Sources and Types of Laws

Which principle from Hammurabi's code describes the legal tradition in the United States, that the burden to prove that someone has committed a crime is the responsibility of the prosecutor?

• An Eye for an Eye

• All are treated according to their position in society

• Innocent until proven guilty

• presumed guilty until proven innocent

The excerpt below is Clause 39 from the Magna Carta.

No free man shall be seized, imprisoned, dispossessed, outlawed, exiled or ruined in any way, nor in any way proceeded against, excerpt by the lawful judgment of his peers and the law of the land.

To what legal practice still used today in the United States does the clause "except the lawful judgment of his peers" refer?

• A judge who presides over a court case in the district where the crime occurred

• A jury composed of citizens from the region where the case is heard

• The lawyers who represent the defense

• The lawyer who prosecute the defendant

How did the Magna Carta influence the U.S. Constitution?

• The Magna Carta led to the idea that laws would be created and enforced by one ruler

• The Magna Carta influenced the structure of the legislative branch of government

• The Magna Carta's concepts are seen in the judicial branch of government

• The Magna Carta introduced the if-then statement used to write the Constitution

Which type of laws contains a universal set of principles that comes from people's basic sense of right and wrong?

• Common Law

• Natural Law

• Statutory Law

• Case Law

What is common law?

• laws that are determined by the outcomes of court cases that have occurred previously

• laws that are actions that are naturally considered as right or wrong

• laws that are passed in response to concerns of the public

• laws refers to codes or regulations that all branches of the military share

Which of the following situations would fall under constitutional law?

• A city tries to prevent a newspaper from publishing a story about corruption

• A doctor cheated Medicare by making up false claims for visits that didn't happen

• A soldier steals from another soldier's footlocker

• A person sues a business for an injury she received on their property

Scenario

Two active duty soldiers leave the base and visits the local town. They become upset with each other, and one assaults the other, starting a fight. The owner of the store calls the police. There was no damage to the store, but since the men had physically assaulted each other, the police brought them back to their base and dropped them off to their supervisor.

What type of law would determine the outcome of this case?

• constitutional law

• civil law

• criminal law

• military law

What is statutory law?

• Law passed by government legislatures

• Regulations passed by government agencies

• Past decisions made by the Supreme Court

• Unwritten laws that have been followed as customs

Which type of case is almost always heard in federal court?

• Military

• Criminal

• Civil

• Constitutional

What was the impact of the decision in Dred Scott v. Sanford?

• Slavery was prohibited in states that were north of the Mason-Dixon line

• The territories were allowed to decide on the question of slavery for themselves

• Enslaved people were ruled to be property, not citizens of the United States

• Slave catchers were allowed to go into free states to recover fugitives