1. Street Law Chapter 1
WHAT IS LAW?

2. What is law?
 Laws are the rules and regulations made and enforced by
government that regulate the conduct of people within a
society
 Home: chores and bedtime
 School: rules about classroom behavior.
 Confusion and disorder with no laws.
 Government cannot function effectively unless its laws are
respected by the people the laws are intended to govern.
 Society must be based on the rule of law.
 known in advance
 Created through democratic process

3. Problem 1.1
 Students will complete problem 1.1 on page five in
their notebooks independently at their seats.
 Upon completion of listing these 10 daily activities
students will pair into their groups to share ideas
and answer the questions associated with problem
1.1

4. Laws and Values
 Laws = society’s traditional ideas of
right and wrong.
 Laws against murder reflect a moral
belief that killing another person is
wrong.
 Most people will condemn murder
 Not everything that is immoral is also
illegal.

5. Our Legal System Should Achieve
Many Goals:
 Protecting basic human rights
 Promoting fairness
 Helping resolve conflicts
 Promoting order and stability
 Promoting desirable social and economic behavior
 Representing the will of the majority
 Protecting the rights of minorities
 Balancing these are difficult

6.  Laws must balance:
 rights with responsibilities
 the will of the majority with the rights of the
minority,
 order with the need for basic human rights

7. Problem 1.2: The Shipwrecked Sailors
 Students will read the case of the shipwrecked
Sailors quietly at their seats on page six.
 Upon completion of reading students will answer the
questions independently.
 After the students independently answer the
questions they will pair into their groups to share
answers.

8.  Laws can be based on:
 Moral
 Economic
 Political
 Social values
 As values change, so can laws

9. Moral Values
 Deal with the fundamental questions of right and
wrong
 Little impact on a large group

10. Economic Values:
 Economic values deal with the accumulation,
preservation, use, and distribution of wealth.
 Many laws promote economic values by encouraging certain
economic decisions and discouraging others.
 Example: the law encourages home ownership by
giving tax benefits to people who borrow money to
pay for home.
 Example: Laws against shoplifting protect property
and discourage stealing by providing the criminal
penalty.

11. Political Values
 Reflect the relationship between government and
individuals
 Laws making it easier to vote promote citizen
participation in the political process

12. Social Values
 Concern issues that are important to society
 Affects more people than moral values
 Example : students are provided with free public
 Example: In the past society believe that school
sports were not as important for girls as for boys.
 Today laws require schools to provide females with sports
opportunities similar to those offered to males.

13. Many laws are a Combination of
moral, economic, political, and social values:
 Laws against theft deal with the moral issue of
stealing, the economic issue of protection of property, the
political issue of how government punishes those who
violate criminal statutes, and the social issue of
respecting the property of others
 Laws can’t solve all problems
 In 1919, the U.S. constitution was amended to prohibit the
manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages in this country.
 14 years later it was repealed and constitution amended
 What constitutional amendment prohibited the
manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages? (please
refer to pages 570 -599)
 What constitutional amendment repealed this
amendment?

14. What value does the nations’ drug war
impact? Moral, Economic, Social, or
Political?
 Prison overpopulation
 Invisible punishments
 Civil liberties that accompany a felony conviction
 A record number of children growing up with the stigma of
having a parent in prison
 Loss of emotional and financial support
 Disproportionate effects of imprisonment on low-income
communities of color have collateral consequences on family
formation and stability
 Spending on prisons at the state level is now competing
directly with support for higher education and other vital
social services.

15. Problem 1.3 Homework review on page 8

16. Human Rights
 Human Rights are the rights all people have just
because they are human beings.
 Both government and private individuals can violate human rights.
 Human rights apply in people’s homes, schools, and workplaces.
 The Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) is
a statement of basic human rights and stands for
government that has been agreed to buy almost every
country in the world. (please see page 600 – 607)
 First written an adopted by the United Nations (UN) in
1948 under the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt, it
proclaims that all people have the right to
liberty, education, political and religious freedom, and
economic well being.

17. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
 Is not a binding treaty for the U.S.
 United Nations has established a system of international
treaties and other legal mechanism to enforce human
rights. These include two major treaties:
1. The International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights protects rights such as freedoms of speech,
religion, and press and the right to participate in
government
2. The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and
Cultural Rights provides for rights such as the right to
adequate education, food, housing, and health care.

18. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
 Why don’t you think the U.S. government
ratified the covenant on economic, social and
culture rights?

19. Other important human rights treaties covering
specific areas of human rights including:
 Genocide
 Discrimination against women
 And the rights of children
 Reservations: a legal means for making a provision
less enforceable than it might otherwise be.

20. Problem 1.4 on page 10
 Students will independently list 10 most important
human rights that they believe should be guaranteed.
 They will pair into their groups to answer the rest of
the questions.

21. Human Rights USA Problem 1.5
 The United States was a strong supporter and promoter of the UDHR when
it was written in 1948. However, the U.S. government is reluctant to let
human rights treaties become enforceable law in the United States
because, in some instances, they would supersede existing state and federal
laws.
 Most human rights treaties provide rights not present in the U.S.
Constitution, such as the rights to education, health
care, housing, food, employment, and an adequate standard of living.
 These are referred to as social and economic rights.
 The constitution, with the bill of rights and other amendments, is a much
stronger protector of political and civil rights than of economic, social, and
cultural rights. (freedom of speech, religion, assembly, the right to
vote, and freedom from some kinds of discrimination).
 Landmark cases have shaped social rights in the past. Example:
Desegregation of public schools. Generally our government operates on
a system of capitalism.

22. Problem 1.5 #1
 The Constitution, with the Bill of Rights and other amendments, is a
much stronger protector of political and civil rights (e.g., freedom of
speech, religion, assembly, the right to vote, and freedom from some
kinds of discrimination) than of economic, social, and cultural
rights.
 1. At issue is Article 18 of the UDHR, which states that everyone has
the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, including
the freedom to manifest one’s religion, either alone or in community
with others, in teaching, practice, worship, and observance
 It can be argued that a teacher preventing prayer in a school is in
violation of this article and the human rights contained therein.
 However, it can also be argued that allowing prayer, particularly in a
public school, may constitute official endorsement of one religion
over another and therefore violates the rights of others (including
teachers) who do not wish to pray, or who belong to a religion that
does not approve of public prayer or of the contents of the prayer.

23. Problem 1.5 #2
 2. At issue are Article 25 and possibly Article 23 of
the UDHR. Article 25 states that everyone has the
right to an adequate standard of living, including
food and other necessities, and that children are
entitled to special care and assistance. In this
situation, the child’s right to food is being violated.
 Article 23.3 guarantees that everyone who works has
the right to compensation that ensures the worker
and his/her family “an existence worthy of human
dignity and supplemented, if necessary, by other
means of social protection.

24. Problem 1.5 #3
 3. At issue are Articles 23 and 26 of the UDHR Article 23
sets out everyone’s right to work, and Article 26 provides
a right to education.
 In the United States, education usually increases one’s
likelihood of gaining employment and getting a higher-
paying job.
 The quality of public schools varies. Often the better
schools are in wealthy suburban counties, which can
collect more local taxes than can many urban and rural
counties.
 Do you think this is a human rights violation? What, if
anything, can or should be done about this?

25. Problem 1.5 #4
 4. The articles at issue here are Articles 2, 9, and 13.
This scenario reflects a frequent occurrence after the
September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon.
 Since September 11, Arab Americans and civil
liberties organizations have complained that the
government has discriminated against Arab
Americans for no other reason than having an Arab
name.

26. Problem 1.5 #5
 5. At issue are Articles 1, 2, 7, 19, 22, 26, and 27 of
the UDHR. This scenario is rich with human rights
issues, especially considering current debates about
English-only laws and bilingual education.

