Warm Up: 01/09/14

1. Warm Up: 01/09/14 • What is law? • Why do you think laws are important?

2. Unit 6:The Federal Court System and Supreme Court Decision-Making Foundations of American Law

3. Foundations of American Law: Main Idea: Introduction to American Law Notes: • The word law refers to the set of rules and standards by which a society governs itself. • There are 5 major sources of law in America: • Constitutional Law • Statutory Law • Administrative Law • Common Law • Equity

4. Foundations of American Law: Main Idea: Constitutional Law Notes: • The Constitution is the supreme law of the land in the U.S. • The term, Constitutional Law refers to laws dealing with the formation, construction, and interpretation of the Constitution.

5. Foundations of American Law: Main Idea: Constitutional Law (cont’d.) Notes: • Cases involving Constitutional Law usually put limits on the power of government, and deal with individual rights. • While Executive and Legislative interpretations of the Constitution can affect Constitutional Law, ultimately the final decisions on Constitutional Law rests with the Supreme Court.

6. Foundations of American Law: Main Idea: Statutory Law Notes: • A statute is a law written by a legislative branch of government (Congress). • Statutory Law (also called “Roman Law”) is the codification (recording) of statutes so that they can be used as a reference in future cases.

7. Foundations of American Law: Main Idea: Statutory Law (cont’d.) Notes: • Most decisions of federal courts deal with statutory law, and many of the cases decided by the Supreme Court are devoted to interpreting statutory laws. • Ordinances are statutes that are passed by local governments (city councils.)

8. Foundations of American Law: Main Idea: Administrative Law Notes: • Administrative Law explains the authority and procedures to be followed by government agencies. • Because a lot of government agencies deal with distributing entitlements and other government benefits, many administrative law cases involve disputes in fairness.

9. Foundations of American Law: Main Idea: Common Law Notes: • Common Law is the most important source of law in the U.S. legal system. • This type of law is made by judges as they decide individual cases. • This is where judges will set precedents to be followed by others to come after, based on their interpretation and understanding of the law.

10. Foundations of American Law: Main Idea: Equity Notes: • Equity is a system of rules by which disputes are resolved on the grounds of fairness. • Originally developed to rival common law in medieval times. • In America today, Common Law and Equity have merged.