2. 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
3. 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
4. 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
5. 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
6. 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
7. 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
8. 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
