SLAO Final

Court System

  • Federal District Court: 

    • At least one in each state

    • General trial courts - civil and criminal

    • Each district court has a bankruptcy court

    • Judges appointed for life by President (confirmed by the Senate)

    • District court judges can appoint Federal Magistrates

    • U.S. Attorney is primary prosecutor

    • Specialized courts: US Tax Court, US Court of Federal Claims, US Court of International Trade

  • Federal Courts of Appeal

    • Country is divided into circuits

    • Maryland is in the 4th circuit

    • 11 geographic regions and the federal circuit

    • Number of judges range from 6 to 29

    • Judges are appointed for life by the Present (confirmed by the Senate)

    • Hear appeals from District Court by panel or en banc

    • Specialized appeals: US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces 

  • Supreme Court

    • Hears appeals from federal Court of Appeals or highest state court (if federal claims at issue)

    • Party files a “writ of certiorari” to request that the Court hear the case

    • Less and 1% of cases have the writ granted

    • If writ is denied, lower court’s decision stands

    • If writ is granted, Court takes vriefs and hears oral arguments

    • 9 justices (8 associates and 1 Chief Justice) is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate

    • Session starts first Monday in October and usually ends in late June

    • Oral arguments are open to the public

    • Oral arguments and transcripts are posted on the Court’s website after each argument

  • State Courts (Maryland)

    • District Courts (24) - Trial

    • Circuit Courts (24) - Trial/Appellate

    • Appellate Court of Maryland (previously the court of special appeals) (1) - Appellate

    • Supreme Court of Maryland (previously court of appeals) (1) - Appellate

  • District Courts

    • Landloard-tenant issues

    • Small claims court (less than 5k)

    • Traffic violations

    • Misdemeanors and limited Felonies

    • Peace and protective orders

    • Concurrent jurisdiction with circuit court for claims between 5k and 30k 

    • No juries

  • Circuit Courts

    • Civil cases over 30k 

    • Family law

    • Juvenile cases

    • More serious criminal matters (3 years in jail or $2.5k fine)

    • Jury trials

  • Appellate Courts

    • No evidence/witnesses

    • Oral arguments by attorneys

    • Could be heard by a panel or en banc

  • Appellate Court of Maryland - 15 judges, usually hears cases in panels of 3

  • Supreme Court of Maryland - 7 judges, must hear death penality, legislative redistricting, or removal of certain state officials

  • Other special courts 

    • Orphans court: wills, estates, probate, guardianship

    • Office of Administrative Hearings: cases from an executive agencies (MVA)



Criminal Law

  • State legislatures decide what constitutes as a crime

  • Criminal statutes define elements of each crime and the range of punishments (codes)

  • Prosecutor must prove every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt

  • Consitituion does not define crimes - it places restrictions on the drafting and implementation of criminal laws

  • Due Process

    • Basic American principle of criminal law is that a defendant is presumed innocent

    • Due processes clauses of the 5th and 14th amendments of the constitution require that, to convict a defendant, the government must persuade the factfinder beyond a reasonable doubt of every fact necessary to constitute of the crime charged

  • The Fourth Amendment

    • Constitutional law provides that if an unconstitutional search leads to evidence, that evidence cannot be used in a criminal prosecution (exclusionary rule)

    • Arrests are seizures, therefore police use of force to effectuate an arrest must be performed in a constitutionally reasonable manner

    • Determination of reasonableness is based on the “totality of the circumstances” 

  • The Sixth Amendment

    • Provides that “in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury”

      • Generally limited the right to a jury trial to prosecutions for crimes with the maximum punishment exceeds incarceration of 6 months

      • Factfinder can be a judge or jury

  • The Eighth Amendment

    • Cruel and unusual punishment clause prohibits grossly disproportionate punishment 

    • Supreme court held that death is grossly disproportionate punishment for rape - because the originaly offense doesn’t involve the takiing of human life

    • The legislature has primary authority in setting punishments 

      • No noncapital incarcerative punishment will be declared unconstitutional unless there are objective grounds for determining the punishment is grossly disproportionate to the crime

  • Ex Post Facto

    • Legislatures are prohibited by the Ex Post Facto Clause of the United States Constitution from enacting laws that would punish conduct that was lawful at the time of its commission, or that increases the punishment for an act before the law took effect

  • Malum Prohibitum - conduct that is wrongful only because it is prohibited (MVA)

  • Malum in Se - inherently wrongful conduct

  • Components of a Crime

    • Actus Reus - the physical component of a crime

    • Mens Rea - committed the actus reas with a vicious will, evil mind, morally blameworthy, or culpable state of mind - purpose, knowledge, recklessness, negligence

      • Intention: a person acts purposefully (intentionally) if he acts with the intent that his action causes a certain result. In other words, the defendant undertakes his action either intending for, or hoping that, a certain result will follow

      • Knowledge: a person acts knowingly if he is aware that his conduct will result in certain consequences. In other words, a person acts knowingly if he is aware that it is practically certain that his conduct will cause a specific result.

