Midterm Week

Halfway through the Course

Writing Center

• In this course there is only one written assignment, but to improve on your writing skills

• Make sure you look at the comments made on your work

• Take advantage of the writing center and its workshops

• Workshops vary from effective use of resources; college level writing; writing effective discussion board posts; and communication

• These workshops are free and very useful no matter what your major may be

How to take a test

• General pointers for True/False questions• Read the entire question/do not skip over words• Look for qualifiers like, all, most, sometimes,

rarely. Absolute qualifiers such as always or never often signal a false question ( not all of the time though)

• Find the devil in the details like #’s, facts, dates• Watch for negatives, two negatives in a

sentence generally cancel each other out

How to take a test

• Pointers for multiple choice questions

• Answer each question in your head first before you look at the choices

• Then read all of the possible answers carefully before selecting one of them

• Eliminate incorrect answers

How to take a test

• Open book tests hints• Organize and review material before the

test• Bookmark the table of contents and index• Create an informal one for yourself if you

would rather or create one for notes you would take in class

• Open book does not mean don’t study for it; review your past quizzes

How to take a test

• No matter what format make sure that after you have access to a test you go back and review

• On the ones you missed figure out why your answer was incorrect

• What decision process led you to that answer• If you do not see why an answer was incorrect

contact your discussion leader for assistance.• Learning from our mistakes is one of the best

teachers

The course so far

• Our first 4 units are designed to get us familiar with the basic structure and complexity of the law

• They are an introduction to the difficult balance the law has to address

• It is also designed to get us to think about our own views and to challenge us to confront and support personal opinions

History of the law

• Law has a rich and varied history and to ignore that history is to refuse to learn from lessons in the past

• We have seen law develop from a way to only control the masses to the idea that law applies to all including the sovereign

• No one is above the law including celebrities

History

• Code of Hammurabi

• Code of Justinian

• Magna Carta

• Napoleonic Code

• U. S. Constitution

History

• Law is a set of rules promulgated by government

• This is positive law but the implications of natural or divine law and the concepts of right and wrong are a base for the governmental rules and regulations

• We have multiple sources of law in this country. Can you name them?

History

• The overall goal of government is to have a society ruled by the majority but with minority rights. That is a difficult balance. Are we doing a good job with achieving that balance?

• We have a flexible government with shared powers between federal and state governments

• Is the balance between federal and state governments correct today?

History

• To understand American law you must be aware of the basic structure of our system, the goals of the law, acceptance that things will always change, that we will never agree with every law or with every decision under the law, that others will not always agree with our views, but that we can always try to make it better

Structure

• The implications of federalism

• We have 51 legal systems in this country

• That means that in any given situation we must identify which law applies

• For the Court system that means examining the principles of jurisdiction

Structure

• Jurisdiction consists of two requirements• 1. Subject matter jurisdiction which is the

legal authority of the court to hear the case. It can never be waived by the parties

• 2. Personal jurisdiction which is the power of the court to compel the parties to appear and respond. A party can waive his or her right to challenge personal jurisdiction

Structure

• Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction

• To get to federal court you need one of two things

• 1. Federal question jurisdiction which means the case arise out of federal law, statute or the federal Constitution. If there is a federal question, the case must go to federal court and federal law applies

Structure

• 2. The second way to get to federal court applies to civil cases only

• Diversity jurisdiction applies when you have parties who are residents of different states and the amount in controversy is over $75,000 You must have both of these before federal courts are even a consideration

• If both exist the case MAY go to federal court or it May go to state court. The parties get to choose

Structure

• The selection of judges varies depending on which court they work for

• On the federal level with the exception of bankruptcy judges who serve 14 year terms, judges have life time tenure. What are the pros and cons of such a system?

• On the state level most judges at some point have to face an election process. What are the pros and cons of such a system?

Structure

• The roles of the legislature is to pass laws• The role of the executive branch is to lead and

the vast administrative agencies on both the federal and state level are part of the executive branch. Law enforcement is part of the executive branch as are the prosecutors

• The court is the final branch of government that provides the forum for resolving disputes

Structure

• The structure of the courts in both federal and state government is roughly a pyramid

• Don’t forget to check out the websites given• http://www.catea.gatech.edu/grade/legal/structur

e.html for federal courts

• http://www.ncsc.org/Information-and-Resources/Browse-by-State/StateCourtWebsites.aspx state courts

• You can link directly to both of these sites from unit 2

Structure

• Our legal system is adversarial

• It is not the role of the judicial branch to protect one side or the other

• It is the role of the judiciary to provide a place to resolve the dispute in accordance with the law

Structure

• Alternative dispute resolutions

• Direct negotiation

• Mediation

• Arbitration

• Mini trials/ Mock juries

Legal Ethics

• Backbone of the profession

• Enforced by the states where the attorney is licensed

• Mostly a matter of common sense

• Legal Ethics tries to balance the competing duties of the lawyer to the client, to the court, and to the law

Legal Ethics

• First key is to recognize the issue

• Being familiar with the rules

• Asking for help in difficult situations

• Recognizing that sometimes complying with the rules may go against your personal beliefs

Legal Ethics

• Basically they require you to be fair and competent

• To represent your client in accordance with the law

• Don’t lie, steal, cheat etc

• Report others who do, you can not turn a blind eye and say “It is not my business”.

Constitution

• Supreme law of the Land

• You can not provide fewer rights than guaranteed under the federal Constitution but an individual state can provide more

• We have seen significant expansions in the growth of government and the growth of protections afforded by the Constitution

Judicial review

• Controversial issue in its own day but it grew from the Supreme Court writing its own job description in Marbury v. Madison

• It has led the Court at various times in our history to stand in the way of progress as in Plessy v. Ferguson, and to lead massive changes in our society with cases like Brown v. Board of Education

• What is the proper role of the court? Should it follow the majority or lead change?

Constitution

• Creates the two underlying principles of our government

• 1. separation of powers

• 2. checks and balances

As we move forward

• A recognition that no matter what our future plans for employment that law will affect how we do business

• We need to be our own advocate for positive law and positive change in society

• We will never stop learning about this area of our lives

• Good luck with your midterm!