Legal Systems and Constitutional Law Practice Flashcards

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering small claims courts, constitutional articles, scrutiny levels, types of law, and procedural court rules based on lecture notes.

Small Claims Court

A court characterized by low costs and simplified procedures where the dollar jurisdiction threshold varies by state from $2,500$ to $25,000$.

Article I of the Constitution

Establishes the Legislative Branch (Congress: the House of Representatives and the Senate), which is responsible for making laws.

Article II of the Constitution

Establishes the Executive Branch (the President, Vice President, and Cabinet), which is responsible for enforcing laws.

Article III of the Constitution

Establishes the Judicial Branch (the Supreme Court and other federal courts), which is responsible for interpreting laws.

Petition for a writ of certiorari

A request by the losing party in a court of appeals for permission to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court; it must be filed within $90$ days of the lower court’s decision.

Rule of Four

The requirement that $4$ of the $9$ Justices must vote to hear or review a case to grant a writ of certiorari.

Diversity of citizenship

A jurisdictional requirement where all plaintiffs must be citizens of different states from all defendants to guard against state court bias.

Corporate Citizenship (Diversity Jurisdiction)

A corporation is considered a citizen of the state in which it has its principal place of business and the state of incorporation.

Amount in controversy (Diversity)

The jurisdictional requirement for diversity cases which must be more than $75,000$.

Rational Basis / Minimum Rationality

A level of scrutiny where a classification must be rationally connected to a permissible government objective; applies to height, weight, and age.

Intermediate / Quasi-Strict Scrutiny

A level of scrutiny where a classification must be substantially related to an important government interest; applies to gender and legitimacy.

Strict Scrutiny

A level of scrutiny where a classification must be necessary to a compelling state interest and narrowly tailored; applies to race and national origin.

Statutes

Legislation passed by Congress, also frequently referred to as acts.

Public law

Law that regulates society rather than private interactions; examples include Constitutional law, Administrative law, and Criminal law.

Private law

Covers legal problems involving private resource relationships; examples include Property law, Contract law, and Tort law.

Tort

A civil wrong other than breach of contract that involves the improper crossing of private boundaries.

Regulatory Law

Law that protects ownership and sets limits on the private use of resources.

Punitive damages

A civil punishment for intentional or extremely negligent wrongdoing intended to deter similar conduct in the future.

10th Amendment

Reinforces federalism by reserving some powers to the states and to the people.

13th Amendment

The amendment to the U.S. Constitution that abolished slavery.

Maastricht Treaty

Also known as Article 6 of the Treaty on the European Union, it states that the EU is founded on the rule of law.

Motion for summary judgment

A motion a judge may grant if the moving party can show there are no material disputed issues of fact.

Discovery

The process of seeking information that is discoverable as long as it will lead to evidence admissible during a trial.

Role of Jurors

In the U.S. court system, jurors determine the facts from conflicting evidence.

Right to trial by jury (Civil)

A right preserved in civil suits at common law when the amount in controversy exceeds $20$.

Arbitration

A form of alternative dispute resolution used to settle grievances in collective-bargaining contracts; the decisions are binding on the parties.

Order of Priority (Inconsistent Laws)

The legal hierarchy follows: (1) U.S. Constitution, (2) U.S. laws, (3) state and local laws.

Establishment clause

Part of the First Amendment that allows for the separation of church and state and guarantees freedom of religion.

Tort settlement rate

The Department of Justice reports that $98$ percent of tort cases filed in U.S. District Courts are settled prior to trial.