INTRODUCTION TO LAW

 What is Law?

What is Law?  Rules and regluations made and enforced by the government that regulate the conduct of people within society.  Promote society’s values  Relate the definitions to the previous activity

 No Laws?

No Laws? No ability to regulate people’s conduct Confusion Disorder Relate to previous activity Discuss with your peers if anybody is “above the law”

7 Goals of Legal System Protect basic rights Promoting fairness Helping resolve conflicts Promoting order and stability Promoting desirable social and economic behaviors Representing the will of the majority and Protecting the rights of minorities

Laws  Based on Moral, economic, political and social values  As values change so do laws ***women in military, killing, laws that give tax breaks to home owners, voting laws, free public education

Can laws solve all social problems?

Human rights  Rights people have because they are human  Universal Declaration of Human Rights  Statement of basic human rights and standards for government that has been agreed to by almost every country in the world Liberty, education, political and religious freedoms, bans torture

Cultural vs. universally accepted human rights  How do we decide?

 With every right comes a responsibility

With every right comes a responsibility  To many rights, neglecting responsibility?  If want a jury of peers must be willing to serve  Want to be governed by elected officials must vote

Kinds of Laws Criminal – Regulate public conduct and set out duties owed to society – Only brought by government Felony-more than one year in prison Misdemeanor-one year or less Civil – Regulate relations between individuals or groups of individuals Civil Action-lawsuit Brought by person who feels wronged or injured by another ***can violate both

Criminal vs. Civil Law Defendant-person accused of committing crime in a criminal case Plantiff-person or company harmed Prosecutor- Beyond a resonable doubt-has any reasonable doubt must not convict Preponderance of the evidence-plantiff wins by proving evidence to jury to decide if more likely than not the plaintiffs complaint is true-lower requirement

Constitution  Lawmaking  Limited government-  States continue to hold power to make laws  Executive-  enforces laws  Legislative-  Congress passes statutes  Judicial-  Courts clarifies and interprets laws, statutues

Constitution Cont.  Judicial Review-enables courts to declare unenforceable any law passed by Congress that conflicts with the constitution  The government has passed a law that violates someone's rights  The government passed a law that the constitution does not give it the power to pass  Checks and Balances  3 branches are independent but has power to restrain other branches

Lawmaking  State and federal government  Legislatures-primary laws making body Congress-power to pass laws that are binding in all states Senate and house of representatives  State-only apply in state boundaries  ***Supremacy clause

Becoming a law  Bills-introduced legislation  If passed by legislature and not vetoed by executive branch becomes a law  Legislative intent A judge who interprets what the legistlature means determines

Laws  Laws are made by  Leglistatures  Agencies  courts

Courts and laws  Appeal or appellate courts  Change the results of the trail Will write a precedent for future trials