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89 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Administration Regulations |
laws enacted by administrative agencies such as the FCC |
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Affirm |
to uphold the decision of a lower court |
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Answer |
the defendant's formal response to a plaintiff's allegations as stated in a civil complaint |
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Appellant |
the party who appeals a court judgement to a higher court; sometimes called the petitioner |
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Appellate Court |
a court with jurisdiction to hear appeals and review the rulings of trial court |
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Appellee |
the party against whom an appeal is taken; sometimes called the respondant |
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Arraignment |
a criminal proceeding in which an accused is brought before the court to hear the charge against him or her and to enter plea of guilty or not guilty |
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Bill of Rights |
the first ten amendments to the U.S. constitution, ratified by the states in 1791 |
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Breach of Contract |
a legally inexcusable failure to perform as obligated under a contract |
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Case Law |
law derived from the previous, published decisions of appellate court |
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Certiorari |
a discretionary order commonly used by the U.S. Supreme Court to indicate that the Court has agreed to review a case. This action by the Court is referred to as granting cert. |
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Civil Law |
a law pertaining to noncriminal matters in which one person or business sues another to obtain some legal relief |
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Codes |
systematic compilations of laws, such as the statutes or administrative regulations of a state |
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Common law |
legal rules and principles that originate solely from judicial decisions, as distinguished from the laws enacted by legislatures |
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Complaint |
a legal document that begins a lawsuit by stating the plaintiff's grievance and the remedy being sought; the initial pleading filed in a civil case |
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Concurring Opinion |
an appellate court opinion in which one or more judges agree with the majority ruling but state different or additional reasons |
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Constitution |
the fundamental law of a nation or state typically establishing the government's basic organization and describing the extent and limits of its sovereign powers |
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Constitutional Law |
law concerning the basic organization and powers of government and the individual liberties enumerated in constitutions |
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Contract |
a legally enforceable agreement made either orally or in writing |
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Court Reports |
volumes containing the judicial opinions of a particular court or jurisdiction |
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Courts of Equity |
historically, courts that operated by a distinctive set of rules and offered alternative remedies to the usual money damages. The most common equitable remedy is an injunction |
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Criminal Law |
the state and federal statutes that define criminal offenses and punishment. Criminal cases are brought to trial, or prosecuted, by government lawyers |
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Damages |
money awarded in court to a person unlawfully harmed by another. Damages are compensatory, if awarded as the measure of injury suffered, or punitive, if awarded in addition as punishment for outrageous conduct by the offending party |
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Defendant |
in a civil case, the person or business being sued. In a criminal case, the person being prosecuted |
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Discovery |
the ascertainment of relevant facts, prior to trial, by the parties to a lawsuit. Formal discovery tools used by lawyers include oral depositions, requests to produce documents, and mental examinations |
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Dissenting Opinion |
an appellate court opinion by one or more judges explaining their disagreement with the decision of the majority |
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Diversity of Citizenship |
a type of federal court litigation in which the opposing parties are citizens of different states |
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Doctrine of Judicial Review |
principle that the courts have authority to review and declare unconstitutional the actions of other branches of government |
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Doctrine of Precedent |
a basic rule of the U.S. judicial system that earlier decisions of a court shall serve as guiding authority to be followed when the court again faces an identical or similar issue |
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Federal Circuits |
judicial decisions for the U.S. Court of Appeals; includes eleven multi-state circuits, one for D.C., and one with nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals in certain specialized kinds of cases |
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Grand Jury |
a body of citizens whose duty is to determine whether probable cause exists to formally charge someone with a crime |
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Indictment |
the formal accusation issued by a grand jury against a person charged with a crime |
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Initial Appearance |
in federal criminal cases, the defendant's first formal appearance in court, when the specific charges are read and a plea may be entered |
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Injunction |
a court order that a defendant act, or refrain from acting in a particular manner |
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Jurisdiction |
authority of government and its courts to make and enforce laws and to decide cases. Limited by territorial and subject matter boundaries |
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Justiciable Controversy |
a specific legal dispute between people or entities whose legal rights are in jeopardy, as opposed to a controversy that is hypothetical, academic, or moot |
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Law of Equity |
historically, a separate system of law developed in England for the purpose of granting remedies other than money damages. An injunction, for example, is refried to as an equitable remedy |
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Litigant |
a party to a lawsuit; plaintiff or defendant |
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Majority Opinion |
a written appellate court opinion in which a majority of the court's judges join |
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Motion |
a formal request that a judge make some kind of ruling in favor of the applicant. Examples: motion for a continuance, motion for summary judgement, motion to suppress evidence |
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Motion to Suppress |
a common motion in criminal cases whereby the defendant requests that certain evidence be ruled inadmissible at trial |
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Ordinances |
laws adopted by cities, countries, and other units of local government |
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Parallel Citations |
an expanded form of reference to a legal case showing where the case can be found in two or more different reports |
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Personal Jurisdiction |
a court's power to bring a particular person or company into its adjunctive proceedings |
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Plaintiff |
the party who initiates a civil lawsuit seeking some form of relief or compensation for an injury to rights |
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Pleadings |
court documents that contain the parties' formal allegations of their respective claims or defenses. Examples include the plaintiff's complaint and the defendants' answers |
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Plurality Opinion |
in the appellate judicial process, an opinion expressing the viewpoint of more justices than any other opinion, but less than a majority |
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Preliminary Hearing |
in criminal cases, a hearing to determine whether the government has enough evidence against the accused to warrant a full-blown trial |
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Remand |
to send a case from the appellate court back down to the trial court where it was originally heard |
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Respondent |
