This document provides an overview of the US legal system. It discusses how law has historically regulated human interactions for various reasons and theories like consensus theory and conflict theory. It also summarizes the crime control and due process models of the criminal justice system. Common law, statutory law, and case law are examined. Important Supreme Court cases like Marbury v. Madison and US v. Jones are briefly summarized. The roles of courts, judges, and other legal professionals are also outlined.

1.  
Michelle Palaro
CJUS 2360
Fall 2015
Chapter 2
An Overview of the
U.S. Legal System

2.  Throughout history, law has regulated human
interactions for different reasons:
o Protect society’s interests
o Deter antisocial behavior
o Enforce moral beliefs
o Uphold individual rights
o Support those in power
o Punish lawbreakers
o Seek retribution for wrongdoing

3.  Consensus Theory (Plato and Aristotle)
o Holds that individuals in a society agree on basic
values, on what is inherently right and wrong, and
that laws express these values
o Social contract exists where individuals agree to give
up a portion of their individual freedom to benefit the
security of the group
 Conflict Theory (Karl Marx)
o Holds that laws are established to keep the dominant
class in power
o Explains how laws protect the interests and values of
the dominant groups in society

4.  Purpose of criminal justice system often discussed in
terms of the Crime Control Model and the Due Process
Model
1. The Crime Control Model:
o Emphasizes the repression of criminal conduct.
o Criminal justice system must bring criminal behavior under tight
control.
2. The Due Process Model:
o Emphasizes the rights of the individual
o Rests on the presumption of innocence
o Individual rights are not to be sacrificed for the sake of efficiency

5.  The basic purpose of the legal system is:
o To ensure fairness in balancing individual
and society rights and needs, while
preventing excessive government power
 Scales of justice represent keeping individual
and societal needs in balance

6.  Early English judge-made law, based on custom and
tradition that was followed throughout the country is
known as Common Law
 Royal judges traveled through territories to apply a
broader or national norm as cases were decided. Law
became more common throughout the country
 It is synonymous in American law with case law - based
on previous cases

7.  Common law depends heavily on precedent
(prior cases) and the doctrine of stare
decisis
o Latin for “let the decision stand”
o Requires that decisions in one case shall
be followed in all later cases having the
same or similar circumstances
o This ensures consistency in the law

8.  The purpose of the Constitution
remains to ensure individual liberty by
limiting government power
 The law itself controls government by
restricting how and when government
can and cannot interfere with citizen’s
lives

9.  Human nature dictates that different needs are
perceived at different times
o Effective law should be flexible enough to
respond to these changes
 American law is referred to as a living law,
because it is not stagnant
o It can change, expand or rescinded (repeal)
to serve the overall system

10.  Statutory law - laws set by legislatures or
governing bodies having jurisdiction to make
such law
o Statutory law can be referred as codified law
o Codified law - law specifically set forth in
organized, structured codes such as the US
criminal code, state statutes, or local ordinances
o Ordinances - laws or codes established at the
local level (the municipal or county level)
 No statutory law can violate the Constitution

11.  Who is the victim? Is it a public wrong (criminal)
or a private wrong (civil)?
 The victim in criminal law is the community,
because it disrupts the community. Society’s
welfare has been violated
o This is why the government’s name,
representing the people, versus the
defendant appears on court docket
• Ex. US v. Smith, State of Florida v. Smith

12.  Brief video on case:

13.  Facts: Marbury was designated as a justice of the peace in
DC in the last days of John Adams's presidency, but these
last-minute appointments were never fully finalized. He
invoked an act of Congress and sued for his job in the
Supreme Court
 Issues: Is the Supreme Court the place for Marbury to get
the relief he requests?
 Holding: The Constitution was "the fundamental and
paramount law of the nation" and that "an act of the
legislature repugnant to the constitution is void." In other
words, when the Constitution--the nation's highest law--
conflicts with an act of the legislature, that act is invalid
 This case establishes the Supreme Court's power of judicial
review

14.  Crimes- Acts defined by federal or state statute
or local ordinance that are punishable; wrongs
against the government and the people it
serves
• Ex. murder, rape, robbery, etc.
• “Penal codes” – listing of criminal codes or laws
 Tort- Civil wrong by one individual against
another
• Ex. child support, eviction, divorce, class action
lawsuits
• Ex. Plaintiff v. Defendant (Smith v. Jones)

