Warm Up: 01/09/14 What is law? Why do you think laws are important?

Unit 6: The Federal Court System and Supreme Court Decision-Making Foundations of American Law

Foundations of American Law: Main Idea: Introduction to American Law Notes: The word law refers to the set of rules and standards by which a society governs itself. There are 5 major sources of law in America: Constitutional Law Statutory Law Administrative Law Common Law Equity

Foundations of American Law: Main Idea: Constitutional Law Notes: The Constitution is the supreme law of the land in the U.S. The term, Constitutional Law refers to laws dealing with the formation, construction, and interpretation of the Constitution.

Foundations of American Law: Main Idea: Constitutional Law (cont’d.) Notes: Cases involving Constitutional Law usually put limits on the power of government, and deal with individual rights. While Executive and Legislative interpretations of the Constitution can affect Constitutional Law, ultimately the final decisions on Constitutional Law rests with the Supreme Court.

Foundations of American Law: Main Idea: Statutory Law Notes: A statute is a law written by a legislative branch of government (Congress). Statutory Law (also called “Roman Law”) is the codification (recording) of statutes so that they can be used as a reference in future cases.

Foundations of American Law: Main Idea: Statutory Law (cont’d.) Notes: Most decisions of federal courts deal with statutory law, and many of the cases decided by the Supreme Court are devoted to interpreting statutory laws. Ordinances are statutes that are passed by local governments (city councils.)

Foundations of American Law: Main Idea: Administrative Law Notes: Administrative Law explains the authority and procedures to be followed by government agencies. Because a lot of government agencies deal with distributing entitlements and other government benefits, many administrative law cases involve disputes in fairness.

Foundations of American Law: Main Idea: Common Law Notes: Common Law is the most important source of law in the U.S. legal system. This type of law is made by judges as they decide individual cases. This is where judges will set precedents to be followed by others to come after, based on their interpretation and understanding of the law.

Foundations of American Law: Main Idea: Equity Notes: Equity is a system of rules by which disputes are resolved on the grounds of fairness. Originally developed to rival common law in medieval times. In America today, Common Law and Equity have merged.