Sources of Law

Notes from Class (Code of Hammurabi/ Twelve Tables/Common Law/Civil Law• Code of Hammurabi- 1700 BC, 282 laws and the first to show a

presumption of innocence. The government has to prove that you committed a crime• Twelve tables-Roman set of laws that are specified and the people

(plebeians) have a role in writing the laws• Common Law- uncodified laws based on precedent by previous

judges’ decision—the most influential law in the American legal system• Civil law-codified law where legislators write laws and judges follow

them

• There are three main sources of law in the US: constitutions, statutes, and regulations

Constitutions

• It is the “supreme law of the land”- no law can go against the Constitution and no law can be made unless the Constitution allows it• Some laws are specific for everyone- (if someone commits a crime in

one state and goes to another state, the Constitution allows the criminal to be extradited, or sent back to the state where the crime was committed• The constitution also allows types of laws to be passed or forbid

certain types of laws.- (Constitution allows Congress to pass laws about how business is conducted across state lines. It also forbids any laws limiting people’s freedom of religion)

State Constitution

• Each state has its on Constitution. State laws apply only to the state and state constitutions can not violate US Constitution

Statutes

• Constitution gives congress permission to make laws about a lot of things• A law that congress makes is called a statute• These statutes apply to the whole US• There are thousands of statutes collected, the collection is called the United

States Code• Constitution lets Congress establish post offices and pass any laws “necessary

and proper”. Congress can establish post offices and pass all the laws needed for running a postal service. Remember a post office is national so Congress and not the states have the power to create it• The US Code section on the Post Offices has laws like, what can and can’t be

sent through the mail

39 U.S. Code 101 - Postal policy

• (a) The United States Postal Service shall be operated as a basic and fundamental service provided to the people by the Government of the United States, authorized by the Constitution, created by Act of Congress, and supported by the people. The Postal Service shall have as its basic function the obligation to provide postal services to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people. It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities. The costs of establishing and maintaining the Postal Service shall not be apportioned to impair the overall value of such service to the people.

State statutes/local ordinances

• State Constitutions allow state legislatures to pass state laws, those are called statutes too, but only apply to the state• State statutes allow local governments to pass their own laws. Local

laws are called ordinances, and only apply to the city or county

FL State Statute

• 1003.32 Authority of teacher; responsibility for control of students; district school board and principal duties.—Subject to law and to the rules of the district school board, each teacher or other member of the staff of any school shall have such authority for the control and discipline of students as may be assigned to him or her by the principal or the principal’s designated representative and shall keep good order in the classroom and in other places in which he or she is assigned to be in charge of students.

• (1) In accordance with this section and within the framework of the district school board’s code of student conduct, teachers and other instructional personnel shall have the authority to undertake any of the following actions in managing student behavior and ensuring the safety of all students in their classes and school and their opportunity to learn in an orderly and disciplined classroom:

• (a) Establish classroom rules of conduct.• (b) Establish and implement consequences, designed to change behavior, for infractions of classroom rules.• (c) Have disobedient, disrespectful, violent, abusive, uncontrollable, or disruptive students removed from the

classroom for behavior management intervention.• (d) Have violent, abusive, uncontrollable, or disruptive students directed for information or assistance from

appropriate school or district school board personnel.• (e) Assist in enforcing school rules on school property, during school-sponsored transportation, and during

school-sponsored activities.

Miami-Dade Ordinance

• Miami - Dade County, Florida, Code of Ordinances >> PART I - CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT AND CHARTER >> ARTICLE 7. PARKS, AQUATIC PRESERVES, AND PRESERVATION LANDS

Regulations

• Congress can make laws but they don’t carry them out or enforce them. Executive branch can’t make laws but they carry them out-or execute them.• Both branches must work together and the Judicial makes sure what they

do is Constitutional• The Executive Branch has a bunch of agencies that carry out laws. All the

president’s departments: Defense, Agriculture, Transportation• Congress doesn’t have the time to pass laws about every little detail on

how to run these agencies• Congress gives each agency the power to create its own rules, these rules

that an agency within the executive branch makes are called regulations

• The Post Office is an agency, Congress doesn’t pass out the mail, they just make laws allowing the post office to exist. They pass major laws like what you can and can’t send in the mail. They give the Post Office power to make their own (smaller) rules like people are not allowed to ask for money at a post office or allowing people to pay for stamps over the internet

Judicial Precedent and Interpretation

• Statutes and regulations aren’t always clear. People can disagree about the meaning of a law. This can lead to a lawsuit, one side complaining it has suffered because the other side has not followed the law properly. The lawsuit will go through the courts (trial court—court of appeals—U.S Supreme Court) and the court’s interpret the law and decide how it should apply• If the case goes all the way to the Supreme Court, whatever they

interpret is a precedent, a decision that people can use in the future to handle a situation. When the court makes a precedent, it is like a law. Only the court can change a law and make a different interpretation• This also applies to state court systems and state supreme courts

Types of Law

• There are two types of law: Criminal or Civil

Criminal Law

• Criminal laws make certain actions a crime- these laws come from all three levels of government (federal, state, and local)• Felonies are crimes that have a punishment of more than a year in jail• Misdemeanors are less serious and the penalty is usually less than a

year in jail or a fine• In a criminal trial, the defendant-person accused of a crime is on one

side, and the government is always on the other side-charging the defendant with the crime.

Civil Law

• If its not criminal, its civil! Property, divorce, employment, personal injury, there are many more civil laws than criminal laws• Civil laws-help settle disagreements between people. Judges or juries

decide what the facts are and what the solution should be

SPECIAL SYTEMS OF LAW

• MILITARY LAW• JUVENILE LAW

MILITARY LAW

• THE CONSTITUTION ALLOWS CONGRESS TO MAKE LAWS CONCERNING THE MILITARY• CONGRESS MADE REGULATIONS CALLED THE UCMJ (UNIFORM CODE

OF MILITARY JUSTICE) SPECIFICALLY FOR THE MILITARY• SOME OF THOSE LAWS WOULD APPLY ONLY FOR THE MILITARY LIKE:

LEAVING WITHOUT PERMISSION, DISRESPECTING A SUPERIOR,

JUVENILE LAW

• JUVENILE JUSTICE DEALS WITH PEOPLE UNDER THE AGE OF 18• JUVENILE LAW IS A LITTLE MORE FLEXIBLE BECAUSE IT TAKES INTO

ACCOUNT THAT BECAUSE OF A PERSON’S YOUNG AGE, THEY MIGHT MAKE MISTAKES THEY WOULDN’T IF THEY WERE AN ADULT