BLAW notes
Law
● Government mandated set of rules
● Government has the authority to create consequences
● Must be written
Purpose
● Solve an existing problem
Liability
● Government mandated obligation/duty/debt
● Based on : criminal, contract(owe another party debt), tort
● You can take on liability without realizing it based on your actions and interactions with
individuals, entities, and the government
Sources of Law : Primary and Secondary
- “Primary sources of law”
1. Constitution
2. Statutory - legislative bodies
3. Administrative Law
4. Case Law - judge
- “Secondary sources of law”
1. Scholarly writing
a. Books and articles
Uniform Laws
● Created by legal scholars and lawmakers for the purpose of having every state have the
same law
Common Law
● Using precedent to make laws
● “Lego Example”
Stakeholders
● Anyone/anything impacted by a decision
Cost-benefit analysis
● Ford pinto car exploding
○ $121 million to fix cars vs. $49.53 million for lawsuits
Utilitarianism test
● Greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people
, 2/6 Notes
Jurisdiction
● does the court have authority over the people and the case
Venue
● Geographic location
Standing
● Party has legal protected interest - real injury (physical/financial/liberty)
Remedy
● What can the court do to fix the problem?
“Judicial Review”
● The power to say that a law created by one of the other branches is unconstitutional
Marbury v. Madison
● When John Adams lost the election to Thomas Jefferson, the majority of Congress was
in the same party as Adams, so to not lose power he pardoned a whole bunch of people
as well as appointing his friends into government positions who were not qualified.
Adams appoints Marbury to a judicial position before leaving office. Jefferson comes in
and says if people were not appointed properly they don't get the job. So Marbury filed a
lawsuit against Madison saying that Madison has to give them their jobs. The Supreme
Court can either go with Marbury and claim they deserve their jobs or they can not
appoint Marbury and keep the president happy. First case of what Congress
wants(Marbury in the government) and what the President wants(all of Adams hires out).
The Supreme Court decides to not solve the case and instead decides. The courts
create the “judicial review” which causes Marbury to lose his job as well as lets the
executive and legislative branch to believe they still have power.
● We have one branch who is the voice of reason
“Question of Law” vs. “Question of Fact”
● “Question of Law” - the judge gets to decide which law is involved, all legal questions go
to the court; if it is appealed it only goes to the question of law
● “Questions of Fact” - the jury gets the questions of fact, Who? When? Where? Why?
What? How?
3 levels of court
Federal System
- Supreme Court (only hear about 1% of cases)
- Court of Appeals
- District
Law
● Government mandated set of rules
● Government has the authority to create consequences
● Must be written
Purpose
● Solve an existing problem
Liability
● Government mandated obligation/duty/debt
● Based on : criminal, contract(owe another party debt), tort
● You can take on liability without realizing it based on your actions and interactions with
individuals, entities, and the government
Sources of Law : Primary and Secondary
- “Primary sources of law”
1. Constitution
2. Statutory - legislative bodies
3. Administrative Law
4. Case Law - judge
- “Secondary sources of law”
1. Scholarly writing
a. Books and articles
Uniform Laws
● Created by legal scholars and lawmakers for the purpose of having every state have the
same law
Common Law
● Using precedent to make laws
● “Lego Example”
Stakeholders
● Anyone/anything impacted by a decision
Cost-benefit analysis
● Ford pinto car exploding
○ $121 million to fix cars vs. $49.53 million for lawsuits
Utilitarianism test
● Greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people
, 2/6 Notes
Jurisdiction
● does the court have authority over the people and the case
Venue
● Geographic location
Standing
● Party has legal protected interest - real injury (physical/financial/liberty)
Remedy
● What can the court do to fix the problem?
“Judicial Review”
● The power to say that a law created by one of the other branches is unconstitutional
Marbury v. Madison
● When John Adams lost the election to Thomas Jefferson, the majority of Congress was
in the same party as Adams, so to not lose power he pardoned a whole bunch of people
as well as appointing his friends into government positions who were not qualified.
Adams appoints Marbury to a judicial position before leaving office. Jefferson comes in
and says if people were not appointed properly they don't get the job. So Marbury filed a
lawsuit against Madison saying that Madison has to give them their jobs. The Supreme
Court can either go with Marbury and claim they deserve their jobs or they can not
appoint Marbury and keep the president happy. First case of what Congress
wants(Marbury in the government) and what the President wants(all of Adams hires out).
The Supreme Court decides to not solve the case and instead decides. The courts
create the “judicial review” which causes Marbury to lose his job as well as lets the
executive and legislative branch to believe they still have power.
● We have one branch who is the voice of reason
“Question of Law” vs. “Question of Fact”
● “Question of Law” - the judge gets to decide which law is involved, all legal questions go
to the court; if it is appealed it only goes to the question of law
● “Questions of Fact” - the jury gets the questions of fact, Who? When? Where? Why?
What? How?
3 levels of court
Federal System
- Supreme Court (only hear about 1% of cases)
- Court of Appeals
- District
