Sources of Law

1
Introduction

• Sources of Law
• Federal Law
• Constitution
• Federal Statutes
• State Law
• Local Law
• Common Law
• Case Law

2
Federal Law

• U.S. Constitution
• - Structural Provisions
• - 10th Amendment
• - General Welfare Clause
• - Commerce Clause
• - Supremacy Clause
• - Rights Provisions
• - Bill of Rights
• - 14th Amendment
• - State Action
• Education
• not mentioned
• not a fundamental right

3
Federal Law

• Role of the Federal Govt
• Enact federal statutes addressing problems
  national in scope
• - FERPA
• - NCLB
• - TITLE VII
• - TITLE IX

4
State Law

• Reserve Clause of 10th Amendment
• The powers not delegated to the United States by
  the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
  States, are reserved to the States respectively,
  or to the people.
• State Constitutions (PA)
• Public School System Section 14.
• The General Assembly shall provide for the
  maintenance and support of a thorough and
  efficient system of public education to serve the
  needs of the Commonwealth.
• State Legislatures have broad powers to
• Create public education system
• Develop School Codes
• Delegate responsibilities and powers to agencies
• Create local school boards

5
Local Law

• Milliken v. Bradley
• No single tradition in public education is more
  deeply rooted than local control over the
  operation of schools local autonomy has long
  been thought essential both to the maintenance of
  community concern and support for public schools
  and to the quality of the educational process.
• Local School Boards and Education Agencies
• Only those powers derived from Legislatures
• Express and Implied Powers
• Doctrine of Necessity
• Legislative, Executive and Judicial powers.
• make regulations to implement laws
• administer the laws
• sit as tribunals to settle conflicts.

6
Case Law

• Functions of the Judiciary
• Settle controversies by applying principles of
  law to a specific set of facts
• Interpret statutes
• Determine the constitutionality of legislative
  actions
• Stare Decicis

7
Common Law

• Common Law
• Individual rights derived from British Common Law
• Torts, Property, Contracts
• Exists separate from Constitutional Law or
  Statutory Law
• body of general rules prescribing social
  conduct, enforced by ordinary courts and
  characterized by the development of its own
  principles in actual legal controversies

8
American Legal System

• State Courts

9
American Legal System
10
American Legal System

• Federal District Courts

11
American Legal System

• Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal

12
Judicial Opinions

• The Caption and Citation

13
Judicial Opinions

• Author
• Parties
• Plaintiff
• Defendant
• Appellant/Petitioner
• Appellee/ Respondent
• Facts of the Case
• Procedural History
• Legal Issue/Legal Question
• Legal Arguments (p and ?)
• Applicable Law of the Case
• Holding
• Concurring/Dissenting Opinions

14
Legal Research