https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/Recent content in Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning on Teddy Rook Bookhttps://teddyrookbook.com/img/share.jpghttps://teddyrookbook.com/img/share.jpgHugoenhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/what-is-law/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/what-is-law/Law is the set of rules a government makes and enforces through courts and officials; it overlaps with morality and custom but differs from them in how it is made and enforced. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/sources-of-law/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/sources-of-law/American law comes from constitutions, statutes passed by legislatures, regulations written by agencies, court decisions (case law), treaties and local ordinances, and they rank in an order of authority: the federal Constitution first. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/federal-and-state-law/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/federal-and-state-law/Under the Supremacy Clause valid federal law overrides conflicting state law (preemption); otherwise states make most law, and each state has its own constitution, statutes and courts. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/public-private-law/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/public-private-law/Public law governs the relation between government and people (constitutional, administrative, criminal law); private law governs relations among people and organizations (contracts, torts, property, family). Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/civil-vs-criminal/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/civil-vs-criminal/In a criminal case the government prosecutes and must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt; in a civil case a plaintiff sues for a remedy such as money and usually must prove the claim by a preponderance of the evidence; one act can lead to both. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/common-law/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/common-law/The common law grew from English judges' decisions, case by case; the U.S. inherited it (Louisiana's private law draws on the civil law tradition), while civil law systems in much of Europe and Latin America start from comprehensive codes. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/stare-decisis/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/stare-decisis/Stare decisis ("to stand by things decided") means courts follow precedent: lower courts must follow higher courts in their system (vertical), and courts usually follow their own earlier rulings (horizontal), for stability, fairness and efficiency. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/binding-persuasive/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/binding-persuasive/A decision binds the courts below it in the same system; decisions from other states, other circuits or lower courts are only persuasive, and so are secondary sources such as treatises and law reviews. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/holding-dicta/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/holding-dicta/The holding is the rule of law necessary to decide the case on its facts; dicta are statements in the opinion that were not necessary to the decision, and they do not bind later courts. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/distinguish-overrule/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/distinguish-overrule/A court may distinguish a precedent by showing material facts differ, or overrule its own precedent; the Supreme Court weighs factors such as the quality of the earlier reasoning, workability, consistency with other decisions, later developments and reliance. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/federal-court-structure/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/federal-court-structure/Article III courts include 94 district courts, 13 courts of appeals and the Supreme Court; their judges have life tenure; Congress has also created specialized courts and judges without life tenure, such as bankruptcy and magistrate judges. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/state-court-structure/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/state-court-structure/Most states have trial courts, an intermediate appellate court and a highest court (usually called the supreme court, though in New York the trial court is the Supreme Court and the highest court is the Court of Appeals); state courts hear the great majority of cases. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/jurisdiction/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/jurisdiction/A court needs subject-matter jurisdiction (federal courts hear federal-question cases and diversity cases between citizens of different states over $75,000) and personal jurisdiction over the defendant (enough contacts with the state that suit there is fair). Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/trial-and-appeal/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/trial-and-appeal/Trial courts find facts and apply law, with witnesses, evidence and often a jury; appellate courts review the record for legal error, reviewing questions of law de novo and deferring on facts (clear error) and many trial rulings (abuse of discretion). Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/civil-case-path/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/civil-case-path/A civil case moves from complaint and answer through motions to dismiss, discovery and summary judgment to trial, verdict, judgment and appeal; most cases settle or end on motions before trial. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/criminal-case-path/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/criminal-case-path/A criminal case moves from investigation and arrest to charging (by a grand jury indictment for federal felonies, or an information), arraignment and plea, pretrial motions, plea bargaining or trial, verdict, sentencing and appeal; most convictions come from guilty pleas. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/case-names-parties/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/case-names-parties/A case name lists the parties ("Smith v. Jones"); at trial they are plaintiff and defendant (or the government and the defendant in criminal cases), on appeal appellant and appellee, and at the Supreme Court petitioner and respondent. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/citations/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/citations/A citation such as Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) gives the volume (347), the reporter (U.S. Reports), the first page (483) and the year; F.3d and F.4th report the courts of appeals, F. Supp. the district courts. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/parts-of-opinion/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/parts-of-opinion/An appellate decision may include a syllabus (a summary that is not part of the opinion), the opinion of the Court, concurring opinions (agreeing with the result, often for other reasons), dissents and, when no reasoning wins a majority, a plurality opinion. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/case-brief/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/case-brief/A student case brief records the facts, the procedural history, the issue (question presented), the holding, the reasoning and the disposition, and often notes concurrences and dissents. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/irac/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/irac/IRAC organizes legal analysis: state the Issue, the Rule, the Application of the rule to the facts and the Conclusion; the Application, where facts are matched to the rule's elements, does the work. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/dispositions/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/dispositions/An appellate court may affirm (leave the decision in place), reverse (overturn it), vacate (set it aside) or remand (send it back for more proceedings), often reversing or vacating and remanding together. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/deductive-reasoning/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/deductive-reasoning/Applying a rule is a deductive argument: the rule is the major premise, the facts are the minor premise and the result follows; most disputes are over which rule applies or what the facts are. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/analogical-reasoning/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/analogical-reasoning/Lawyers argue that a case is like a precedent in the ways that matter (analogizing) or unlike it (distinguishing); the key is identifying which facts are material to the rule's purpose. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/rules-standards/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/rules-standards/A rule draws a bright line ("speed limit 65"); a standard calls for judgment ("drive reasonably for conditions"); rules are predictable but can misfit cases, while standards fit cases better but are less predictable. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/elements-tests/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/elements-tests/Some legal tests list elements, all of which must be proven; others list factors to weigh, none decisive by itself; a balancing test weighs interests against each other. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/burdens-of-proof/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/burdens-of-proof/The burden of proof says which party must prove a point (production and persuasion); the standard says how sure the factfinder must be: preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not), clear and convincing evidence, or beyond a reasonable doubt. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/plain-meaning/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/plain-meaning/Courts begin with the statute's text, read in its ordinary meaning at the time it was enacted and in the context of the whole statute; textualists hold that the enacted words are the law. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/purposivism/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/purposivism/Purposivists read a statute in light of the problem it was meant to solve and its evident purpose, especially when the words are unclear or a literal reading would defeat the statute's aims. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/legislative-history/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/legislative-history/Legislative history includes committee reports, floor statements and earlier drafts; its supporters say it reveals what Congress meant, and its critics say only the enacted text was voted on and history can be selective. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/textual-canons/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/textual-canons/Textual canons are rules of thumb about language: expressio unius (listing some implies excluding others), ejusdem generis (a general word after a list takes the list's kind), noscitur a sociis (a word is known by its neighbors), the rule against surplusage and the whole-act rule. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/substantive-canons/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/substantive-canons/Substantive canons reflect legal values: the rule of lenity (read unclear criminal laws in the defendant's favor), constitutional avoidance (prefer a reading that avoids constitutional doubts) and clear-statement rules (Congress must speak clearly to, for example, override state sovereign immunity). Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/agency-deference/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/agency-deference/Under Skidmore (1944) an agency's reading gets weight by its power to persuade; under Chevron (1984) courts deferred to reasonable agency readings of ambiguous statutes, and Mead (2001) limited when Chevron applied; the Court overruled Chevron in 2024. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/interpretation-schools/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/interpretation-schools/Textualism prizes fidelity to the enacted words, predictability and the legislature's role; purposivism prizes making statutes work as intended; most judges use text, structure, purpose, history and canons in some mix. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/case-or-controversy/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/case-or-controversy/Article III limits federal courts to actual "Cases" and "Controversies": they decide real disputes between adverse parties and do not give advisory opinions. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/standing/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/standing/To have standing a plaintiff must show (1) an injury in fact that is concrete, particularized and actual or imminent, (2) caused by the defendant's conduct and (3) likely to be redressed by a favorable ruling (Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 1992). Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/ripeness-mootness/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/ripeness-mootness/A case is not ripe if the harm is too speculative or the dispute not yet concrete; it is moot if events end the dispute, unless an exception applies, such as a wrong "capable of repetition, yet evading review" or a defendant's voluntary stop that could be resumed. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/political-question/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/political-question/Courts decline questions the Constitution commits to another branch or that lack judicially manageable standards (Baker v. Carr, 1962, listing the factors); examples include Senate impeachment trials (Nixon v. United States, 1993) and partisan gerrymandering claims in federal court (Rucho v. Common Cause, 2019). Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/contracts-basics/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/contracts-basics/A contract is an enforceable promise; it generally needs an offer, an acceptance and consideration (a bargained-for exchange), and remedies for breach usually aim to give the injured party the benefit of the bargain. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/torts-basics/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/torts-basics/A tort is a civil wrong; negligence requires a duty, a breach of that duty, causation (actual and proximate) and damages; intentional torts include battery, assault and trespass; strict liability applies to a few activities. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/criminal-law-basics/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/criminal-law-basics/Most crimes require a guilty act (actus reus) and a guilty mind (mens rea); the Model Penal Code ranks mental states as purposely, knowingly, recklessly and negligently; defenses include self-defense and insanity. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/administrative-law-basics/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/intro-to-law/administrative-law-basics/Agencies make rules, adjudicate cases and enforce laws under statutes; the Administrative Procedure Act (1946) requires notice-and-comment rulemaking for most rules and lets courts set aside agency action that is "arbitrary, capricious" or contrary to law. Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning · American History & Civics Ladder