Common Law: Case Law

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts from the lecture notes on enacted law types, authority sources, precedent, stare decisis, and landmark case examples.

Statutes

Laws enacted by a legislative body; primary source of law and typically above regulations in the enacted-law hierarchy.

Regulations

Rules created by administrative agencies to implement statutes; subordinate to statutes.

Common Law / Case Law

Decisions of courts interpreting and applying statutes, regulations, and constitutions; bottom tier of the enacted-law hierarchy and a source of precedent.

Legal Authority

The sources courts rely on: statutes, regulations, constitutions, and prior court opinions.

Precedent

The body of previously decided case law that guides decisions in later cases.

Stare Decisis

The doctrine that courts should follow existing precedents and higher court decisions.

Conditions for Applying Precedent

The current case must involve the same rule of law and have similar facts to a previous case.

Administrative Agencies’ Functions

They perform legislative (rulemaking), executive (enforcement), and judicial (hearings and decisions) functions.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Overruled Plessy v. Ferguson; rejected the doctrine of 'separate but equal' in public schools and emphasized breaking from outdated precedent.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Established the 'separate but equal' doctrine; later overruled by Brown.

Hierarchy of Enacted Law

Statutes at the top, followed by regulations, then common law/court decisions at the bottom.

Purpose of Precedent

To provide efficiency, predictability, and fairness in the court system by guiding future decisions.