Law & Legal Studies: Exam 2

Element

An essential requirement needed to establish a valid claim or defense in a civil or criminal court action

Case or Controversy?

A case must have an actual controversy between litigants; cannot be hypothetical, collusive, arranged, or moot

Standing

The requirement that a plaintiff have a legally sufficient personal interest in a lawsuit, having suffered an injury caused by the defendant that can be redressed by the court

Standing Elements

Injury in fact: plaintiff broke their leg in car accident

Causation: Defendant caused the accident by running a stop sign

Repressibility: The court can award money damages

An injury must be…

Particularized: Individual to that person

Concreate: Actual, not hypothetical

When can you sue on behalf of another person?

Parent of an injured child

Guardian for a legally incompetent person

Executor of an estate

Res Judicata

The doctrine of claim preclusion establishing that a final judgment on the merits by a competent court bars the same parties from relitigating the same cause of action on grounds that were or could have been raised

Why is Res Judicata Important?

We don’t want to give people unlimited opportunities to try a case

“Bar and Merger”

Bars re-litigation of the same cause of action

What are the elements of claim preclusion?

Same people involved in both suits or privity

Same claims or issues in both suits

Final judgment on the merits

Privity

A legal relationship where a non-party steps into the shoes of an original party, binding them to prior court judgments under claim preclusion.

Equitable Maxim

A remedy must be provided for every wrong

Immunity as an Exception

An exception to the general rule that every legal wrong should have a remedy

It protects certain people or entities from tort liability when public policy supports that protection

Sovereign Immunity

No sovereign may be sued without its express consent

The government has already consented in some contexts:

• Government contracts

• Federal Tort Claims Act

Federal Tort Claims Act (1946)

A federal statute by which the government waived immunity for negligence and other torts, excluding discretionary acts

General Rules of Sovereign Immunity

Immune: A public entity performing a government function

Not Immune: A public entity performing a usually commercial or private function

When are Government Officials Immune?

Immunity from civil damages lawsuits

Must be:

• Acting within the scope of authority

• Discharging officials

• Making discretionary decisions in connection with official duties

When are Government Officials Not Immune?

Liable for any person acts

• Torts

• Invading others’ constitutional rights

Acting maliciously

Acting for an improper purpose

Qualified immunity

• Immunity if actions do not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights (primarily applies to police)

Qualified Immunity

A doctrine shielding government officials, primarily police officers, from civil liability unless their conduct violates clearly established statutory or constitutional rights

Common Law vs. Equitable Remedies

Common Law

• Remedy is money damages

Equitable Remedies

• Remedy is a court order to do/not do something

Types of Common Law Remedies

Damages

• Compensatory

• Liquidated

• Punitive

• Nominal

Ejectment

Replevin

Compensatory Damages

Common law money damages designed to compensate a plaintiff for reasonably foreseeable actual losses resulting from a tort or breach of contract

• Loss of time

• Loss of money

• Pain and Suffering

• Permanent disabilities

• Injury to reputation

• Future losses (if not too speculative)

Objective of Compensatory Damages

Tort: Put the plaintiff in the same monetary position that existed before the tort

Contract: Put the plaintiff in the same monetary position a completed contract would have produced

Mitigation (Avoidable Harm) of Damages

The rule requiring an injured party to take reasonable means to avoid or minimize losses if preventable without undue risk, expense, or humiliation

The Benefit Rule

If a defendant's wrongful actions somehow benefited the plaintiff, the value of that benefit can be deducted from the damages the plaintiff receives.

General Damages

Damages for harm that is the natural and necessary result of a wrongful act, such as pain and suffering, which do not require specific pleading

Special Damages

Damages arising from specific circumstances of a wrongful act, such as medical bills and lost wages, which require specific pleading

Punitive Damages

Civil damages awarded in addition to actual damages to punish aggravated, wanton, reckless, or malicious conduct and deter future wrongdoing

Nominal Damages

A small sum awarded for a technical breach of an agreement or invasion of a right when no actual or specific harm was sustained.

Types of Equitable Remedies

Specific performance

Injunction

Reformation

Rescission

*Only granted by a judge

Specific Performance

An equitable court order requiring a breaching party to carry out the terms of a contract, typically applied to unique goods or real estate when common law remedies are inadequate

Specific Performance: The Parties

Plaintiff

• Must have performed or be ready to perform the obligation

Defendant

• Can assert defenses:

  • Unclean hands

  • Hardship (one-sided agreement, inadequate consideration)

  • Laches

Laches

An equitable defense asserting that a plaintiff unreasonably delayed bringing a legal action, barring the claim

Injunction

An equitable judicial order either compelling a person to act in a certain way (mandatory) or prohibiting them from doing an act (prohibitory)