      • Recklessnes: a person acts recklessly if he is aware of a substantial risk that a certain result will occur as a result of his actions. The risk must be substantial enough that the action represents a gross deviation from what a reasonable law abiding citizen would do

      • Negligence: a personal acts negligently if they should have been aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that a certain consequence would result from their action 

  • Common Criminal Defenses

    • Defenses based on State of Mind/Intent: insanity, intoxication, mistake of law or fact

    • Defenses based on Justification: self-defense (or another), duress, necessity

    • Defenses Alleging no Crime Occurred: consent, abandonment or withdrawal, entrapment

  • Inchoate Offenses: not completed offenses - you can still be charged with the crime even if you didn’t specifically commit the crime yourself

    • Attempt, conspiracy, aiding and abetting

  • Accomplice Liability

    • An accomplice is liable even if the crime would have occurred without his/her help

    • To be an accomplice, the person must act, “with purpose of promoting or facilitating the commission of the offense”

    • If the perpetrator is acquitted, generally speaking, there can be no accomplice liability

Torts

  • Torts is a general classification encompassing several different civil causes of action providing a private remedy

    • Usually money damages for an injury to Plaintiff cuased by the tortious conduct of the defendant

    • Can be acts of commision - intentional torts

    • Acts of omission - negligence

  • Intentional torts

    • Assault, battery, false imprisonment, trespass to land, trespass to chattels/conversation, intentional infliction of emotional distress

      • Defenses to intentional torts: self defense, defense of property, consent, necessity, justification

  • Negligence: conduct that falls below the standard established by law for the protection of others against unreasonable risks of harm

    • The Objective Test: was the defendant’s conduct that of hypothetical reasonable prudent person placed in the same or similar circumstances?

    • Elements of Negligence: duty + breach + causation + injury

      • The plaintiff bears the burden of showing all four elements are satisfied

      • If even one is missing - the case is over

    • Duty: we have a duty to act with reasonable care to avoid subjecting others (and their property) to an unreasonable risk of harm. We have no duty to rescue or air people absent a special relationship 

      • Good Samaritan laws protect individuals who try to help others and act in good faith

      • Special relationships: carrier/passenger, inkeepker/guest, landowner/lawful entrant, employer/employee, jailer/prisoner, school/student, parent/child, husband/wife, store/customer, host/guest, doctor/patient, attorney/client

    • Questions of Law v. Fact: 

      • Duty - question of whether duty exists is a question of law for the judge

      • Breach/causation/injury - whether specific conduct or lack thereof constituted negligence is a question of fact for the trier of fact, who is the judge in a bench trial and a jury in a jury trial

    • Defenses: 

      • Contributory negligence: even if the plaintiff was 0.1% negligent herself, she cannot recover damages

      • Comparative negligence: pure - the plaintiff can recover only the percentage of damage not attributable to plaintiff’s negligence. Modified - the Plaintiff can only recover damages if his negligence id equal to or less than the negligence of the defendant

      • Assumption of Risk: the plaintiff cannot recover damages if she knew of the inherent danger of the activity and voluntarily engaged in it anyway

      • Waiver: the plaintiff voluntarily relinquished his right to recover damages

      • Immunity: the defendant has a legal status that prevents some or all of a recovery by the plaintiff

    • Causation: the defendant’s conduct must have been the cause of the harm to the Plaintiff, most courts use the term “proximate cause” - there may be several tortfeasors who cause injury to a single plaintiff.  Either or both can be subject to liability. A defendant is not responsible for unforeseeable risk.

    • Injury: a defendant must be able to show actual harm - this usually means physical or pecuniary harm (emotionally distress is more difficult, and it has to be egregious)

  • Status of Limitation- each category of tort must be filed within the time prescribed by statute. The clock starts ticking on the date the plaintiff knew or should have known of the injury.