the party against whom an appeal is made; also called the appellee |
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Reverse |
to overturn the judgement of a lower court |
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Settlement |
in litigation, a final determination reached by agreement between the parties |
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Statutory Law |
law enacted by legislative bodies, including Congress and the state legislatures, as opposed to common law |
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Subject Matter Jurisdiction |
a court system's power to consider a particular kind of case or type of law |
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Summary Judgment |
a common procedure for ending a lawsuit prior to trial. A party to a lawsuit is entitled to summary judgment in his favor if there is no disputable issue of fact and if established legal rules clearly dictate that he would prevail at trial |
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Torts |
wrongful acts, other than breaches of contract, for which the law gives the injured party some legal remedy against the wrongdoer in civil court. Examples include invasion of privacy, trespass, libel, infliction of mental distress, and negligence |
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Trial Court |
a court in which civil cases or criminal proceedings begin; a court authorized to hear evidence and determine the facts when they are in dispute |
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U.S. Court of Appeals |
the intermediate appellate court in the federal judicial system. The nation is divided into eleven geographic circuits plus D.C., each with its own Court of Appeals. Cases are typically heard by panels of three judges |
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U.S. District Court |
in the federal judicial system, a trial Court with general jurisdiction. Each state has at least one U.S. District Court |
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U.S. Supreme Court |
the nation's highest ranking court; the court of last resort. An appellate court consisting of the chief justice of the U.S. and eight associate justices |
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Absolutist |
the view that First Amendment freedoms should be absolute, that the amendment should be interpreted literally to protect against any government regulation |
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Compelled Speech |
expression that government requires a person or group to utter or to carry in its medium |
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Compelling Interest |
a rigorous standard that government must meet to justify restrictions on First Amendment freedoms; justification of the highest order |
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Content-Neutral Restriction |
Government action that restrains expression in a particular place or medium but is not based on the content of the message |
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Doctrine of Incorporation |
A judicial principle under which the fundamental liberties in the Bill of Rights, including the right to free speech, are protected against impairment by the states as well as by the federal government. The due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which is aimed at the states, has been construed to incorporate those fundamental liberties articulated nearly a century later |
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Doctrine of Overbreadth |
A tenet of constitutional law stating that any prohibition aimed at unprotected expression shall be invalid if it would also tend to suppress untargeted, protected speech |
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Expressive Conduct |
A hybrid form of expression in which conduct, such as burning a flag, is performed in a manner intended to convey a particular message. Also called symbolic speech |
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Intermediate Scrutiny |
A relaxed judicial test, applied to restrictions on certain kinds of speech, to determine if the restrictions are constitutional. The text applied to content-neutral time/place/manner restrictions, for example |
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Natural Law |
Those fundamental rights and rules of conduct that some believe are universally inherent in the nature of being human; law prompted by a rational understanding of the true nature and capacity of human beings and not by the conventions or systems peculiar to any one people |
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Preferred Position Balancing |
An approach to judicial review of speech restrictions in which the free speech interests begin with a heavy presumption of First Amendment protection, and the government must demonstrate sufficient justifications to overcome that presumption |
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Prior Restraint |
A government restraint on expression that is imposed prior to publication or other dissemination to the public, as distinguished from sanctions imposed following publication |
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Public Forum |
A government-provided place or medium that is specifically designed or traditionally used for free speech by the public |
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Rational Basis Standard |
A minimum level of judicial scrutiny that all laws must be able to satisfy. In order to be constitutional, all laws must have some apparent, rational justification |
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Seditious Libel |
Communication intended to encourage or incite overthrow of the government; historically, a serious crime |
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Standard of Judicial Review |
The particular test or level of scrutiny that a court applies to a challenged government action or statute, or the test than an appellate court applies when reviewing the decision of a lower court |
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State Action |
Government activity that restricts a constitutional freedom, as opposed to restrictions imposed by private individuals or groups |
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Strict Scrutiny |
In constitutional law, the strictest level of judicial review for statutes and other actions of government. Under strict scrutiny, government action that impedes freedom of speech can be valid only if the action is found to serve a compelling public interest |
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Substancial Interest |
In First Amendment cases, a level of government justification for restrictions on speech. A substantial interest is less than a compelling justification, but greater than a mere rational justification |
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Symbolic Speech |
A form of expression in which conduct, such as burning a flag, is performed in a manner that conveys a particular message. Also called expressive conduct |
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Time, Place, and Manner (TMP) Restriction |
a government limitation on speech that is not based on the content of expression. Such a restriction is more likely to be constitutionally valid than an outright ban or a content-based limitation |
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Void-For-Vagueness Doctrine |
A principle of constitutional law stating that any statue aimed at legitimately restricting speech shall nevertheless be invalid if its terms are so vague that untargeted, protected speech may also be suppressed. Closely related to the doctrine of overbreadth |
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Clear and Present Danger |
a standard adopted by the US Supreme Court to determine when government may forbid speech encouraging violence or civil unrest |
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Due Care |
the degree of care that an ordinarily prudent person would have exercised under the same circumstances |
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Espionage Act |
A WWI-era federal act that made it a crime to willfully attempt to cause disloyalty in the military or to hamper military recruiting, among other things |
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Incitement Standard |
a stricter version of the clear-and-present danger test, adopted by the U.S. Supreme court to determine when speech is sufficiently dangerous that it may be punished |
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Negligence |
Failure to exercise due care; lack of care that a reasonable person would have exercised under the circumstances. A fault standard used in tort law |
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Reasonable Care |
A standard of care that all people are legally obliged to exercise whenever there exists a foreseeable risk of injury to others; due care. Failure to exercise this minimum level of care constitutes negilence |
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Sedition Act |
A law passed by Congress in 1798 making it a crime to publish false and malicious comments intended to stir up contempt for government officials |
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Smith Act |
A federal statute that punishes the advocacy of overthrowing government by force or violence |
