Our Legal System

Our Legal System

1. Criminal Law

   • Misdemeanors
     • Less serious crimes that are punishable with less than one year in prison.
     • Examples
       • Larceny
   • Felonies
     • Examples
       • Homicide
       • Robbery
       • Burglary
   • Steps in criminal case
     • 2. Arrest
       • 4. Preliminary Hearing
         • 5. Arraignment
           • 6. Trial
             • 7. Verdict
               • 8. Sentencing
       • 3. booking
     • 1. Police investigation.
   • Mapp vs. Ohio
     • Criminal case which violated the 4th amendment.
       • Police walked into Mapp's home without a search warrant.
         • Search Warrant
   • Those who commit crimes.
   • NC state court system
     • North Carolina's trial-level courts are the District Courts and Superior Court.

2. Civil Law

   • Cases that involve a plaintiff suing another person for money
     • Plantiff- Person filing the lawsuit.
     • Defendant- Person being sued.
   • Tort- Fancy name for civil law.

3. Constitutional Law

   • Cases over constitutional issues.
     • Gideon vs. Wainwright
       • Established right to a lawyer for everyone.
         • 6th Amendment.
           • Right to lawyer, trial by jury, & speedy, public trial.
     • Miranda vs. Arizona.
       • Supreme Court ruled that detained criminal suspects must be informed to their constitutional right to an attorney
         • Miranda rights/ exclusionary rule
   • US federal Court System
     • Court established by federal government.

4. Administrative Law

   • Gregg vs. Georgia
     • Gregg challenged his death sentence for murder.
       • Gregg stated that his 8th and 14th amendment rights were violated.
     • Capital punishment
     • Furman vs. Georgia (1972)
       • Suspended use of death penalty. Supreme Court ruled the way the death penalty was being used was "Arbitrarily", freakish". The ban on the death penalty would last 4 years.
   • Law that regulates the procedures of government agencies.

5. Definitions (10)

   • 1. Precedent: Court ruling in an earlier case.
     • 2. Remand:Send a case back to a lower court.
       • 3. Docket: Court calendar.
         • 4. Commute:Reduce a criminal's sentence.
           • 5. Acquittal: Vote of not guilty.
             • 6. Hung jury: Jury that cannot agree on a verdict.
               • 7. Jurisprudence: Study of law.
                 • 8. Dissenting opinion: Goes against Majority opinion.
                   • 9. Concurring opinion: votes with majority, but for different reasons.
                     • 10. Libel:Criminal act of printing lies about others.

Images and files in the map