Why Laws and Government Matter

Things that Caused Struggles

• Managing too many assignments simultaneously due to procrastination.
• Insufficient speech practice attributed to being busy or lacking motivation.
• Not studying chemistry enough.

Why Laws and Government Matter

• A government would be unnecessary if humans were perfect and unselfish.
• Shay’s Rebellion shows that complete anarchy is unsustainable.
• Government prevents anarchy and deters wrongful behavior.
• Public goods like roads require taxes and collective action.
• Laws and governments are important for ensuring safety, especially for the vulnerable.
• Evidence is required to make assertions in law.
• The government preserves life, property, and order.
• Luxury goods can be fearful because they can be stolen or destroyed.

Thomas Hobbes

• Thomas Hobbs was a 17th-century English philosopher.
• Hobbes wrote Leviathan in 1651.
• According to Hobbs, government and laws are essential for human survival.
• Government regulates negative human tendencies, as humans are inherently evil.
• In a natural state, life would be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short, with constant fear of losing possessions.

Civilized Society and Public Goods

• To secure freedoms civilized societies sacrifice some freedoms.
• Civilized societies provide peace of mind for acquiring property and goods.
• Public goods provided include army, police, and clean air, funded by taxes.

Equality Through Laws

• Equality wasn't always a major goal of laws, but it became one in the 20th century due to the industrial revolution and urbanization which led to poor factory conditions.
• Promoting equality became more important from 1880 to 1920, though the Supreme Court struck down laws protecting workers.

Figures in the Fight for Equal Rights

• Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and social rights activist who founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was jailed in Birmingham.
• MLK argued injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Relevant Social Matters

• Chinese entities take data instead of the US
• China isn't subject to any US laws.

Equal Opportunity and Outcome

• Equal Opportunity is a program that helps individuals reach success in society.
• Program aims include public schools and holding public office.
• Equal Outcome programs redistribute wealth to ensure equality in results, providing adequate housing and medicare.
• The Buck V. Bell case involved the forced sterilization of a woman deemed mentally deficient and so was her mother.
• It was argued three generations of imbeciles was enough.
• There are worries the idea of eugenics could lead to forced sterilization of those with autism, ADHD etc.
• Experiments were done with kids and giving them a different number of pancakes, testing their sharing capabilities.

Founding Documents

• The Constitution is a contract with the government.
• People receive protection from each other by the government and agree to comply with laws in exchange.
• The Articles of Confederation (1781-1789) placed power with the states in an alliance of 13 states and distrusted a national government.
• The Articles only had a one-house Congress with one vote per state and did not want a powerful executive.
• The problems with the the Articles was the national government could not tax states, had to beg states for money, could not regulate interstate commerce leading to tariffs, and no executive to provide leadership.
• Amendments of the Articles required unanimous consent.

Constitutional Convention of 1789 and Madisonian Model

• The madisonian Model was a blueprint of government based on three principles.
• James Madison was the fourth president, and was the architect of the Constitution.
• The Constitution can change with the changing times.
• Not black and white rules.
• The Constitution is primarily made up of three principles: Individual Rights, Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances, and a Federal system divided between Federal and State government.
• Framers believed man loved power and money.
• There was fear of tyranny by the majority and minority.
• The best government was a balanced gov.
• Article 6 section 2 is the Supremacy Clause (McCulloch v Maryland).
• The Bill of Rights in 1791 included the 10th amendment, stating any power not given to the federal government went to the state.
• This convinced states like Virginia to pass.

Separation of Powers

• Article 1 section 8 discusses Legislative powers, such as taxation, coining money, paying debts, postal service, declaring war, lower federal courts, regulating interstate commerce, and supporting the army/navy.
• Legislative branch has the "power of the purse".
• Article 2 section 2/3 discusses Executive Powers: Commander in Chief, treaties with senate consent, appointing judges/ambassadors, giving state of the union, making sure laws are executed.
• Executive branch has the "power of the sword".
• Article 3 section 2 discusses Judicial Powers: powers extend to all federal cases/controversies, resolving cases at the federal level.
• Judicial Review is the authority to rule on the constitutionality of other branches, which got powers through Marbury v. Madison.
• Checks and Balances was in place because of distrust among different branches.
• Congress checks others:
  • Can override veto by ​⅔ of both houses, refuse presidential appointments, impeach president, control budget, and ratify treaties.
  • Can refuse judicial appoinments, impeach judges, change court jurisdiction, and help amend constitution.
  • Jurisdiction is the authority of a court to hear a case.
  • To pass an amendment requires: convention called by ​⅔ states and ratification by convention in ¾ of state (only one passed, the 21st amendment); can also pass it with ​⅔ both houses and ³/₄ states legislatures.
• Executive branch checks others:
  • To check Congress is veto bills and call congress into special sessions.
  • To check Judicial include appoint federal judges, pardon people convicted in federal court, and ignore judicial rule.
• Judicial branch can declare laws by Congress or President unconstitutional.