27. Problem 1.5 #6
 6. At issue are Articles 2, 37 and 25 of the UDHR.
 Article 25 says that everyone has the right to an adequate standard
of living for their health and wellbeing and to medical care. This
right seems to have been violated for the woman in this example.
 The woman is being denied because she has no property and she is
poor. This is a human rights violation.
 Article 3 guarantees the right to life, including good health, which
the woman is being prevented from enjoying.
 Some of you may argue that the government or society cannot
guarantee this right for everyone, that individuals must earn the
necessary money themselves or get a job with health insurance.
 It is important to distinguish the question of whether a human right
has been violated from the question of whose responsibility it is to
protect, or pay for guaranteeing, a right.
 Whose role it is, if anyone’s, to provide medical care in our society?

28. Problem 1.5 #7
 7. At issue are Articles 2, 3, 19, and 25 of
the UDHR. This example raises the
issue of homelessness, which relates to
the human right to housing and living
standards discussed in Article 25.

29. Problem 1.5 #8
 8. This scenario may involve Article 18, freedom of religion;
Article 26, the right to education; and Article 27, the right to
participate in the cultural life of the community.
 While there is no definitive court ruling on this issue, the
Muslim girl can argue that she is practicing her religion and
following her culture, and that her right to education is
infringed upon if she has to leave school because she cannot
follow this rule.
 The school will say that the no-hats rule is to avoid disruption
and that wearing the hajib will cause disruption. Many
schools, however, make exceptions to their “no head covering”
rules if a student can demonstrate he or she is wearing it
for religious reasons.

30. Problem 1.5 #9
 9. At issue are Articles 3, 77 and 27 of the UDHR. It
is doubtful that any U.S. court would allow one
person to assault another in the name of culture.
Though the man can claim a cultural right to do
this, in the United States a person’s right to personal
security is considered more important than culture.
 b. when there is a conflict among rights, people
evaluate which right is more important and proceed
accordingly.

31. Human rights and writing laws
 Human rights are standards countries can use when
writing laws.
 Human rights can also become law if they are
included in a constitution or if the legislature of the
country passes laws protecting or guaranteeing these
rights

32. Culture Conflict vs. Human Rights
 Many of the human rights documents (including the
UDHR) mention culture rights, and it is universally
accepted that all people have a right to their own
culture.
 Please see Afghan stoning article

33. Balancing Rights with Responsibilities
 Many laws also require people to act responsibly.
 Parents must provide their children with adequate food
 shelter, and clothing
 drivers must obey traffic laws
 All workers must pay taxes.
 Other critics of the emphasis on rights in the United
States point out that just because you have the right
to do (or not do) something does not mean it is the
right thing to do.

34. Balancing Rights with Responsibilities
 Example: the first amendment sometimes gives
people the right to say hateful and abuse things to
others, as its function is to protect freedom of
speech. However it does not make such speech
right.

35. Balancing Rights with Responsibilities
 Distribute Hate Speech Article for class discussion

36. Problem 1.6
 Please read “The Apathetic Bystanders” on page 13.
 Please answer the questions together with your
group members.
 Be prepared to share your answers with the class.

37. Problem 1.6 (A)
 There are many possible reasons why the bystanders did not
intervene. It is possible that some of them simply did not care.
 Others may have been selfish or were scared to get involved.
 Perhaps societal factors such as the violent images that people
are exposed to in the media have led Americans to become
callous about such things.
 social scientists tend to explain such behavior in terms of the
"bystander effect."
 the more bystanders there are in a situation, the less likely any
individual bystander will help. In such a situation there is a
diffusion of responsibility as people assure themselves that
one of the other bystanders will act.

