AMERICAN LEGAL SYSTEM

1
AMERICAN LEGAL SYSTEMthe BASICS

• The United States is a federal systemwhat does
  that mean?
• What does balance of power mean in our system?
• What are the sources of law?
• How does the court get involved in judgment of
  the other branches of government?

2
Federalism is

• Union of fifty states under one central
  government authority.
• And, it is a system of parallel
  governments-local, state, federal.
• There is a shared power between these parallel
  systems, but the federal constitution and
  statutory laws have supremacy. Marbury v. Madison

3
Balancing Power Sharing Power

• Parallel Systems of Government
• Three Branches of Government
• Checks and Balances Among Branches

• Executive
• President
• Governor
• Legislative
• Congress
• State Legislature
• Judicial
• Federal Courts
• State Courts

4
Sources of Law

• Constitutions
• Legislative acts - i.e., statutes or laws
• Administrative law i.e., rules or regulations
• Court decisions - court or case law. (common law)

5
Courts get involved by

• Applying principles of law to specific set of
  factssettle disputes.
• Construing or interpreting legislative or
  regulatory enactments.
• Statutory interpretationphilosophy of courts
  varies. Strict construction, liberal, plain
  meaning.
• Determining the constitutionality of legislative
  or administrative actions.

6
State Courts

• Courts of Limited Jurisdiction--lower trial
  courts. Municipal, county courts, small claims,
  traffic, probate. SEATTLE MUNICIPAL COURT. Not
  published
• Courts of General Jurisdiction)-major trial
  courts. KING COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT. Not usually
  published
• Intermediate Appellate Courts--they hear appeals
  from trial courts and administrative agencies.
  THREE COURTS OF APPEALS in Washington.
  (Northwest, Southwest and all of Eastern
  Washington) Division I,II, III (Seattle, Tacoma,
  Spokane) (Wash App. P2d). Often published
• Courts of Last Resort-often called the Supreme
  Court. WASH STATE SUPREME (Wash, Wash 2d)
  PUBLISHED

7
Federal Courts

• District Courtsat least one in every state,
  usually more than two. In Washington we have
  Eastern District and Western District. Cases
  generally either between citizens of different
  states or involving litigation of federal
  statutes or the federal constitution. (F.Supp)
• Courts of Appealsthere are 13 courts of appeals.
  11 geographic circuits and one for DC, one
  federal . Decides issues of law not fact. 9th
  Circuit Court of Appeals (California, Oregon,
  Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona) F2d, F3d
  (9th Cir.)
• Courts of Special Jurisdictione.g. Tax Court,
  Customs Courts, etc. (Federal Circuit)
• Supreme Courtno redress. Brought before
  Supremes by appeal (writ of certiorari) or
  through original jurisdiction. Hears cases such
  as validity of a state or federal statute or any
  right or privilege is claimed under the
  Constitution. Requires 4/9 judges to accept.
  (U.S.)

8
Finding Court Decisions

• US Supreme Court Decisions can be found in the
  official report, United States Reports. e.g.,
  Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas,
  349 U.S. 294 (1955) vol 349 of the reports at
  page 294.
• US Courts of Appeals reported in Federal
  Reporter, Second Series. Clark v. Whitting, 607
  F.2d 634 (4th Cir. 1979).
• US District CourtsFederal Supplement (F.Supp.)
  Ponton v. Newport News School Board, 632 F.Supp.
  1056 (E.D.Va. 1986)
• State cases State Supreme Court and State
  Appellate cases often in more than one set.
  Washington Reports and Pacific Reporter. (P.2d)
  
• HINT First page of a decision generally gives a
  good summary of the court history, decision,
  official name and date of case.

9
Rules and Regulations

• When agencies (Dept of Justice, Dept of
  Education, etc) issue rules or regulations
  designed to assist in the implementation of
  federal statutes are in the Federal Register
  (Fed. Reg.), the Code of Federal Regulations
  (CFR).

10
What is the Goal of Reading a Court Decision?

• To find the rule that the judge pronounces.
• Anything else that may be said in the opinion
  e.g., anything not particular to resolving the
  issue before the court are dicta.
• Dicta are not binding.

11
Case Analysis

• Is a skill and like any othertakes time to
  develop.
• Dont get discouraged by the legalese, cases are
  really just stories about people like you and me.
  
• Try the framework I am giving you today.
• Hint it is always a good idea to read the
  opinion.

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Analyzing Court Decisions aka briefing a case

• Title and citation (where to find it again and
  how to reference it in a discussion)
• Level or type of court hearing the case
• Relevant facts involved in the case
• Disputed issue or issues in the case
• Holdings of the court
• Legal doctrine or principle supporting the
  decisioni.e., rationale/reasoning.
• Significance of the decision regarding future
  actions

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FACTS

• Who did what to whom and why are they in court?
• What facts are necessary to make a decisioni.e.,
  what is legally relevant.
• Often difficult to decideespecially as you are
  learning how to briefwhat is relevant.
• When in doubt, keep it in.

