Social Science

Society has a set of rules, enforced by the government, called laws Only rules that everyone has to follow One of the basic principles of laws is to bring order into society by telling people what they may or may not do, setting standards, telling people how to do something, and spelling out how to properly resolve serious conflicts Laws also protect people’s lives, the quality of life, and property, including physical property or ideas and inventions

The Constitution instructs laws to also protect people’s individual freedoms and to protect society The Constitution protects individual freedoms by limiting the power of the government and instructs the government to protect the general welfare of the people Laws reflect many of our basic values and morals, or beliefs about what is fair and what is right or wrong However, in some cases, the law goes against our personal beliefs, and some people break the law to maintain their personal belief system Breaking the law in a nonviolent way because it goes against personal morals is called civil disobedience Most who break the law through civil disobedience accept their punishment because they know that they broke the law and law must be maintained

Some laws come from legislation to meet the demands of the public Laws written and made by legislatures are called statutes Laws passed by Congress are called federal laws and statues, and reflect the morals and values of the country, so everyone has to obey them Laws passed by the state or county are called statues or ordinances and only apply within the state or county Some laws are made by judges in the form of their decisions Laws based on a judge’s decisions are called common laws Decisions made are based on both the judges’ beliefs and the way society is organized at the time

In order to keep track of them, many laws are organized into legal codes, or a written collection of laws, often organized by subject Many other laws are organized within the Constitution of the United States or state constitutions Citizens still have the final say on all laws, and can contribute to change by electing officials who support their ideas and based on the changing of society

A crime is any behavior that is illegal because the government considers it harmful to society Criminal law refers to the group of laws that tell which acts are crimes, how accused persons should be tried in court, and how crimes should be punished Main purpose is to protect society Criminal law sets fair and reasonable punishments to those who committed the crimes Depends on the crime, and most have minimum and maximum penalties Crimes are divided into two categories: Felony-a serious crime for which the penalty can be imprisonment for more than one year Misdemeanor-less serious crime for which the penalty is often a fine Criminal law is made through federal, state, and local governments

Civil law is the group of laws that help settle disagreements between people who cannot or will not settle them privately To bring a civil matter into court, you must first ask the government for help by suing, or bringing the matter into court Judges and juries make decisions in civil courts based on previous decisions made from similar cases or on statutes made by previous judges

Both criminal and civil laws bring society together to protect itself and to protect citizens’ rights Sometimes, both criminal and civil cases can occur from the same situation If someone has committed a crime that has resulted in injury, either physical, mental, emotional, or financial