Federalism

• Federalism is a way of organizing a country so that 2 or more levels of government have formal authority over same land.
• The Constitution doesn't mention federalism directly.
• Article 6 Section 2 mentions Supremacy Clause.
• The 10th amendment says power not delegated to the federal government goes to state.
• Some ambiguity remained.
• Shared power is between state and national level.

Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists

• Hamilton did not believe that the Constitution needed a Bill of Rights.
• They sent it to the states without one at first, but the states rejected it.
• Key Federalists included John Jay, Hamilton, and Madison, who favored a strong national government and wrote the Federalist Papers.
• Anti-Federalists advocated for states' rights and feared a strong national government would cause them to lose their freedom.
• The was addressed with the Bill of Rights in 1791 at the 1st Congress.

Sources of Law

• Constitution: highest law in the country.
• State Constitutions are the supreme law of the states (also superior to statutes).
• Statutes come from legislature (national or state).
• Treaties are with foreign countries.
• Common law (case law) evolves from judicial decisions, and judges making laws when interpreting them mainly at the appellate level, based on legal principles/documents.
• Common law is the oldest; it is a body of norms from customs/principles/practices, per court rulings, i.e. "judge made law".
• William Blackstone (1723-1780): English Jurist, politician, and scholar, who had work adopted by US Supreme Court and gave framework to the current legal education of the nation.
• Other sources of law: Magna Carta, local government (zoning laws, codes), and Executive Orders.

Precedent and Statutory Laws

• Statutory laws passed by legislature deal with daily life issues such as speed limits.
• Core tenets include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (USA) and peace, order, and good government (Canada).

Bill of Rights, Federalists, & Anti-Federalists

• The Bill of Rights was used to save the government.
• Federalists can protect against other nations but also against the small-mindedness of states.
• Anti-federalist are for localism.
• Revolution fighters were seeking refuge from Britain's fugitive.
• They didn’t want to create another tyranny, but simply wanted guarantee their rights would exist.
• James Madison had a plan to compromise, but was underappreciated.
• The Bill of Rights was a campaign promise, wanted both individual rights and a stronger constitution.
• George Mason raised the idea of the Bill of Rights.
• There was fear enumerating rights would cause confusion where those left out would not exist.
• Fed government was feared to be too strong without Bill of Rights.
• Patrick Henry led the anti-federalists in supporting having documents that were written in plain language.

Federal Court System

• The Federal Court System: for the entire country, it is made up of a three-tiered structure.
• Federal District Courts includes 94 Trial Courts, and is the Point of entry for cases.
• Trail court is for determining damages, guilt, & the case facts; witnesses present evidence.
• Most states only have 1, but Texas, California, and New York have 4, some have 2 The Federal Courts of Appeal (12 or 13) are known as Circuit Courts.
• Someone unahppy w/ the decision may appeal the case if there was an error in procedure, or an error in the law.
• The Federal Courts of Appeal don't determine facts; they are already accepted.
• Oral argument is held for 30 minutes.
• Circuit 9 has 9 states including California.
• The Circuit's original is for a Supreme Court Justice to ride around and visit the other courts to reduce the Supreme Court's workload.
• The US Supreme Court is the only federal Court created by the Constitution (Article 3 Section 1).
• The Judiciary Act of 1789 established # justices on Supreme Court & # of lower federal courts & established the position of Chief Justice.
• Canada has an age limit, 75, for judges.
• In 1988, the Supreme Court got complete discretion on cases they hear.
• A Writ of Certiorari is formal document that may is issued by the Supreme Court to lower Court, with the reverse indicated by not granting it.
• 75-80/10,000 cases are given written reasons for judgement, and require 4 judges to agree.
• Conflict/constitutional issues causes them to hear it.
• Some cases come from State Supreme court, but most come from fed appeal.
• The Supreme court has very few original jurisdiction from 1st place, which includes Foreign ambassador, public minister, and state is a party.

State Courts and Judges

• Each state, district, and territory has its own court systems. 3/4 of states have the same 3 tiered federal court system (like California).
• Major cases handle serious criminal cases, high amounts of money.
• Minor cases are less serious, such as traffic court, small claims, juvenile cases and probate.
• 1998's Unification Effort merged superior court system, one for each County with 1,499 judges
• The state Court of Appeal has 6 courts with 105 judges.
• Patricia Guerrero is current California Supreme Court Chief Justice of the 7 members.
• A qualification to become Judge is passing the bar and elected to 6 year term by voters. The Supreme Court is appointed by governor and serve 12 years and approved by panel.
• Only some disputes can be handled by both state and federal courts
• They decide disputes that can only be handed in one place.

