinquents in the 1800’s differ from their
treatment in our present-day society?
67.
What is one way that the juvenile court system tries to protect juveniles?
68.
Which type of case involves juveniles whose caregivers neglect or abuse them?
69.
What does “rehabilitate” mean?
70.
What’s another term for “equal to”?
71.
What does a juvenile court have the power to do in cases of neglect?
72.
How does a trial for a juvenile differ from a trial for an adult?
73.
What happens after a juvenile successfully completes probabion?