Sources/Types of Law

Sources/Types of Law

By Andrea Knapp

SS.7.C.3.10  

Identify sources and types (civil, criminal, constitutional, military) of law.

• ​written code of rules that guided the society of Babylon around 1772 B.C.

• ​included 282 laws that dealt with everyday life.

• It was the first time a written set of laws governed a society.  

Code of Hammurabi

• ​act of writing laws down and creating a structure and process for laws greatly influenced how other societies developed their own laws

• ​Influenced the Constitution, which is a written set of laws!

Multiple Choice

What founding document did the Code of Hammurabi influence?

• The Declaration of Independence

• The Articles of Confederation

• The U.S. Constitution

• The Bill of Rights

• Signed by King John to avoid war

• Also called "The Great Charter of Freedoms"

• ​Written by a group of English nobility (barons) because they wanted to protect their rights and property against the king.

Big Idea? LIMITED GOVERNMENT

Magna Carta

1215​

​

• Magna Carta was one inspiration for the colonists to seek their independence from the king of England.

• ​colonists believed they were entitled to the same rights as Englishmen, rights guaranteed in the Magna Carta

• ​They embedded those rights into the laws of their states and later into the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Magna Carta

1215​

​

Multiple Choice

Which "big idea" came from the Magna Carta?

• Self-Government

• Due Process

• Limited Government

• Habeas Corpus

- Author: Code Of Hammurabi 1772 B.C.

“The first duty of government is to protect the powerless from the powerful.” 

Multiple Choice

What is the main purpose of government?

• To provide rights to the people

• To protect the people and their rights

• To control the people

• To give everyone money

​Definition: refers to a court decision that is considered as authority for deciding subsequent cases involving identical or similar facts, or similar legal issues

Judicial Precedent

​

• Judicial precedent and cases become sources of law called case law and common law. 

• Case law is law established by the outcome of former cases and common law is legal precedent based on customs and prior legal decisions (it is used in civil cases.)

Multiple Choice

How is case law established?

• a lawyer writes it and a judge approves it

• someone makes it up

• by the outcome of former cases

Multiple Choice

Common law is used in what type of case?

• Juvenile

• Constitutional

• Civil

• Military

•  defines the powers between states.  

• ​deals with the relationship between the government and citizens.

​​Constitutional Law

• Law that deals with relationships between people (rather than relationships between people and the government)

Civil Law

​TYPES OF LAW

Criminal Law

​

Law that deals with people who are under the age of 18

Juvenile Law

Law that applies to people in the military

​

Military law

​Types of Law cont.

Law that deals with crimes and the punishments for those crimes

Multiple Choice

What type of law deals with people under the age of 18?

• Military law

• Civil Law

• Juvenile Law

• Criminal Law

Multiple Choice

What type of law deals with people in the military?

• Criminal Law

• Civil Law

• Constitutional law

• Military Law

Multiple Choice

What type of law deals with the relationship between government and its citizens?

• Criminal Law

• Civil Law

• Common Law

• Constitutional law

Multiple Choice

What type of law deals with someone who commited a crime?

• Criminal Law

• Constitutional law

• Military law

• Civil Law

Multiple Choice

What type of law deals with relationships between people?

• Civil Law

• Common Law

• Juvenile Law

• Criminal law

• Civil and criminal law are the types of law that most often impact U.S. citizens.

• Juvenile law and criminal law are both concerned with crime, but juvenile law only applies to people under the age of 18. 

• Military law is for military members and does not apply to civilians.

• Constitutional law deals with issues related to the government and the states and the government and its citizens. 

• Criminal law deals with crime and civil law deals with issues that are not related to crime.​

Poll

Juvenile law is concerned with crime.

• True

• False

Multiple Select

Which types of law most often impact U.S. citizens?

• Criminal Law

• Constitutional Law

• Common Law

• Civil Law

Poll

Military law does not apply to civilians.

• True

• False

Sources of Law

• The core source of American law is the U.S. Constitution.

• ​Laws made by elected officials include ordinances (local laws), ordinances (state laws) and acts (federal laws).

• ​The supremacy clause found in Article Six of the U.S. Constitution speaks to the notion that the higher levels of government decide how much power lower level governments will have.

  • THE CONSTITUTION IS THE HIGHEST LAW OF THE LAND​

Sources of Law

• The U.S. Supreme Court is the highest U.S. court. Decisions made by lower courts may be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court and cannot be appealed. The U.S. Supreme Court is the nation’s final interpreter of the U.S. Constitution

Multiple Choice

What is the core source of American law?

• The Magna Carta

• The Declaration of Independence

• The Bill of Rights

• The Constitution

Multiple Choice

What does the Supremacy Clause state?

• The state laws are more powerful than federal laws

• The Constitution is the highest law of the land

• All laws are equal no matter who makes them

• I am above the law

Multiple Choice

What is the highest court in the United States?

• The Federal Court of America

• The Supreme Court

• The Not Supreme Court

• The Bradford County Court

Multiple Choice

The Supreme Court is the final interpreter of the U.S. Constitution.

• True

• False

​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI_7rt9cLnQ