Courts and Legal System: Sources and Types of Law

Vocabulary flashcards covering key legal concepts, constitutional doctrines, elements of criminal liability, defenses, and civil law principles from Chapters 2 and 3.

Common law

Law that is based on past judicial decisions rather than written statutes.

Statutory law

Law that is based on current written laws enacted by a legislative body.

Legislation

Laws enacted by the legislature through statutes.

Constitution

The foundational document that constitutes the government and sets boundaries within which the legislature must act.

Writ of habeas corpus

A legal order allowing an individual to seek relief from unlawful imprisonment, explicitly mentioned in the US Constitution.

Bill of attainder

A legislative act that imposes punishment on a person without a judicial trial, prohibited by the US Constitution.

Ex post facto law

An "after the fact" law that retroactively punishes an action that was legal when committed, prohibited by the US Constitution.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the US Constitution that codified individual rights into law.

Incorporation

The legal interpretation of the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment as prohibiting states from abridging rights contained in the Bill of Rights.

Privileges and immunities clause

A clause in the 14th Amendment protecting fundamental rights and liberties guaranteed to citizens.

Due process clause

A clause in the 14th Amendment used to limit state authority and apply Bill of Rights protections to state governments.

Equal protection clause

A clause in the 14th Amendment requiring states to provide equal legal protection to all individuals.

Procedural due process

An aspect of due process concerned with the legal procedures that must be followed before depriving a person of life, liberty, or property.

Substantive due process

An aspect of due process concerned with protecting fundamental rights from government interference, regardless of procedural fairness.

Total incorporation approach

The view that all protections in the Bill of Rights should apply directly to state governments via the 14th Amendment.

Total incorporation plus approach

The view that the 14th Amendment incorporates all protections in the Bill of Rights as well as additional fundamental rights not explicitly listed.

Fundamental rights approach

An approach to incorporation that applies only those rights considered essential to liberty and justice to state governments.

Selective incorporation approach

The judicial practice of applying specific protections of the Bill of Rights to state governments on a case-by-case basis.

Judicial review

The authority of courts to examine legislative and executive actions to determine their constitutionality.

Strict scrutiny review

The highest level of judicial review applied to laws involving fundamental rights or suspect classifications.

Intermediate scrutiny review

A standard of judicial review applied to legal classifications that fall between strict scrutiny and rational basis review.

Rational basis review

The lowest level of judicial review requiring only that a law be reasonably related to a legitimate government interest.

Substantive law

The legal rules that govern the rights and obligations of individuals.

Crime

An act in violation of a criminal law for which a punishment is prescribed, committed with intent and without legal defense or justification.

Mala in se crimes

Crimes that are inherently wrong in and of themselves, receiving near universal moral condemnation.

Mala prohibita crimes

Crimes that are wrong because they are prohibited by legislation, subject to greater public disagreement.

Beyond a reasonable doubt

The standard of proof required in criminal proceedings to establish a defendant's guilt.

Overbreadth doctrine

A constitutional principle prohibiting laws that are defined so broadly or vaguely that they impermissibly restrict protected activities.

Void for vagueness

A doctrine invalidating a statute that fails to clearly define a prohibited act and appropriate punishment, depriving citizens of fair notice.

Cruel and unusual punishment

A constitutional limitation requiring that criminal punishments remain proportional to the offense committed.

Corpus delicti

The "body of the crime," referring to the five essential elements required to establish criminal liability.

Actus reus

The criminal act element of liability, which may take the form of an action, omission, or possession.

Mens rea

The criminal intent element of liability, categorized as purposeful, knowing, reckless, or negligent.

Concurrence

The legal requirement that the criminal act (actus reus) and criminal intent (mens rea) exist together simultaneously.

Causation

The element of criminal liability requiring both factual cause and legal cause between an act and the resulting harm.

Harm

The physical, mental, or economic injury resulting from a criminal act.

Inchoate crimes

Anticipatory, planned, or incomplete criminal offenses, such as attempt, solicitation, and conspiracy.

Party to crime

An individual involved in planning, assisting, or committing a criminal offense.

Affirmative defenses

Legal grounds raised by a defendant to avoid conviction, categorized as alibi, justification, or excuse.

Alibi defenses

An affirmative defense asserting denial of the criminal act by showing the defendant was elsewhere when the crime took place.

Justification defenses

Defenses, such as self-defense or consent, asserting that an act was legal and permissible under the circumstances.

Excuse defenses

Defenses, such as age or insanity, asserting that the defendant lacks criminal responsibility due to a personal condition.

M’Naghten Rule

A test for legal insanity assessing whether the defendant understood the nature of the act or knew right from wrong.

Irresistible Impulse Test

A test for legal insanity evaluating whether a mental disease rendered the defendant incapable of controlling their conduct.

Durham Rule

A test for legal insanity determining whether a criminal act was the product of a mental disease or defect.

Substantial Capacity Test

A test for legal insanity assessing whether a defendant lacked substantial capacity to appreciate criminality or conform conduct to the law.

Crimes against public order

Offenses causing injury to the peace and order of society, including disorderly conduct, unlawful assembly, and vagrancy.

Crimes against morality

Offenses causing injury to the moral health of society, including adultery, prostitution, and obscenity.

Civil law

The branch of law designed to address private wrongs and resolve disputes between private parties.

Plaintiff

The injured party who initiates a civil lawsuit.

Defendant

The party being sued in a civil action or accused in a criminal prosecution.

Preponderance of the evidence

The standard of proof in civil law requiring that a claim be proven as "more likely than not."

Compensatory damages

Monetary damages awarded in civil suits to compensate the plaintiff for actual injuries suffered.

Punitive damages

Monetary awards granted in civil suits on top of compensatory damages to punish egregious defendant behavior.