Why We Have LawsChapter 19

Essential Questions

•Are laws necessary for our society to function?

•How do morals and values influence lawmaking?

•What role do judges play in changing the law?

•Why do we have separate criminal and civil justice systems?

The Need for Order• Purpose of laws: to bring order to society

▫Tell people what they may or may not do▫Set standards

• Examples of order:▫Supermarket scales▫Gasoline pumps▫Standards for education▫Election process▫Evidence in trials▫Building permits▫Process for settling conflict

Protecting Safety and Property• Purpose of laws: to protect lives and property• Examples of lives:

▫Physical attacks (murder)▫Parents have to provide food, clothing, shelter,

and medical care to children▫Elderly have social security or low-cost medical

care• Examples of property:

▫Theft▫Damage▫ Ideas/Inventions (©, trademark, patents)

Protecting Freedom and Society• Purpose of laws: protect freedoms of individuals and to

protect our society• Examples of individuals:

▫ CONSTITUTION: Bill of Rights▫ Limit the government’s power▫ 14th Amendment: equal rights for ALL

• Examples of society:▫ Environment▫ Restaurant standards▫ Disposing of nuclear plant waste▫ Job-training ▫ Unemployment insurance▫ Aid in flood or disasters

Laws and Morals

•Morals: beliefs about what is fair and what is right or wrong

•Civil disobedience: breaking the law in a nonviolent way because it goes against personal morals

Laws Made by Legislature• Statutes: written laws made by legislatures

(government bodies)▫Statute is a law made by Congress or state

legislatures▫Ordinances are laws made by city or town councils

• Laws passed by Congress reflect basic values shared by Americans

• Laws passed by state or local governments reflect the basic values shared by a specific group of people▫EX: when people believed in witchcraft, there were

laws against casting spells that would cause harm.

Effects on Law• JUDGES• Common law: a body of law based on a judge’s

decisions• Common law came from England.

▫Used as precedent (do you remember this?)• Changed to fit American society

▫Ex: under English common law, it was illegal for a landowner to interfere with the natural flow of a stream. However, in America, water power was used to run factories. American judges began to change the law to fit this need.

Organization of Laws• There are so many laws, how do we keep them

straight?• Legal code: a written collection of laws, often

organized by subject▫Ex: traffic laws = state motor vehicle code

• History of legal code▫The Code of Hammurabi carved into stone tablets▫Draconian (most crimes punished by death)▫ Justinian Code (influenced Europe and America)▫Laws and Liberties of Massachusetts (formation of

colonies)▫United States Constitution

Changing the Law

•In the U.S., citizens have final say on all laws▫Add, change or remove any law (amending

the Constitution, doing away with a local ordinance)

•Laws that last are seen as fair, reasonable, and understandable by the majority of the people

Criminal Law•Crime: any behavior that is illegal because the

government considers it harmful to society

•Each law must define a behavior and state how it may be punished

•Criminal Law: the group of laws that tell which acts are crimes, how accused persons should be tried in court, and how crimes should be punished

Criminal Law•Purpose: to protect society as a whole•Criminal law must set fair and reasonable

penalties.▫Some crimes have greater penalties than

others•Many crimes have minimum and maximum

penalties ▫Allows for people guilty of the same crime to

be punished depending on the case Ex: 1st time offender compared to a multi-time

offender

Criminal Law

•Two categories of crime:▫Felony: a serious crime for which the

penalty can be imprisonment for more than one year Ex: kidnapping and murder

▫Misdemeanor: a less serious crime for which the penalty is often a fine Ex: littering, driving without a license

Civil Law

•Civil law: a group of laws that help settle disputes between people

•Purpose: provide rules for people to settle disagreements in court if they cannot settle them privately

•An individual or group involved in the conflict must ask for help by suing or going to court

Criminal and Civil Law• Some situations involve both criminal and civil

law• Ex: drunk driver without car insurance hits a

woman on the street▫Criminal: punish the driver for drunk driving▫Civil: court forces the driver to pay the woman’s

medical bills• Ex: illegally copied DVD’s

▫Criminal: fining or imprisoning the person who copied the DVD’s

▫Civil: court forces the criminal to pay the company the amount of $ lost in sales