This document provides an overview of the concept of law. It discusses how laws reflect societal values and human rights. It also describes the different types of laws, including criminal vs. civil laws, and the levels of required proof in each. Additionally, it examines the balance between rights and responsibilities and how the US Constitution works to limit government powers through the principles of separation of powers and judicial review.

1. LAW
CHAPTER 1
WHAT IS LAW?

2. CHAPTER 1 – WHAT IS LAW?
• Part 1 - LAWS AND VALUES
• Part 2 - HUMAN RIGHTS
• Part 3 - BALANCING RIGHTS AND
RESPONSIBILITIES
• Part 4 - KINDS OF LAWS
• Part 5 - OUR CONSTITUTIONAL
FRAMEWORK

3. PART 1 – LAWS AND VALUES
OBJECTIVES
• How do laws reflect economic, moral,
political, and social values.
• List three aspects of a fully effective law.

4. PART 1 – LAWS AND VALUES
• Laws reflect and promote a society’s
values
• Our laws are influenced by our society’s
traditional ideas of RIGHT and WRONG
– Ex. – laws against murder reflect the idea that
killing someone is wrong (immoral)
– Not all things considered immoral are against
the law
• ex. Adultery

5. PART 1 – LAWS AND VALUES
7 Goals of our legal system
1. Protecting basic human rights
2. Promoting fairness
3. Helping resolve conflicts
4. Promoting desirable social and economic
behavior
5. Promoting order and stability
6. Representing the will of the majority
7. Protecting the rights of minorities

6. PART 1 – LAWS AND VALUES
• Our laws require balance
– When do the rights of minorities outweigh the will
of the majority? (examples)
– How do we get people to fulfill their
responsibilities without infringing their rights?
– How does our government protect us without
taking away our civil rights?
– How can we protect the rights of some without
violating the rights of others? (ex. Smoking)

7. PART 1 – LAWS AND VALUES
Types of Laws
• Moral
– Deal with right and wrong
• Economic
– Deal with issues of wealth and money
• Political
– Reflect relationship between the government and
individuals
• Social
– Concern important issues to society
– Deal with how we interact with one another

8. PART 2 – HUMAN RIGHTS
OBJECTIVES
• Define human rights, dignity, binding,
covenant, taking a reservation
• What is the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights?
• How does the US enforce international
human rights agreements.
• Identify examples of human rights violations
in the US and elsewhere in the world.

9. PART 2 – HUMAN RIGHTS
WHAT ARE HUMAN RIGHTS?
• Human Rights – the rights that all people
have just because they are human beings
– They are not “given”; we are born with them
• Both governments and individuals can violate
human rights
• They exist everywhere: all nations, schools,
workplaces, homes

10. PART 2 – HUMAN RIGHTS
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Statement of basic human rights and
standards that has been agreed on by every
nation in the world
– Adopted by the UN in 1948 (Eleanor Roosevelt)
• All people have the right to liberty, education,
political and religious freedom, and the right
to make a living
• Bans torture
• All people have a right to participate in gov.

11. PART 2 – HUMAN RIGHTS
Cultural Rights
• It is universally accepted that all people have
a right to their own culture
• Sometimes a culture comes in conflict with
universal human rights
– Ex. Female infanticide
• Some cultures kill many female babies
• Has been done for thousands of years and is
commonly accepted
• Clearly violates accepted ideas of right to life and not
discriminating against women

12. PART 3 – BALANCING RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
OBJECTIVES
• What is the relationship between rights and
responsibilities?
• What are the reasons why critics object to the
United States’ emphasis on individual rights?
• What is the difference between being right
and having a right?

13. PART 3 – BALANCING RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
• Critics of the US emphasis on people’s
individual rights say:
– Not enough emphasis on responsibilities
• Ex. If you have the right to a fair trial by jury, you ought
to be willing to serve on a jury
– Self-centered focus and a loss of sense of
community or “common good”
– “just because you have the right to do something
doesn’t mean that it is the right thing to do”
• Ex. Saying hateful things to someone is protected
under freedom of speech, but not necessarily the right
thing to do

14. PART 4 – KINDS OF LAWS
OBJECTIVES
• What are the differences between criminal
laws and civil laws?
• What are misdemeanors and felonies?
• Define plaintiff, defendant, and beyond a
reasonable doubt.

15. PART 4 – KINDS OF LAWS
CRIMINAL LAWS
• Regulate public conduct and set out duties owed to
society
• Criminal cases involve the government bringing
legal action against a person charged with a crime
(defendant)
• Convictions result in a penalty – fine or
imprisonment
• 2 types of criminal offenses
– Felonies (more serious crimes)
• Penalties of a year or more in prison
– Misdemeanors (less serious crimes)
• Penalties of less than a year in prison or jail

16. PART 4 – KINDS OF LAWS
CIVIL LAWS
• Regulate relations between individuals or
groups of individuals
• A civil action is a lawsuit brought by a person
(plaintiff) against another person (defendant)
• Courts award the injured person money, or
make the person who committed the wrong
to make up for it in some way
• Regulate everyday situations: marriage,
divorce, contracts, real estate, insurance,
consumer protection, negligence

17. PART 4 – KINDS OF LAWS
Requirement of Proof
• Criminal Cases
– Require proof beyond a reasonable doubt
– If the judge or jury has any doubts about the defendant’s
guilt, they must not convict
– Prison time or death penalty involved
• Civil Cases
– Require only proof by a preponderance of the evidence
– Jury or judge only needs to decide if it is more likely that
the plaintiff’s compliant is true
– Much less requirement of proof than reasonable doubt
• Only money, not the defendant’s life, on the line
• Ex. - O.J. Simpson

18. PART 5 – OUR CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
OBJECTIVES
• How does the US Constitution limit the
powers of government?
• What is Judicial Review and how does it
protect individual rights?
• How does the Bill of Rights reflect the idea of
limited government?

19. PART 5 – OUR CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
• Limited government – our national
government can only pass laws regarding
subjects specifically listed in Article 1
• Separation of Powers – three branches of
government
• Judicial Review – the power of the courts’ to
declare laws passed by Congress or the
states unconstitutional
• Bill of Rights – first 10 Amendments that
protect individual freedoms
– The heart of our laws and of the idea of limited
government