Permanent Injunction

Both sides have had a full opportunity to dispute and argue the case, evidence is presented, judge enters the order

Preliminary Injunction

An interlocutory emergency measure granted prior to a full trial to preserve the status quo

• Issued before a full hearing

Preliminary Injunction: Elements

1.) The moving party will suffer irreparable injury

2.) There is a substantial likelihood the moving party will succeed on the merits

3.) In balancing the equities, the non-moving party will not be harmed more than the moving party is helped

4.) Granting the injunction is in the public interest

Temporary Restraining Order (TRO)

An emergency, short-term ex parte order issued without notice to prevent irreparable harm before a hearing can take place

• Often used in family law

Enforcing an Injunction

Disobeying the judge’s order is contempt of court

• Penalized by fine, jail, or loss of the right to litigate certain issues

Wrongs Committed Against the Public

Crimes are charged by the state

• The state:

  • Makes the decision to charge

  • Pays for an investigation

  • Pays for the prosecution

  • Calls experts

  • Punishes, through jail and fines

Mala in Se

Crimes that are inherently wrong or morally evil by their very nature, such as murder, rape, arson, and theft

Mala Prohibita

Acts made criminal by statutory definition rather than inherent immorality, such as traffic violations, hunting without a license, jaywalking, etc.

• Usually strict liability crimes (no intent required)

Types of Crimes

Crimes against:

• The person: rape, kidnapping, battery, murder

• Property: larceny, burglary, arson

• Government: contempt, perjury, bribery

Felony

Over 1 year in jail

Misdemeanor

Maximum of 1 year or less in jail

White Collar Crimes

Nonviolent, business crimes

• Tax evasion, insider trading

• Fines

“Victimless” Crimes

Drug offenses, loitering

14th Amendment - Equal Protection

Law must apply equally to all; but equal outcome is not protected

“Inherently Suspect” Classifications

A law is “inherently suspect” if it is based on:

• Race

• National origin

• Alienage

• Gender

• Restricting fundamental rights

Court will apply strict scrutiny

Actus Reus

The voluntary physical act or omission that constitutes the criminal conduct element of an offense

Mens Rea

The required culpable mental state or 'guilty mind' accompanying a criminal act

Failure to Act Can be a Crime

Required by laws:

• Filing tax returns

• Registration for selective service

• Registering firearms

Other duties:

• By contract

• By status

• By assuming responsibility

• By possession

Concurrence

The requirement in criminal law that the wrongful physical act (actus reus) and the required mental state (mens rea) occur simultaneously

General Intent

A person intends the consequences of specific acts

Ex. possession of a controlled substance

Specific Intent

Proof of committing an act and a specific knowledge or intent

Ex. Possession with intent to sell

Criminal Negligence

Unconscious risk creation

Ex. speeding, racing, DUI, & killing another as a result

Model Penal Code for Intent

Purposely: It was your goal to do it

Knowingly: You knew it would happen, even if it wasn’t your goal

Recklessly: You knew about a serious risk and ignored it

Negligently: You should have known about a serious risk, but didn’t

Causation

Sometimes crimes require proof that the defendant’s conduct caused a given result

Inchoate Crimes

Offenses that criminalize conduct stopping short of a completed offense, including attempt, conspiracy, and solicitation

Attempt

An inchoate crime requiring an intent to commit a specific offense and a substantial step in furtherance beyond mere planning, without completing the crime

Conspiracy

An agreement between parties to commit a crime, accompanied by an overt act in furtherance of that agreement by at least one member

Solicitation

An inchoate crime where a person asks, commands, hires, or encourages another individual to commit a criminal offense

Solicitation: The Request is the Crime

The criminal act is the request itself

It makes no difference whether the other person accepts

Asking is enough, even if the answer is no

Except: North Dakota, solicitation requires an overt towards committing the crime by the person being solicited

Abandonment

Giving up a criminal plan before completing the crime

• Can be a defense if it is voluntary (not out of fear)

Factual Impossibility

A condition where a crime cannot be completed because the physical facts differ from what the defendant believed, which does not serve as a valid legal defense

Legal Impossibility

A valid defense where the act the defendant completed or attempted is not actually defined as a crime under the law

Two Different Ways to Defend

1.) Challenging the Prosecution’s case - credibility of witnesses, unproven elements

2.) Affirmative Defenses - admits guilt, but introduces new facts/excuses that reduce liability

Justification: Self Defense

Use of reasonable force to defend yourself, others, property

• Once the attack is repelled, use of force ends

Excuse: Duress or Coercion

Committing a crime because of being threatened

• Fails if a reasonable alternative is available

Excuse: Minority

North Dakota: under the age of 10 is incapable of forming criminal intent

Excuse: Insanity

The defendant admits committing the act, but denies responsibility for it

Excuse: Intoxication

Voluntary: Person chose to drink/take drugs - usually not a defense

Involuntary: Person did not knowingly become intoxicated - incapable of determining right from wrong

Excuse: Insanity - M'Naghten Test

An insanity defense standard determining whether a mental disease rendered the defendant unable to understand the nature and quality of their act or unable to distinguish right from wrong

Excuse: Insanity - Irresistible Impulse

An insanity standard applying when a defendant knew an act was wrong but lost the mental power to control their physical behavior.

