The American law system encompasses many levels of the law and different branches from which our laws are derived. American law from its origins is primarily simple but builds up into a complex system that takes years of studying to master. Three defining terms explains our American law system in a nutshell. The three terms are Branches of Government, Case Law, and Administrative Regulations.
The Branches of Government in our American law system are “Our federal government has three parts. They are the Executive, (President and about 5,000,000 workers) Legislative (Senate and House of Representatives) and Judicial (Supreme Court and lower Courts).” ("BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT," 2017, p. 1) The Founders of the Constitution feared tyranny so much that they …show more content…
“The common law (also called judge-made law or case law) is a law made and applied by judges as they decide cases not governed by statutes or other types of law.” (Mallor, 2017, p. 3) Case law only exists on the state level in our American law system. It was introduced to America from the England settlers’ law system that was derived from the medieval England period. Judges within the states use common law to fill in the gaps when federal and state Constitution law does not entirely pertain to a case. Case Law also allows precedents where other judges’ rulings can be followed. The case laws may be of different types. For example, it can be of pure decisional or based on constitutional laws. “Courts called upon to decide cases on the basis of prior court decisions (precedent) and/or policy and a sense of fairness. Or, Court called upon to consider whether a particular statute or government action is consistent within the U.S. Constitution or a particular state constitution.” (Fine, 1997, p. 1) The common law is still used today just as in the colonial times as a tool for filling in the gaps and using precedents as a guide to ruling on many
The Branches of Government in our American law system are “Our federal government has three parts. They are the Executive, (President and about 5,000,000 workers) Legislative (Senate and House of Representatives) and Judicial (Supreme Court and lower Courts).” ("BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT," 2017, p. 1) The Founders of the Constitution feared tyranny so much that they …show more content…
“The common law (also called judge-made law or case law) is a law made and applied by judges as they decide cases not governed by statutes or other types of law.” (Mallor, 2017, p. 3) Case law only exists on the state level in our American law system. It was introduced to America from the England settlers’ law system that was derived from the medieval England period. Judges within the states use common law to fill in the gaps when federal and state Constitution law does not entirely pertain to a case. Case Law also allows precedents where other judges’ rulings can be followed. The case laws may be of different types. For example, it can be of pure decisional or based on constitutional laws. “Courts called upon to decide cases on the basis of prior court decisions (precedent) and/or policy and a sense of fairness. Or, Court called upon to consider whether a particular statute or government action is consistent within the U.S. Constitution or a particular state constitution.” (Fine, 1997, p. 1) The common law is still used today just as in the colonial times as a tool for filling in the gaps and using precedents as a guide to ruling on many