Four major types of law Common law Statutory law <a href="/keyword/constitutional-law/" >constitutional law</a> Administrative law 1. Common law This is court-created law, the body of court decisions on a legal question. Each state has its own common law, although there are many similarities between the law in the various states. 1. Common law (cont.) Develops (as does <a href="/keyword/constitutional-law/" >constitutional law</a> ) based on the principle of stare decisis. That is the practice of following legal precedent rather than overruling precedent. A precedent is a previous court ruling. This is why we study cases to know what the law will be in the next case. Judicial restraint and judicial activism These are two ends of the spectrum of judicial decisionmaking philosophies. For example, a judge who is a strong judicial restraintist always wants to follow precedent. A judge who is a strong judicial activist is perfectly happy to ignore precedent in order to solve problems. Other aspects of judicial restraint Willingness to accept lower court decisions Will defer to other branches of gov t, like Congress Should correct only blatant constitutional violations Can include strict constructionism (Justice Black) and originalism (Justice Scalia) 2. Statutory law This is law written by a legislative body of the government. Federal law: copyright, advertising, broadcasting, FOIA State law: libel, shield laws, access laws Local ordinances: sign regulations 3. <a href="/keyword/constitutional-law/" >constitutional law</a> This is law based on either the U.S. Constitution or a state constitution. Every state has one. 3. <a href="/keyword/constitutional-law/" >constitutional law</a> (cont.) First Amendment Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 3. <a href="/keyword/constitutional-law/" >constitutional law</a> (cont.) Article I, Section 8 (Copyright clause) The Congress shall have power to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries 3. <a href="/keyword/constitutional-law/" >constitutional law</a> (cont.) The very important power of judicial review is the power of courts to declare invalid any law or official act of the other branches of government that is unconstitutional. This right was discovered in Marbury v. Madison (1803). It is not explicitly mentioned in the 4. Administrative law This is law made by regulatory agencies to deal with complex, technical issues. The FCC, FTC, FDA and Copyright Office are federal regulatory agencies. Court system 2. 3. There are two types of courts: Trial courts, which find facts and apply the law (juries, witnesses) Appellate courts, which only decide questions of law (no juries, no witnesses) Federal court system The top level is the U.S. Supreme Court, which has 1 chief justice and 8 associate justices. The chief justice is John Roberts. Federal court system (cont.) A person who wants the Supreme Court to review his case files a petition for a writ of certiorari (sirshe-are-e). If four justices agree to hear the case, the Court issues a writ of cert, or the Court can decide not to hear the appeal and deny cert. Federal court system (cont.) There also are 13 U.S. Courts of Appeals. N.C. is in the 4th Circuit in Richmond. It s called the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. The D.C. Circuit hears all appeals of FCC cases. There are about 100 U.S. District Courts, all trial courts. N.C. court system N.C. N.C. N.C. N.C. Supreme Court Court of Appeals Superior Courts District Courts N.C. Constitution It includes this provision: Freedom of speech and of the press are two of the great bulwarks of liberty and therefore shall never be restrained, but every person shall be held responsible for their abuse. Other legal terms to know Plaintiff Defendant Appellant Appellee Civil case Criminal case