Laws and the Legal System “ Ignorance of the law is no excuse ”

Daily Agenda for November 1st  Make a Quiz-Appetizer  Vocabulary  Notes  Civics Bingo (Comprehensive Review)

Vocabulary for Today (Add to your notes)  Jurisprudencemisdemeanor  Common lawlawsuit  Precedentstorts  Statute  Plaintiff  Defendant  felony

Objectives  6.01 Trace the development of law in American society.  6.04 Identify ways citizens can be informed about the laws.

Quotes from Hammuarbi  “ If anyone committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death ”  “ If fire break out in a house, and some one who comes to put it out cast his eye upon the property of the owner of the house, and take the property of the master of the house, he shall be thrown into that self-same fire. ”  “ Eye for an eye ”

Functions of Law  Laws are sets of rules that allow people to live peacefully in society.  They make it possible for the majority of people to deal with each other because “ everyone ” knows or should know, how to deal with each other.

Purpose of Laws  Laws are meant to:  Keep the peace  Administer justice through the judicial and law enforcement system.  Ensure safety and security  Deter would-be criminals from committing crime.  Resolve civil disputes over  Money, Property, contacts and other non-criminal matters.

Purpose of Laws:  To be effective laws must be:  Fair  And allow people to be treated equally.  Good Laws allow for punishments to be laid out clearly for law breakers. In addition, they must be reasonable.  In order to be a good citizen you must be informed about the law in order to obey it.

Early Laws  Hammurabi ’ s Code/Law  Ten Commandments  Roman Law  English Law

Hammuarbi ’ s Code/Law  Hammurabi ’ s Code/Law dates back to 1760 B.C.  The code has 282 laws that regulated the behavior of Babylonians.  By today ’ s standards, the code was very harsh in terms of penalties for lawbreakers.

Hammurabi  (Do not write this down) For example,  If you stole the property of someone, you had to pay back 10 times the value of the property otherwise you were put to death.  If any one strike the body of a man higher in rank than he, he shall receive sixty blows with an ox- whip in public.  If a slave say to his master: "You are not my master," if they convict him his master shall cut off his ear.

Ten Commandments  The Ten Commandments were/are another set of ancient laws.  They are found in the Old Testament …  They contain moral guidelines for how people should behave toward one another.  Thou shall not steal  Thou shall not kill  Honor thy father and mother  Thou shall not covet  Thou shall not covet thy ’ neighbors wife etc.

Roman Law

 Roman law is based on jurisprudence  Like Hammurabi ’ s code, Roman penalties for infractions were stiff. “ If any person has stung or composed against another person a song such as was causing slander or insult to another, they shall be clubbed to death. ”

The Different Types of Laws  Civil  Criminal  Public/Constitutional  International

Criminal Law  Criminal Law are laws that prevent people from deliberately from harming each other or property  Under our current system, the Courtroom serves as an arena where lawyers argue their cases.

Criminal Law Continued  The plaintiff-the party that brings the charges against the alleged criminal.  Usually the plaintiff is the government.  The defendant is the person or group being charged with a crime.

Criminal Law  Criminal cases are titled in terms of the state against the defendant.  Ex. State v. Miller  State vs. Public Schools of Robeson County

Criminal Law  Felonies are serious crimes  Misdemeanors are minor offenses

Your Assignment  Classify the following types of crimes as misdemeanors or felonies:  Vandalism  Murder  Rape  Kidnapping  Robbery  Writing Bad Checks  Arson

Civil Laws  Civil cases involve disputes between  People  Groups of People  Organizations  Governments  In civil cases, the case is called a lawsuit when it goes to court.

Civil Cases Continued  A lawsuit is a legal action in which a person or group sues to collect damages for some harm that is done.  The person who files the lawsuit is known as the plaintiff.

Civil Cases  In Civil Cases, individuals believe they have lost something of value or something suffered some damage (emotional, psychological, physical damage) because of someone else ’ s actions.  Cases may involve contracts, family issues (divorce, custody, adoption, alimony, child support)

Torts  Torts are also known as civil wrongs  In these types of cases, people may suffer injuries and blame another party is responsible because of negligence.

Public Law/Constitutional Law  These laws involve rights guaranteed under the Constitution.  For example, if someone violated your right to free speech the Constitution comes in as the final say in the actual case.  Constitutional laws are the highest laws in the land.  They serve as guide for our courts and legislatures whenever they deal with punishments and fines.

International Law  International laws are laws that deal with international affairs.  They may involve  Treaties  Border Disputes  Trade Agreements

International Law  Cases involving international law are settled in world courts.

Homework Assignment  Questions 2-4 p. 351 due at the beginning of the period.

Extra Credit  The word of the week is citizenship.  For extra credit you are to write a short essay on what citizenship means to you. Your essay must have a beginning and closing paragraph. In addition, you must have three supporting paragraphs.  These paragraphs must contain 3-8 sentences and have supporting details. In other words, substance. Do not hand in an essay with five sentences.