Contracts

  • Basic Elements of a Contract: Offer + Acceptance = Contract

    • All parties must be in agreement as to material terms

    • A meeting of the minds

  • Agreement - more than just a preliminary discussion or an understanding that you will discuss terms and/or conditions in the future

    • If you give a different offer than the original contract, it would be a counter offer

    • If there is no expiration date, it stays open for a reasonable time - it can be revoked at any time until it is accepted, unless it was originally agreed that the offer would be open for a stated period of time

  • Consideration - something of value must be exchagned (cash, services, goods)

    • Look at what each party has promised

    • A gift, without anything in return, is not a contract

  • Written vs. Verbal

    • Not always, but best guarantee you will have to enforce it. State laws differ on whether oral contracts of certain types or durations are enforceable and they are often difficult to prove

    • In Maryland, if over $500 of goods are at issue, or the duration is longer than one year, it must be committed to writing

Property Law

  • Governs the various forms of ownership and tenancy in real property and personal property. Real property is typically land, as distinct from personal moveable possessions 

    • Factors to consider: 

      • The nature of the object

      • The relationship between the person and the object

      • How the object is regarded within the prevailing political system

  • Property rights vs. personal rights

    • What you can own and do with it

    • As compared to what yo, as an individual human being, have a right to do and be, in general

  • Real Property 

    • Tangible real property (land)

    • Intangible real property (easement)

  • Personal Property

    • Tangible personal property (chattel)

    • Intangible personal property (stock)

  • Possession 

    • Person in possession of land or goods is entitled to take action against anyone interfering with the possession unless the person interfering is able to demonstrate superior right to do so

  • Transfer

    • Usually a consensual transaction, such as a sale, gift, will, or trust. However, transfer can occur without consent, such as when a person dies intestate, goes bankrupt, or has the property taken via court judgement

  • Priority

    • There can be more than one interest in a property and some of those interests can conflict. It is up to the court to resolve the dispute by adjudicating the priorities of all interests in the property

  • Lease

    • An owner of property is free to lease it to another individual or organization. While there used to be a few restrictions on this, modern statutory and regulatory provisions protect certain interests of the lessor and lessee.

  • Bailments

    • Sole benefit of bailor - slight care, gross negligence

    • Sole benefits of the bailee - extreme care, slight negligence

    • Mutual benefit - ordinary care, ordinary negligence

  • Squatter Rights/ Adverse Possession

    • They must have been at the occupated for 20 years - trespassers gain legal title to the property by opening inhabiting and improving the property

    • There must be a hostile claim, and the trespasser must

      • Make an honest mistake

      • Merely occupy the land, or

      • Be aware of the trespassing

    • There must be actual possession (treating the land as their own)

      • It cannot be a secret

    • There must be exclusive and continuous possession - cannot share with others

  • The Estate System

    • Fee simple, life estate, concurrent estate (tenancy in common, joint tenancy, tenancy in the entirety)

      • Tenancy by the entirety - allows spouses to own property together

        • May not sell or give away interest in the property without the consent of the other tenant

      • Joint tenancy/tenancy in common - ownership of property by two or more people

  • Rule against Perpetuities

    • No interest is good unless it must vest in interest, if at all, not later than 21 years after some life in being at the time of the creation of interest

    • We don’t want people to be able to control property from the grave forever. We want interests to vest at some point.



Constitutional Law

  • Federal courts have jurisdiction to interpret the US constitution

  • State courts must decide cases in conformity with the US Constitution

  • Certain basic principles must be met in all cases: standing/ripeness/mootness

  • State Power v. Federal Power

    • Federal Power: tax, commerce, spending, treaties

      • Supremacy clause: the constitution, the laws made pursuant to it and treaties constitute the supreme law of the land, state law cannot conflict with the US Constitution. 

        • Cornerstone of the US poltical structure (originates from the Articles of Confederation)

  • First Amendment - Freedom of speech, press, religion, and petition

    • Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances

  • Second Amendment - Right to Keep and Bear Arms

    • A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, and the right of the peopel to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed

  • Third Amendment - Conditions for Quarters of Soldiers

    • No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, wtihout consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 

  • Fourth Amendment - Search and Seizure

    • The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probably cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 

  • Fifth Amendment - Prosecution

    • No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice in jeopardy of life or limb; no shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation

  • Sixth Amendment - Speedy Trials, Witnesses, etc.

    • In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witness in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense

  • Seventh Amendment - Trial by Jury

    • In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the roles of the common law

  • Eighth Amendment - Excessive Bail, Unusual Punishments

    • Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruels and unusual punishments inflicted.

  • Ninth Amendment - Construction of the Constitution

    • The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

  • Tenth Amendment - Rights of the States

    • The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people 

  • Other Amendments

    • 13th - abolition of slavery

    • 14th - equal protection

    • 15th - right to vote (race)

    • 18th - prohibition

    • 19th - right to vote (women)

    • 21st - repeal of prohibition 

    • 22nd - term limits

    • 25th - vacancy in president/vp office, incapacity of president

  • Constitutional Scrutiny

    • Strict scrutiny - is the law narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling government interest?

    • Heightened scrutiny - is the law substantially related to an important government interred?

    • Rational scrutiny - is the law rationally related to a legitimate governmental reason offered as its justification?