CHAPTER ONE
True-False
Any element of falsity renders the statement false.
1. One definition of law is static, a “snapshot”, emphasizing law’s nature as a set of written rules.
A better definition of law is dynamic, emphasizing its changing and evolving nature in
responding to new issues and problems.
Answer: T
2. Case law is also often referred to as court law.
Answer: T
3. The new science of biotechnology promises to bring new cures of old diseases without
creating serious legal issues and problems.
Answer: F
4. It is generally understood that the phrase common law has one clear meaning.
Answer: F
5. The term judicial activist is used to describe legislators and executives who seek to increase
the workload of the courts.
Answer: F
6. For hundreds of years, the common law of England had evolved into a framework of
principles found in both customs and statutes that were brought to the New World by early
colonial settlers.
Answer: T
7. Stare decisis is a common-law principle that is fundamental to the U.S. modern system of justice.
Answer: Answer: T
,8. The part of a court opinion that determines the resolution of the dispute is called the
dicta
Answer: F
9. Apostasy, the renunciation of one’s religion, is illegal in some countries in which religious
law is the law of the country.
Answer: T
10. Federal common law is limited to disputes involving obligations of the United States, interstate
and international disputes, and admiralty cases.
Answer: T
11. Utilitarianism is a philosophical theory, first developed by Jeremy Bentham.
Answer: T
12. Syllogisms help to identify incorrect premises and flawed thinking.
Answer: T
13. It is often impossible to tell the plaintiff and the defendant by the title of a reported appellate
court decision. You must read the facts of each case carefully to identify each party.
Answer: T
14. A major strength of utilitarian ethics is its flexible application.
Answer: T
15. Under a duty model of ethics, an action is morally correct or right when, among people it affects,
it produces the greatest amount of good for the greatest number.
Answer: F
16. A code is a compilation of statutes grouped by topic.
Answer: T
18. The doctrine of supremacy is a court doctrine requiring that trial court decisions comply with
appellate court decisions.
Answer: F
19. A doctrine of American law holds that courts may only decide cases to which an actual conflict
exists rather than offer advisory opinions.
, Answer: T
20. Common law and statutory law are both laws created by the executive branch of
government. Answer: Answer: F
21. Procedural law is that law that establishes rights and prohibits wrongs.
Answer: F
Fill-Ins
Complete each sentence or statement.
1. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently proposed new laws concerning
inspection of meat before its sale for human consumption. A new meat inspection
requirement would be an example of law.
Answer: administrative
2. Forcible rape is an example of both__________________and________________________law. Thus,
the victim can begin legal proceedings against the wrongdoer in two separate courts.
Answer: civil; criminal
3. Some fundamentals of our present constitutional law dates to the year 1215 when King
John of
England accepted the__________________, which established, among other important matters,
trial by jury in criminal cases.
Answer: Magna Carta
4. The concept that subsequent courts will adhere to the principles of law espoused in
decisions of
earlier courts is called .
Answer: stare decisis OR precedent
5. The body of legal rules of today that were derived from fundamental usages and customs
of antiquity, particularly as they appeared in medieval England, and from modern
judgments of appellate courts that recognize and apply those customs in specific cases,
is called the
_______________________.
Answer: common law
6. The common law is sometimes referred to as the________________law.
Answer: unwritten OR case
, 7. That state laws must yield to conflicting federal laws is called the
doctrine of _________________.
Answer: supremacy
8. That lawyers may not question prospective jurors about their sexual preference is an example
of the application of ____________________law.
Answer: procedural
9. A city ordinance that requires all landlords to change locks each time an apartment is rented
or face a $1,000 fine is an example of the __________law.
Answer: substantive
10. Judges who purposefully expand on the law in their decisions are often referred to as
_________________and judges who narrowly interpret the law by relying heavily on precedent
are often referred to as ________________ .
Answer: judicial activists; strict constructionists.
11. is a method of logical reasoning from two or more propositions to a
conclusion.
Answer: Deductive logic
12. Statements that reflect what should be or how one should act are called______________.
Answer: normative statements
13. A(n) is a party who appeals a case to another court. A(n)
_____________________is the party against whom an appeal is made.
Answer: appellant; appellee
14. is the study of the general nature of morals and of the specific moral choices
to be made by the individual in his relationship with others; the philosophy of morals.
Answer: Ethics
15. Law that concerns relations among sovereign nations is called_______________.
Answer: international law
16. Statements of fact that are neutral as to any expression of values are called_____________.
Answer: non normative statements
1 7 . T h e t e r m ________________is a fanciful reference to a case that is identical or virtually
identical to a case previously decided by a high court in the same court system.
Answer: goose case or case on all fours