LEGL 2700 FINAL EXAM/QUESTIONS WITH
ANSWERS
Law - -intended to tell members of a society what they can and cannot do
made of of rules and these rules are laid down by the state and backed up by
enforcement
-Rule of Law - -laws that are made generally and equally applicable
apply to all members of society / nobody is above the law
-Property - -ownership
the right to turn to public authorities to help you keep others from interfering
with what you own
private (own as an individual)
common (joint ownership like land)
-Exclusionary Right - -property included an ownership of individual
constitutional and human rights in ourselves that excludes the state from
interfering with these rights (John Locke)
-Jurisprudence - -philosophies of law
natural, positive, historical, sociological, legal realism
-Natural Law - -law contains universal moral principles
observable in nature and determined through human reason
John Locke
formalism
-Positive Law - -the commands of the state backed by force and punishment
Jeremy Bentham
consequentialism
-Historical School - -emphasizes that contemporary law should focus on
legal principles that have withstood the test of time in a nation
different nations may have different traditions and laws
Friedrich Savigny
-Sociological Law - -law can and should change to meet new developments
ex: 2nd Amendment was written when a person that was highly trained only
had means of a 25lb rifle that could only fire 2 rounds a minute
-Legal Realism - -enforce, interpret, and apply
"law is what officials do about it"
ex: speed limit
, -Classifications of Law - -common law vs. civil law
public law vs. private law
criminal law vs. civil law
substantive law vs. procedural law
-Common Law - -emphasizes the roles of judges in determining the
meanings of laws and how they apply
judicial decisions become precedents
judges can invalidate legislation
-Civil Law - -relies more on legislation than judicial decisions for law
similar to common in that courts decide the facts in a disputed case BUT
these courts do not necessarily follow precedents
judges don't play as large of a role
-Public Law - -includes matters that involve the regulation of society
government official represents the people
constitutional law: involves interpretation and application of either federal or
state constitutions
administrative law: covers the legal principles that apply to government
agencies
criminal law: specifies various offenses against the proper oder of the state
-Private Law - -covers those legal problems and issues that concern your
private resource relationships with other people
property law: involves recognition of exclusive right in tangible and
intangible resources
contract law: covers the rules of how owners transfer resources by
exchanging them
tort law: establishes rules for compensation when an owner's legal
boundaries are wrongfully crossed
-Criminal Law - -involve a representative of government attempting to
prove the wrong committed against society
involves punishment of wrongdoer
-Civil Law - -may include suits for breach of contract or tort cases
involves a request for damages or appropriate relief that does not involve
punishment of wrongdoer
-Substantive Law - -defines the legal relationship of people with other
people or between them and the state
-Procedural Law - -deals with method and means by which substantive law
is made and administered
ex: time allowed for a party to sue
, -Federal Law - -any law that conflicts with the Constitution is said to be void
and has no legal effect
legislation, also called "acts" or "suits"
-State Law - -all federal law prevails over state law
hierarchy of law sources: state constitution, statutes or acts, regulatory law,
and county/city ordinances
-Case Law - -interpret the relevant constitutional, legislative, and regulatory
laws
precedents
advantages: "stare decisis" - let the prior decision stand
disadvantages: huge volume of cases, conflicting precedents, dicta
(whatever else the court said), rejection of the precedent, conflicts of law
(varying state laws)
-Law Hierarchy - -US Constitution and Amendments
statutes of Congress
federal administration regulation
state constitutions
state statutes
state administration regulation
local ordinances
case law
-Corporation - -a business chartered by the state to do business as a legal
person in a certain form of organization
-Corporate Governance - -refers to the legal rules that structure, empower,
and regulate the agents of corporations and define the relationships to the
owners
protect property interests that the owners have in corporations
need for this because of economic collapse in 2008
-Ethics and Society - -changing normative values
economic interdependence
news media and the internet
-Ethics and Government - -government regulates business when there are
ethical failures
companies have incentive to be ethical
self-regulation
-Morals - -the collection of values that guides human behavior
, -Ethics - -principles of right conduct
-The Good - -moral goals and objectives we choose to pursue
-Ethics & Law - -many ethical values are not enforced by the state and
many laws do not address ethical concerns
-Formalism - -affirms an absolute morality
a particular act in itself is right or wrong
duty - moral obligation
Immanuel Kant - categorical imperative: you have a moral duty to act in the
way you believe everyone should act
-Social Contract Theory - -how to construct a just society given the many
inequalities of wealth, knowledge, and social status
John Rawls
everyone is entitled to equal basic rights
-Consequentialism - -concerned with moral consequences of actions rather
than the morality of the actions themselves
ex: loss of trust after someone lies
focuses on the common good
-Utilitarianism - -judges actions by usefulness, by whether they serve to
increase the common good
-Liberty and Rights - -natural law type of thinking and historically connected
to the legal concept of private property
-Good Faith - -"honesty in intent"
uniform commercial code - all sales must be carried out in good faith
-Due Care - -derives from society's expectations about how fair and
reasonable actions are
used often with negligence cases
-The Court System - -judges, juries, lawyers, federal courts, supreme courts
-Judges - -trial judges: decide questions of law
justices / appellate judges: appeal and give reasons for decisions
(precedents)
strengths: highly skilled experts, often protected from political pressure, job
stability promotes objectivity
weaknesses: not always representative of the population, lack of
accountability
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