| A | B |
|---|
| Law | the rules and regulations made and enforced by government to regulate the conduct of people within society |
| Laws are based on values | moral, economic, political or social |
| Human Rights | the rights all people have simply because they are human beings |
| Balancing Rights with Responsibilities | if you want to be tried by a jury of your peers, you must be willing to serve on such juries |
| Types of Laws | criminal and civil |
| Criminal Law | regulate public conduct and set out duties owed to society |
| Civil Law | regulate relationships between individuals or groups of individuals |
| Felony | more serious crime, penalty is more than 1 year in prison |
| Misdemeanor | less serious crime, if incarceration is the penalty it would be one year or less in jail |
| Defendant in a Criminal Case | the person charged with breaking/violating a law |
| Plaintiff in a Civil Case | the person or company harmed |
| Criminal Case: Burden of Proof | beyond a reasonable doubt |
| Civil Case: Burden of Proof | preponderance of the evidence |
| Who Makes Laws? | legislatures, government agencies, courts, treaties |
| Supremacy Clause - Article VI of Constitution | when federal laws conflict with state laws |
| Case Precedent | the decision or opinion of a court sets a precedence for similar cases in the future to be decided in a similar manner |
| Who Can Appeal A Court Decision? | either party |
| Treaty | agreement or contract between countries |
| Extradition | process by which one country asks another country to surrender a suspected or convicted criminal |
| Considerations When Drafting Laws | make sure the law is enforceable, and make sure the law states who will enforce it |
| Advocacy | citizen involvement influencing the lawmaking process |
| Rules for Advocacy | clarity, quantity, frequency |
| Lobbying | to influence the lawmaking process by convincing lawmakers to vote as you want them to |
| Initiative | allows a certain number of voters to propose a law by petition |
| Referendum | legislative act referred to voters for final approval or rejection |
| Recall Election | voters can remove elected officials from office |
| Voting Requirements | U.S. Citizen, 18 years of age, resident of community in which you register to vote |
| Campaign Finance Reform | efforts to counteract the influence of money on politics |