What is a Search?

An examination of a person or premises for evidence

Privacy in a Seach

Must have a “reasonable expectation of privacy”

Reasonable Expectation of Privacy

Subjective: The individual had an actual, personal, expectation of privacy

Objective: The subjective expectation is one that society recognized as reasonable

What do warrants give police officers authority to do?

Arrest a person

Search a person

Search property

A warrant must be specific…

Name of the person

Place to be searched

Particular reason

Items being sought

Probable Cause

A police officer's well-grounded, reasonable belief based on facts that a person has committed or is committing a crime, required for warrants and arrests

Executing a Warrant: Rule - “Knock and Announce”

Officers generally must announce themselves before entering

Executing a Warrant: Rule Exception - Exigent Circumstances

Entry without notice is allowed when notice would:

Endanger the officers

Cause destruction of evidence

Exclusionary Rule

A constitutional rule barring the prosecution from using evidence gathered during illegal police searches or seizures in court

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree

The legal doctrine holding that derivative evidence obtained as an indirect result of an unconstitutional search or interrogation must be excluded from court

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree: Exceptions

Independent Source: The evidence was also obtained in, lawful way

Good Faith: Officered acted reasonably even though the warrant was defective

Terry Stop - “Stop and Frisk”

A brief investigatory detention and pat-down of outer clothing for weapons conducted by law enforcement based on reasonable suspicion

Exceptions to the Warrant Requirement

Abandoned property: Items thrown away or left behind

Booking searches: A person and belongings are searched when booked in jail

Consent searches: The person voluntarily agrees to the search

Hot pursuit: Officer case a fleeing suspect into a building

Open fields: Open land away from the area around the home

Plain view: An officer who is lawfully present sees evidence out in the open

Mobile vehicles: Probable cause that vehicle holds evidence, and the vehicle can drive away

Incident to arrest: The arrested person and the area within reach can be searched

Vehicle inventories: Officers list the content of an impounded vehicle

6th Amendment - Right to an Attorney

Right applies at the: Critical stages, Interrogation, First Appearance, Indigent defendants

5th Amendment - Privilege Against Self Incrimination

Only statements made voluntarily are admissible

A statement must be the product of a free and rational choice

It cannot be the product of:

Promises

Threats

Inducements

Physical abuse

Voluntariness Test

A confession must be voluntary to be used against the defendant

Courts look at the totality of the circumstances, including:

The suspects age, education, and mental and physical condition

Threats, promises, or deception by police

How long the question lasted

Whether the suspect was denied food, sleep, or a lawyer

Improper Statements Can Still Matter

Harmless Error: A coerced statement may be harmless error if the rest of the evidence still proves guilt

Impeachment: A statement taken without proper warnings can be used to impeach a defendant who takes the stand and testifies differently

Miranda Warnings: What Police Must Tell a Suspect

Silence: The right to remain silent

Use in Court: Anything they say will be used against them in court

A lawyer: The right to consult with a lawyer and have the lawyer present during interrogation

Appointed: If they cannot afford a laywer, one will be appointed

When does Miranda Apply?

Only during custodial interrogations; the person is not free to leave

Custodial Interrogation

Police questioning or actions reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response conducted while a suspect is deprived of freedom of action and not free to leave

Why does the state care about families?

The Police Power: Power to regulate for public health, safety, welfare, morals

Stable Families Serve Public Interests:

Children raised and educated

Dependents are supported

Property passes in an orderly way

What Legal Benefits to Families Have?

Tax benefits: joint filing, tax breaks for children, childcare, and education

Social security spousal and survivor benefits

Housing rights and homestead projection

Intestate succession: inheriting without a will

Spousal privilege in court testimony

Employee benefits, health benefits, family leave, childcare benefits

Where does the constitution set the boundaries of family law?

Due process clause: liberty

Equal protection clause: equality

Moore Decision

History and Tradition test

The Constitution protects the family because it is deeply rooted in the Nation’s history and tradition

That tradition is not limited to the nuclear family

The extended family is part of what the constitution protects

Coverture

The historical legal doctrine under which a married woman's separate legal rights and property were subsumed into those of her husband

Two Different Property Systems

Common law (separate property): Ownership follows title

Community property: Each spouse owns half of earning and property acquired during marriage