1 / 11

2. Sources of criminal law

2. Sources of criminal law. CJ 297: Criminal Law Mount Mercy University. Four sources of criminal law. Constitutions Statutory Law Administrative Law Case Law. 1. constitutions. U.S. Constitution Basic legal principles/foundation Criminal laws cannot violate State Constitutions

abby
Download Presentation

2. Sources of criminal law

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. 2. Sources of criminal law CJ 297: Criminal Law Mount Mercy University

  2. Four sources of criminal law • Constitutions • Statutory Law • Administrative Law • Case Law

  3. 1. constitutions • U.S. Constitution • Basic legal principles/foundation • Criminal laws cannot violate • State Constitutions • Mirror U.S. Constitution • Cannot contradict U.S. Constitution • Can grant greater individual rights

  4. 2. Statutory law • Written • Compiled in Codes • U.S. Code • State Codes • Local Codes • Statute must be violated

  5. 3. Administrative law • Legislature delegates authority • Specialization • Examples

  6. 4. Case Law • Written decisions of judges (appeals) • Hierarchy & stare decisis • Interpret laws • Ensure statutes don’t violate constitutions

  7. federalism • Two-tiered system of government • National (federal) • States

  8. federalism • Why is it important to criminal law? • Criminal law left to States • A few national exceptions • Crimes at sea, on waterways • Crimes on federal property • Crimes that cross state boundaries

  9. federalism • Federal Court Structure Federal Courts U.S. Supreme Court   Appeals Court   District Court/Trial level State Courts State Supreme Courts   Appeals Court   District Court/Trial level

  10. Trials v. appeals • Grounds for Appeal • Legal Error • Appeals make Case Law

  11. Case law examples • Hierarchy • Stare decisis • Exception: Overrule • Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): separate but equal • Brown v. Board of Education (1954) • Bowers v. Hardwick (1986): sodomy v. privacy • Lawrence & Garner v. Texas (2003)

More Related