38. Problem 1.6 (A) continued
 In one experiment done at New York University, for
example, students were told that they would be asked to
discuss personal issues in telephone conference groups of
two, three, or six people.
 During each conference an experimenter, pretending to
be one of the students in the conference call, faked an
epileptic seizure.
 In the groups of two, in which the students thought they
were the only people to hear the seizure, the students
promptly sought aid for the victim 81 percent of the time.
 However, in the groups of six, in which each student
thought that four other students also had heard the
seizure, students acted only 31 percent of the time.

39. Problem 1.6 (A) continued
 Though many people could hear Kitty Genovese's
screams, each bystander may simply have assumed
that someone else would call the police.

40. Problem 1.6 (B)
 In general, failure to assist a person in need is not a
crime or a tort unless the relationship between the
bystander and the victim gives rise to a legal duty to act.
 For example, parents have a legal duty to help their
children and spouses have a legal duty to help one
another because of their relationship.
 An affirmative duty to act may also arise because one
party has assumed responsibility, either by contract or
otherwise.
 For example, a day care center would have a legal duty to
call an ambulance if a child under its care had a seizure.

41. Problem 1.6 (B)
 However, a day care worker walking home from work
would have no duty to help a child who was having a
seizure on the side of the road.
 A lifeguard would have a legal duty to assist a drowning
swimmer in the area he or she was guarding.
 However, a nearby swimmer who was a certified
lifeguard could generally not be held criminally
responsible for failing to help.
 A duty to help also exists where one per-son has caused
the situation.
 For example, a negligent driver who hits another
car, injuring the other driver, has a duty to call an
ambulance for that other driver.

42. Problem 1.6 (C)
 The problem is an excellent illustration of how it is
possible to be morally wrong while still acting within the
confines of the law.
 Regardless of students' individual backgrounds or
values, most will accept that it is immoral to simply allow
someone to die when it would take very little effort or
risk to save the person.
 However, this point could be reasonably argued.
Students should consider morality as a strong motivating
factor in the creation of laws in a pluralistic society in
which people have different values.

43. Problem 1.6 (D)
 Some states have considered "Good Samaritan"
laws, which would require citizens to help others in need
of assistance. Students should discuss the pros and cons
of such proposals.
 They should consider how much aid the law might
require witnesses to give (e.g., up to the point where
there is no risk or unreasonable action placed on the
bystanders).
 Would the type of victim (a child, for example) make a
difference?
 Should the law impose civil or criminal liability on a
bystander who fails to help?

44. Problem 1.6 Pros v. Cons
Pros Cons
 promote citizen  too many legitimate
responsibility and reasons for failing to
morality act
 aid police by ensuring  right of citizens to be
that police will be left alone while
notified of crimes in minding their own
progress business & not actively
 may help save lives doing anything wrong

45. Kinds of Laws
 Laws fall into two major groups:
 criminal and civil.
 Criminal laws: regulate public conduct and set out
duties owed to society.
 A criminal case is a legal action that can only be brought by the
government against a person charged with committing a
crime.
 Criminal laws have penalties, and offenders are
imprisoned, fined, place under supervision, or punished in
some other way.

46. (2) Kinds of Criminal Offenses
 In the U.S. legal system, criminal offenses are
divided into felonies and misdemeanors.
 Felony: the penalty for a felony is a term of more
than one year in prison.
 Misdemeanor: the penalty for a misdemeanor is a
term of less than one year in prison.

47. Civil Laws
 Regulate relations between individuals or groups of
individuals.
 A civil action: is a lawsuit that can be brought by a
person who feels wronged or injured by another
person.
 Courts may award the injured person money
 Make the injured party whole again.

48. Actions can be both Civil and Criminal violations
 Sometimes behavior can violate both civil and
criminal laws and can result and two court cases.
 A criminal case is brought by the government against
a defendant, the person accused of committing the
crime.
 A civil case is brought by the plaintiffs – the person
or company harmed – against the defendant.

