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Unit 8
The American Legal System
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Civil Law | Laws that relate to disputes between people or groups or between people and the government |
| Criminal Law | Laws that prohibit certain acts that are considered crimes |
| Constitutional Law | Law dealing with the formation, construction, and interpretation of constitutions (federal and state) |
| Military Law | Law governing the armed forces and its members |
| Statutory Law | The body of laws created by a legislature |
| Case Law | A law established by judicial decision...based on previous court decisions |
| Common Law | A system of law based on previous legal decisions (originated in England and influenced the U.S.) |
| Appellate Court | Court where a party that lost a case in a lower court asks judges to review that decision and reverse it (usually decided by a 3 judge panel) |
| Supreme Court | Highest Court in the United States. Its rulings are final. |
| Judicial Review | The power of the Supreme Court to say whether any federal, state, or local law or government action goes against the Constitution. |
| Summons | A notice directing someone to appear in court to answer a complaint or charge |
| Subpoena | Court order to appear in court or to produce evidence |
| Jurisdiction | Authority to hear and decide a case |
| Writ of Certiorari | An order a higher court issues to a lower court to obtain the records of a particular case. |
| Trial Court | Court in which a judge or a jury listens to the evidence and reaches a verdict in favor of one party or another in the case |
| Defendant | The party in a civil case being sued for causing harm |
| Felony | A type of serious crime such as murder or kidnapping. More serious than misdemeanor crimes. |
| Misdemeanor | The least serious type of crime; a minor crime for which a person can be charged a small amount of money or jailed for up to a year but usually less. |
| Plaintiff | The party in a civil case who claims to have been harmed; the party that files the lawsuit against another party |
| Prosecutor/Prosecution | Attorney working for the government acting in its role as the party who starts the legal proceedings against someone accused of a crime. |
| Grand Jury | A group that hears evidence and decides whether to issue an indictment |
| Jury | Body of people (usually 12) that hear a case and determine the verdict (decision) |
| Trial Court | Type of court in which a judge or jury listens to the evidence and reaches a verdict (decision) in favor or one party or the other in the case |
| Verdict | The finding or decision of the court in a case |
| Accused | A person officially charged with a crime. Sometimes also called a defendant |
| Civil Case | legal mater/lawsuit which one party in dispute claims to have been harmed by the other seeking damages usually money. |
| Criminal Case | legal matter concerning whether someone committed a crime. |
| Complaint | A formal notice sent to the defendant that a lawsuit has started and they are being sued |
| Code | An organized body of law |
| Court-Martial | A court that tries members of the armed forces who are accused of crimes against military law. |
| Exclusionary Rule | A rule that evidence gained by police in a way that violates the 4th amendment may not be used in a trial. |
| Miranda Warning | A list of rights that police must inform a person of before questioning the person...right to remain silent |
| Capital Punishment | The death penalty |
| Damages | Money ordered by a court to be paid for injuries or losses suffered |
| Tort | A wrongful act other than breaking a contract for which an injured party has the right to sue...bodily injury, slip and fall etc. |
| Complaint | A formal notice that a lawsuit has been brought; Plaintiff attorney files complaint to the court. |
| Summons | A notice directing someone to appear in court to answer a complaint or charge |
| Settlement | An agreement by the two parties in a lawsuit to settle the dispute without completing the trial and having a verdict. Usually the defense agrees to pay a sum of money to the plaintiff. |
| Punitive | Punitive damages are money awarded by a jury to punish the defendant - party responsible for injuring the plaintiff. These are usually above what the plaintiff is asking for and meant to punish wrongdoing that was done knowingly or on purpose. |
| Sentence | The punishment given to someone found guilty of committing a crime |
| Prosecution | The government acting in its role as the party who starts the legal proceedings against someone accused of a crime - The prosecutor works for the government. |
| Plea Bargain | An agreement in which a defendant agrees to plead guilty to a less serious crime in order to receive a lighter sentence |
| Indictment | A document issued by a body called a grand jury that formally charges someone with a crime after reviewing evidence |
| Arraignment | The accused enters a plea of not guilty or guilty |
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