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ISSUE(s)

• What question is the plaintiff asking the court
  to address?
• There may be substantive legal issue(s) and
  procedural legal issue(s).
• We are interested in the substantive ones only in
  this class.

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HOLDING

• How does the court answer the question or issue?
  
• Can be a yes/no answer
• More often it is a mixed

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REASONING/RATIONALE

• How does the court reach its holding in the
  casei.e., why does the court answer the question
  the way it does?
• Justification for the ruling
• Guidelines for future situations

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SIGNIFICANCE

• Why is this decision (holding and reasoning)
  important for the future behavior of similar
  parties?
• Does the decision have additional significance
  for other parties because of the courts holding?

18
American Case Law

• Your reading/case law is primarily concerned with
  statutory/regulatory rights.
• We also have case law that has applied
  Constitutional rights to disability
  discrimination.
• Complicated and NOT commonly argued since ADA
  passed.

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Arguing Constitutional Violations?

• Section 504 and ADA are designed to prohibit
  discrimination and offer remedies for violations.
• Why not use federal (or state) constitutional
  protectionsi.e., equal protection analysis?
• What is equal protection?

20
Equal Protection

• Equality (equal protection?) is critical
  component of our legal system.
• Equal protection guarantees in federal state
  Constitutions--no state shall deny to any person
  within its jurisdiction the equal protection of
  the laws.
• Principal ideas underlying equal protection are
  FAIRNESS and IMPARTIALITY.
• Requires that government (state) treat similarly
  situated individuals similarlyi.e., in
  nondiscriminatory manner.

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But

• Our system recognizes that some forms of
  discrimination are beneficial to society as a
  wholeso we classify people by certain
  traitse.g., age, residency, gender, academic
  preparation, disability(?)
• Question is when is are these classifications
  unconstitutionali.e., violation of rights.

22
Legal Standards Used to AnalyzeEqual Protection

• Rational Basis Test
• Treating groups differently is assumed
  constitutional. Government burden is to show
  that there is a rational basis for the different
  treatment and serves a legitimate government
  interest. (driving age, zoning laws)
• Strict Scrutiny Test
• Treating groups differently is assumed
  unconstitutional when groups are on basis of a
  suspect class of people or effects a fundamental
  right (bill of rights). Government burden very
  high almost impossible to satisfy. (voting on
  basis of gender, Japanese Americans interred
  during WWII)
• Intermediate or Heightened Scrutiny Testmaybe
• Some justices believe that treating people
  differently on basis of some characteristic that
  does not infringe on fundamental right or effect
  suspect class requires government to show more
  than rational basisbecause some groups may be
  quasi-suspect class.

23
City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, 473
U.S. 432 (1985)

• FACTS
• Group home for people with mental retardation
  wanted to move into a residential neighborhood.
• City required a special use permit pursuant to
  zoning ordinance that required such permit for
  hospitals for the insane, feeble-minded,
  alcoholic or drug addicts, and penal
  institutions.
• CLC applied and was denied permit.
• CLC sued the cityzoning ordinance was
  unconstitutional on its face because
  discriminated against people with mental
  retardation in violation of equal protection.
• ISSUES
• Which EP standard should be applied?
• Was it an equal protectioni.e.,
  constitutionalviolation?

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Decision

• HOLDING
• Standard to apply is rational basis people with
  mental retardation are not suspect class nor
  quasi-suspect class.
• Supremes rule that CLC should be permitted, under
  rational basis test, denial is a violation of
  equal protection.

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Why?

• RATIONALE/JUSTIFICATION
• Persons with mental retardation are not suspect
  or quasi-suspect because
• they have reduced ability to cope with and
  function in the worldi.e., immutably different
  from others
• States have legitimate reasons to issue
  regulations/rules concerning their lives.
• Therefore, do not apply the strict scrutiny or
  heightened scrutiny test.
• However, there was no rational basis/reason for
  city to deny CLC a permit it was irrational
  prejudice.

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Why important?

• SIGNIFICANCE
• This case declared unequivocally that disabled
  persons are not suspect or quasi-suspect class
  for purposes of EP analysis.
• Basically ended Constitutional EP arguments in
  examples of disability discrimination.

27
Briefing Davis on Wednesday

• Come prepared READ DAVIS before Wednesdays
  class.
• Break into the five groups.
• Assign someone to write the brief you come up
  with as a group (on large white paper).
• Debate/discussion/write for about 30 minutes.
• Each group will post on wall and present their
  brief to class.