NEW EDITION
Social Contract - Ans Ci zens give some freedom to government in exchange for:
- Na onal security
- physical infrastructure
- police/dispute resolu on mechanisms
- business/commerce support
Federalism - Ans States agree to yield some of their sovereign power to central gov't
State Sovereignty - Ans Each state has own cons tu on, own rights
- States retain broad authority to govern family, commercial, and contractual rela onships
2 kinds of government power - Ans Police Power: protect health/safety
Parens Patriae Power: welfare of all
Felony - Ans serious crime punishable by year + in prison
Misdemeanor - Ans Lesser crime
Legisla ve Powers - Ans Congress (HOR, Senate)
Execu ve Powers - Ans President
,Judicial Powers - Ans Supreme Court/Courts
Administra ve Law - Ans Branch of law dealing with administra ve agencies/regula ons
Procedural Due Process - Ans The manner in which the government undertakes an ac on that
interferes with individual liberty
Substan ve Due Process - Ans how our laws, interpreted through our courts define liberty and
jus ce
Cons tu onal Principles - Ans popular sovereignty, limited government, separa on of powers,
checks and balances, judicial review, federalism
- government should only be able to interfere with people's lives if it needs to in orderto fulfill
its legi mate role
Bill of Rights - Ans The first ten amendments to the Cons tu on
Due Process - Ans fair treatment through the normal judicial system, especially as a ci zen's
en tlement.
Liberty Interests - Ans Individuals have these which must be balanced against the state
interests
- Bans Cruel and unusual punishment
- Bans double jeopardy
Doctrine of Stare Decisis - Ans a policy of courts to stand by a precedent and apply it to all
future cases where the facts are substan ally the same; to stand by things decided
- Makes law stable and predictable
, Precedent - Ans judicial decisions that give rise to legal principles that can be applied in future
cases based upon similar facts
- Has binding authority
IRAC format - Ans Issue, Rule, Applica on, Conclusion
- Method used by judges to make decision
Deduc ve reasoning - Ans Makes use of syllogism, type of logical rela onship involving major
premise and minor premise
Linear - Ans Proceeds from point to point, with final point being conclusion
Reasoning by analogy - Ans Analysis that compares facts of present case with facts of similar
previously-decided cases.
Civil Law - Ans defines the rights and du es of individuals and organiza ons
Criminal Law - Ans defines an individual's obliga on to society as a whole
Substan ve Law - Ans defines or creates the rights and obliga ons of persons and
governments
Procedural Law - Ans provides the steps one must follow in order to avail oneself of one's legal
rights or enforce another's legal obliga ons
Primary Sources of Law - Ans Statutory law, Administra ve law, Case Law