3. Learning Objectives
Types and sources of law
Important legal doctrines
Classification of law
Jurisprudence and legal reasoning
Statutory interpretation
Limitations on judicial power
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4. Types and
Classifications of Law
Federal, state, and tribal level:
Constitution: establishes governmental
structure, specific rights and duties
Example: U.S. Constitution
Statute: enacted by legislative body to
regulate conduct
Example: Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 7401 et
seq. (1970)
Counties and municipalities enact
“ordinances” (e.g., zoning ordinance)
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5. Types and
Classifications of Law
Federal, state, and tribal level:
Common Law: case law (judge-made)
Example: Gribben v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Administrative Law: agency rules to
implement enforcement of statutes
Example: U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency’s Identification and Listing of
Hazardous Waste Rule, 40 CFR – Part 261, as
amended, 73 FR 64760
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6. Types and
Classifications of Law
Issued at the chief executive level:
Executive Order: under limited powers
Examples: http://www.whitehouse.gov
/news/orders/
Treaty: with other nations, by the U.S.
president on behalf of the nation, ratified by
the U.S. Senate
Example: The Antarctic Treaty
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7. Important Doctrines
Stare Decisis (let the decision stand) is the
doctrine of precedent applied in common law
Example: in Gribben v. Wal-Mart Stores, the
Indiana Supreme Court cited Cahoon v.
Cummings for a well-established rule about
intentional first-party spoliation of evidence
Equity is applied by the judiciary to achieve
justice when legal rules would produce
unfair results
Examples: injunction or specific performance
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8. Important Doctrines
Federal supremacy: a rule of priority for
conflicts between laws that holds the U.S.
Constitution is the supreme law of the land
Supremacy Clause, Article VI, Section 2, of the
U.S. Constitution
Practical meaning:
Federal law defeats state law
A state constitution defeats state legislation
A statute defeats an administrative regulation
A statute or regulation defeats common law
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9. Trentadue v. Gorton
Facts & Procedural History:
Trial court decided that the common law
discovery rule applied to claims against corporate
defendants for crime of an employee rather than
statute of limitations and appellate court affirmed
Issue: Does a legislated rule (statute of limitations)
abrogate a common law rule?
Holding: Yes; plain language of statute indicated
legislative intent to exclude common law rules
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10. Classification of Law
Criminal law establishes
duties to society
Government charges and
prosecutes defendant,
who is found guilty or
innocent
A convicted defendant
will be imprisoned or
fined
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11. Classification of Law
Civil law establishes
duties between private
parties
Plaintiff sues defendant
for monetary damages
or equitable relief
A defendant will be
held liable or not liable
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12. Classification of Law
Substantive law establishes rights and duties
of people in society
Example: The act of murder is a crime
Procedural law establishes how to enforce
those rights and duties
Example: A defendant charged with murder
has the right to a jury trial
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13. Classification of Law
Public law refers to the relationship between
governments and private parties
Examples: constitutional, statutory, and
administrative law
Private law refers to the regulation of conduct
between private parties
Examples: contract, tort, and property laws
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14. Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence refers to the philosophy of
law as well as the collection of laws
Legal positivism: law is the command of a
recognized political authority
Just or unjust, law must be obeyed
Natural law: universal moral rules bind all
people whether written or unwritten
Unjust positive laws are invalid
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15. Jurisprudence
Legal realism defines law as the behavior of
the judiciary as they rule on matters within
the legal system
Thus law in action dominates positive law
Sociological jurisprudence unites theories that
examine law within its social context
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16. Legal Reasoning
Basically deductive, with legal rule as major
premise and facts as the minor premise
Result is product of the two
Court may stand on precedent or
distinguish prior case from current case
If precedent inapplicable, new rule
developed
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17. Hagan v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co.
Facts & Procedural History:
Florida plaintiffs drank from bottle of Coke, found
foreign object, suffered emotional distress, and
brought suit for negligence
Jury returned verdict for plaintiffs, judge reduced
jury award, and both parties appealed
Certified question sent to Florida Supreme Court
Question: Should the impact rule (physical injury
required to state a claim) be abolished or amended in
Florida?
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18. Hagan v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co.
Court’s Reasoning:
Reviewed facts and arguments of parties
Reviewed application of impact rule within
Florida, including modifications to the rule
Discussed public policy recognized by the Florida
Supreme Court in Doyle v. Pillsbury Co.
Noted court decisions in other states
Holding: Impact rule does not apply where
emotional damages are caused by conduct that is a
freestanding tort (e.g., contaminated food)
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19. Statutory Interpretation
Plain meaning rule: court applies statute
according to usual meaning of the words
Courts examine legislative history and purpose
when plain meaning rule is inadequate
Example A: Why does the Communications
Decency Act offer immunity for some entities?
Example B: What is meant by a prohibition
against discrimination “because of an
individual’s age?”
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20. General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc
Facts:
Collective bargaining agreement
discriminated against workers under 50
years of age; plaintiffs over 40 and under 50
filed a claim under the Age Discrimination in
Employment Act (ADEA)
Issue:
Does the ADEA forbid “favoring the old
over the young?”