49.  Introduce BL1-2 handout “An Introduction to
the Civil Justice and Criminal Justice
Systems

50. The O.J. Simpson Case: Criminal & Civil
System Violations
 The famous football star player O.J. Simpson was prosecuted
in connection with the deaths of his former wife, Nicole brown
Simpson, and her boyfriend, Ron Coleman.
 The Los Angeles District Attorney was a prosecutor in the
criminal case.
 In order to win a conviction, the DA (District Attorney) had to
prove that O.J. Simpson was guilty beyond a reasonable
doubt.
 This means that if the jury (or judge in a case tried without a
jury) has any of reasonable doubts about the defendant’s
guilt, then it must vote not to convict.
 The jury’s verdict in Simpson’s criminal case was not guilty.

51. The O.J. Simpson Case: Criminal & Civil System Violations
 Several months later, the parents of Ron Goldman brought a
civil suit against O.J. Simpson to recover damages resulting
from the wrongful death of their son.
 In a civil case, the plaintiff wins by convincing the jury (or the
judge in a case tried without a jury) by a preponderance of the
evidence.
 The jury or judge needs only to decide if it is more likely than
not that the plaintiff’s complaint is true. Plaintiff’s burden of
proof is 51% of evidence to the defendant’s 49% (simple
majority of evidence presented).
 This is a lower requirement for proof than the beyond a
reasonable doubt standards used in criminal cases. The
reason for the different standards of proof is that a defendant
loses money in a civil case, but can suffer imprisonment or
even the death penalty as a result of criminal conviction.

52. Problem 1.7: Matt & Kenji page 15.
 Students will read the story and answer the
questions independently.
 After the students read and answer the questions
they will pair into their groups to compare answers
for class discussion.

53. Our Constitutional Framework (570 – 599 U.S. Constitution)
 The U.S. constitution is the highest law the land.
 It sets forth the basic frame work of our government.
 It lists the government’s powers
 the limits on those powers
 people’s freedoms that cannot be taken away by the
government.

54. Our Constitutional Framework (570 – 599
U.S. Constitution)
 Individual states were reluctant to give up power to
the national government.
 As a result, the constitution created
 a national government of limited powers,
 with authority to pass laws only in the areas specifically listed
in article 1 of the constitution.

55. Our Constitutional Framework (570 – 599 U.S. Constitution)
 Separation of powers among the three branches may
be the most important concept in the United States
constitution.
 The executive branch, which includes the president
and Federal agencies, is primarily responsible for
enforcing the law. However, the executive branch
often issues rules and executive orders that have the
force of law.
 The legislative branch, or Congress, uses lawmaking
power when it passes laws or statutes.

56. Our Constitutional Framework (570 – 599 U.S. Constitution)
 The judicial branch or judiciary –the courts-
clarifies, and in some instances establishes laws
through its rulings.
 The three branches of government are
independent, but each has the power to restrain the
other branches in a system of checks and balances.
 The system was designed to prevent one branch from
becoming too powerful and abusing its power.

57. Our Constitutional Framework (570 – 599 U.S. Constitution)
 Another check is the president’s power to veto
(refuse to approve) laws passed by Congress.
 Judicial review enables a court to declare
unenforceable any law passed by Congress or a state
legislature that conflicts with the nation’s highest
law, the constitution.
 The courts can declare a law unconstitutional :
 The government has passed a law which the constitution does
not give it the power to pass
 The government has passed a law that violates someone’s
rights.

58. Our Constitutional Framework
 The division of power between the states in the
Federal government is known as federalism.
 The principle of limited government is also reflected
in the bill of rights, the first 10 amendments to the
constitution.
 The bill of rights defines and guarantees the fundamental
rights and liberties of all Americans

59. Constitutional Framework
 The U.S. constitution and most state constitutions
are difficult to change.
 The U.S. constitution may be changed in two ways:
1. A proposed amendment must be approved either
by a 2/3 vote of both houses of Congress or
2. A convention called by 2/3 states.

60.  See Discussion Questions 1-5 TM
 Determine the Constitutionality of Laws