15.  Sometimes there is overlap of criminal
and civil law
o A drunk driver causes a crash and hurts an
individual
o Is this criminal or civil?
• It can be both - Can be guilty of DUI (crime) and be
held civilly liable for the injuries caused to others
by the tort committed
• The government would pursue criminal charges
• The victim would file a lawsuit in pursuit of
damages for medical bills or car repair

16.  A legal citation is a standardized way of referring to a
specific element in the law
 It has three basic parts:
o A volume number
o An abbreviation for the title
o A page or section number
 For example, the official cite for the Miranda case is
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966)
 Sometimes additional cites, known as string cites
(parallel citations), are given
o A string cite for this case would be Miranda v, Arizona,
384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct 1502, 16 L.Ed. 694 (1966)

17.  A legal opinion usually contains:
o A description of the facts
o A statement of the legal issues presented
o The relevant rules of law
o The holding
o The policies and reasons that support the holding
 The holding of the case is the rule of law applied to the
particular facts of the case and the actual decision
 A court may affirm (support), reverse (overturn), or
remand (return the case to the lower court)

18.  A case brief is an outline of a legal case
that contains:
o The case name and citation
o A summary of key facts
o The legal issues involved
o The court’s decision
o The reason for that decision
o Any separate opinions or dissents

19.  Shepardizing a case involves using Shepard’s
Citations
 This is a reference that tracks cases so legal
researchers can easily determine whether the
original holding has been changed through any
appeals
 Relying on a case that has been overturned or
otherwise rendered invalid could prove
disastrous for the attorney and their client

20.  The court has two main functions:
o Settle controversies between parties
o To decide the rules of law that apply in the specific
case
 Article III of the U.S. Constitution established the federal
judicial system
 The types of cases a court can hear depend upon its
jurisdiction:
o The authority of a legislative body to establish a law or
a court to hear case
o The authority a law has over a specific group of people

21.  Facts: Carter, Johns, and Thompson were arrested
after a police officer observed them through a window
bagging cocaine in Thompson's apartment
 Issue: Under the Fourth Amendment, do household
visitors have the same protection against unreasonable
searches and seizures as do residents or overnight
social guests?
 Holding: No
 Rationale: People who visit someone's home for a
short time do not have the same protection against
unreasonable police searches and seizures as do the
residents or their overnight guests

22.  Brief video on case:

23.  Facts: Passengers in a car attempted to suppress
shotgun shells found in the car
 Issue: “[W]hether standing [can] be established in the
absence of ownership of the property seized”
 Holding: No
 Rationale: The Court did not accept the “target” theory,
and reaffirmed Jones v. United States. The petitioners
had no standing and no “legally sufficient interest in a
place other than his own home.” The petitioners “could
[not] legitimately expect privacy in the areas which were
the subject of the search and seizure each sought to
contest”

24.  Facts: President Jimmy Carter acted without
congressional approval in ending a defense treaty with
Taiwan
 Issue: Did Congress have a constitutional role to play in
the termination of the treaty?
 Holding: The case was not proper for the Court to
consider
 Rationale: The majority believed that the issue involved
a political question, namely, how the President and
Congress would conduct the nation's foreign affairs

25.  The US judicial system is two-tiered, consisting
of state and federal court systems
 At either tier, there are three levels:
1. Lower court (trial court)
2. Appellate court
3. Court of last resort (Supreme court)
 These levels exist to assure that if either side
thinks procedural rules were violated, they can
appeal the case to a higher court

26.  Judges
 Lawyers
 Clerks of the court
 Sheriffs
 Marshals
 Bailiffs

27.  Standing
o Having an actual interest in the matter of dispute
 Mootness
o Exists when the issues that gave rise to a case have
either been resolved or have disappeared
 Ripeness
o When a case comes to court too soon
o Courts cannot get prematurely involved in a case
that can be resolved through other means

28.  The courts are only one component of the American
system of justice
 There are also law enforcement and the correctional
systems
 Law enforcement officers are known as the
“gatekeepers” of the criminal justice system
 Correctional officials handle the offenders after a court
renders that they are guilty of a crime
 The juvenile justice system is also composed of the
courts, law enforcement and corrections, though some
of the guiding principles and rules are different