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21. General Dynamics Land Systems,
Inc. v. Cline
Reasoning:
Plain meaning of “age” within the statute not
clear, but legislative history makes clear that
an employer may favor an older employee
over a younger one
Holding:
Judgment reversed in favor of employer
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22. Statutory Interpretation
Courts may interpret a statute in light of a
general public purpose or public policy
Courts follow prior interpretation of a statute
(precedent) to promote consistency
Maxims may be used to assist in statutory
interpretation
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23. Statutory Interpretation
Example of a maxim:
Ejusdem generis (things of the same type)
When general words follow specific words,
the general words are limited to the same
things as specific words
“Automobiles and other vehicles” does not
include airplanes
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24. Limitations on Judicial Power
Courts limited to deciding existing cases or
controversies
In other words, the dispute must be current
and not yet resolved
However, a declaratory judgment allows
parties to determine rights and duties prior
to harm occurring
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25. Limitations on Judicial Power
Parties must have standing (direct interest in
the outcome) to sue
Whales, for example,
do not have standing
The Cetacean
Community v. Bush,
386 F.3d 1169 (9th
Cir. 2004)
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26. Global Business Environment
Courts may faced with
treaty interpretation “The carrier shall be liable for
damage sustained in the event
U.S. Supreme Court of the death or wounding of a
passenger or any other bodily
injury suffered by a passenger,
interpreted The Warsaw if the accident which caused
the damage so sustained took
Convention in place on board the aircraft or
in the course of the operations
Olympic Airways v. Husain of embarking or
disembarking.”
How would you have Warsaw Convention, Art. 17
interpreted the treaty
language?
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27. Test Your Knowledge
True=A, False = B
The Constitution, statutes, and case law are
sources of law in the United States
Agency regulations, presidential orders, and
treaties are sources of law in the United States
Stare decisis refers to the doctrine of equity
The Supremacy Clause states that the U.S.
Constitution is the supreme law of the land
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28. Test Your Knowledge
True=A, False = B
Civil law establishes the duties an individual
has to keeping a civil society
Substantive law establishes how to enforce
the rights and duties of people in society
Jurisprudence refers to the philosophy of law
as well as the collection of laws
Legal reasoning is basically inductive
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29. Test Your Knowledge
Multiple Choice
The plain meaning rule means that the court
applies a statute
(a) according to the unique or special meaning
of words
(b) according to usual meaning of the words
(c) according to public policy and legislative
purpose
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30. Test Your Knowledge
Multiple Choice
Courts are:
(a) Limited to hearing existing cases or
controversies
(b) Limited to hearing cases in which plaintiff
has standing (a direct interest in the outcome)
(c) Unlimited in types of cases they may hear
(d) All of the above
(e) Both A & B
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31. Thought Question
What do you think the authors of the U.S.
Constitution would think about current legal
issues in our society?
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Notes de l'éditeur
The hyperlink to the U.S. Constitution is to the 21 st edition (2003). The hyperlink to the Clean Air Act is to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website, which offers several versions of the statute. The tribal level often is ignored in references to sources of law. However, Indian nations are sovereign governmental units with the authority to establish a Constitution and enact supporting laws.
The hyperlinks are to the case decision and the Hazardous Waste Rule (Oct. 30, 2008).
The hyperlinks are to the listing of executive orders on the U.S. Government whitehouse.gov website and the Antarctic Treaty on the U.S. Department of State website.
Case was reversed and remanded
The hyperlink is to the case opinion on the Florida Supreme Court website.
Example A refers to the question in Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommate.com, LLC. The court discussed why “interactive service providers” were provided immunity under the statute and whether the particular defendant had gone beyond the purpose of the immunity so as to incur liability for its acts. Note that the opinion in the text is the rehearing by the Ninth Circuit en banc . The original decision was issued on May 15, 2007 by a three judge panel. The en banc court ruled 8-3 to uphold the original panel decision. Judge Kozinski wrote the majority opinion for the en banc decision and had also written the lead opinion in the three-judge panel ruling. For the original ruling, a number of computer service providers provided amicus curiae briefs: Amazon.com, Inc., America Online, Inc., Ebay Inc., Google Inc., Tribune Company, Yahoo! Inc., Netchoice and United States Internet Service Provider Association. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit internet watchdog that submitted an amicus brief requesting rehearing, the decision was “a dangerous holding that endangered features like search customization and user feedback on interactive web services.” Example B is the General Dynamics case.
The hyperlink is to the case information and opinion on the Oyez.org website.
The hyperlink is to the case information and opinion on the Oyez.org website. The class should discuss the interpretation of the treaty language in light of the facts of the case. In the case, the deceased passenger had a condition that cigarette smoking made much worse. The passenger repeatedly requested to be moved away from the smoking section and the flight attendant refused. The passenger became very ill, walked to the front of the airliner to get fresh air and collapsed and died. The wife of the deceased filed a wrongful death action against the airline company. The district court found the company liable and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court interpreted “accident” to be an unexpected or unusual event. The Court also stated that, “for purposes of the ‘accident’ inquiry, a plaintiff need only prove that ‘some link in the chain was an unusual or unexpected event external to the passenger.’ ” The Court determined that the flight attendant’s repeated refusal to assist the deceased was an unusual or unexpected event within the meaning of the treaty’s language.
True True False. Stare decisis (to stand on the decision) refers to the doctrine of precedent. The doctrine of equity is applied by judges to achieve justice when legal rules would produce unfair results True
False. Civil law establishes duties between private parties. False. Substantive law establishes the rights and duties of people in society. Procedural law establishes how to enforce the rights and duties of people in society. True False. Legal reasoning is deductive.