Tech

• Deep Seek is small Chinese company and a potential AI disruptor.

Political Figures

• Pete Heck Seth: Secretary of Defense (in charge of the Pentagon), and JD Vance split the vote on it.
• He has a commentator background on Fox News for 7 years, with military experience.

Jurisdiction

• It is the authority of a court to hear a case, in the proper location. It can be original/appellate.
• Courts of original jurisdiction have the ability to hear cases for 1st time while appellate jurisdiction reviews cases in lower court.
• The Supreme court can be both, limited only by the original count.
• Two types of court jurisdiction: general against specialty and limited/minor jurisdiction.
• General jurisdiction hears a broad range of cases, while speciality hears narrow set, and each apply accordingly through the court system.
• Cases at the federal court must exceed $75,000 and have one of the questions pertaining to US Constitution, federal, statutes, treaties, and maritime issues.

Executive Orders

• The main figures are Donald Trump who ordered that DEI government worker to be put on admin leave, and wants to take education away on them.

Lawyers: Skills, Priorities, & Costs

• Half of lawyers are unhappy in their job.
• One must like reading to become a lawyer.
• People must decide on their priorities - high salary in big law requiring long hours combined with the need for connections, vs. work-life balance at a High salary can't always come together.
• Costs: CA lawyers earn $135,000/year on average, big law starts at $125,00/year, a prosecutor has $108,000/year.
• Law school is very expensive.

Lawyer Work

• What lawyers do: research, detailed writing, Oxford comma cases, negotiation, advice, and draft policy.

Law Schools

• Law Schools most provide some legal training, seeking thinking alike training.
• First-year courses are generally similar.
• Electives take place after the first year.
• Law school for 3 years (ABA accredited), others for 4 years.
• Most lawyers prior to 1870 were studying program-office while those who came later had a scientific approach.
• Bar Exam: overall pass is 67%, and 47% for California.

Legal Jargon

• A paralegal helps with legal memorandums, preparing for trials, depositions, and court reporting.
• Legal assistants manage appointments, supervise lawyers, and transcribe.

Legal Occupations

• Compliance Officers are within firms to ensure proper operation.
• Other jobs include court reporters, legal transcribers, e-discovery specialist, legal writer, and process server.
• Most lawyers work in solo practice to get started.
• Business and personal lawyers are categorized as litigators or transactional attorneys.
• Big firms represent large business; the routine work includes being a partner.
• In-house business lawyers get shorter hours and lower salary, however there is security.
• Government-paid lawyers and public defenders have exciting litigation, which often makes up for the low salaries.
• Unions have few lawyers and mediators to deal with these legal issues.
• A solo practice can set own hours while having lower pay and drumming up business.

Supreme Court & Lower Federal Court Cases

• Shepardizing is critical legal element in law case research.
• Laws are always changing, requiring current information.
• Is the ruling still good?
• Locate any cases that reference the researched case to know its outcome on platforms like LexisNexis or Westlaw.
• Can search results for any negative findings.

Overruling and Reversing

• Overruling is setting new precedent.
• Reversing is when a higher tier reverses the decision of a current case.
• Appellate court can overrule prior case law, like the famous overturning of Brown vs. Board.

Law reports

• Law reports are released judicial notes.
• Rulings are referred by appellant (person brought suit) and appellee (respondent).

Online law libraries

• Check out scotublog and supremecourt sites for extra information

How the SCOTUS Decides

• Need 4 justices to agree
• If they do they can use their writ of certiorari can then be made
• Provide rationate
• Procedural issues

Opinion

• Most justice writes opinion
• Vote is taken
• Has lots of review of voting too

Elements of a SCOTUS Ruling

• Has all needed writing
• Vote taken
• Finalized to be published

Marbury

• There was a legal reasoning by Levi
• Has lots of equality issues
• Reversing means that there are less lower court rulings
• Board ruled in a time where there was less Plessy cases.
• There requires also a way to assess and govern over ruling.

Racial Cases

• Most of the time are federal case
• Facts come in
• Civil war amends helps to make it correct over time
• Jim Crow Laws

Public policy

• Frameworks, like the system of David Easton, must be in place
• Framework must be helpful

Values

• Values include modern debates
• How these affiliates fall
• Voting
• Media
• There must be action in places
• There are commnitarians to be in order