Frank Bruni Family Values How Long Have We Been Subjecte to That Subjective Phrase Cohampioned by

Learning Outcomes

• Define law
• Explain the purposes of law
• Explain "rule of law"

The Law

Law has been defined as "a body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by a controlling authorisation, and having binding legal force. That which must be obeyed and followed by citizens field of study to sanctions or legal consequence is a police."^[one]

Although intended to protect the primal rights and liberties of U.S. citizens, the legal system and its laws are not always readily understood by the average citizen. At what point practice we cross that fine line between legal and illegal, and on what basis is that line even drawn in the outset place? Most people understand (and accept) laws prohibiting acts of murder, thievery, physical damage, and fiscal malfeasance, but at that place are plenty of other laws that might give us pause. For example, in Minnesota, any game in which participants attempt to capture a greased or oiled pig is illegal. The same laws also prohibits turkey scrambles.^[ii] Don't effort to substitute a ferret for a hunting canis familiaris in West Virginia. Anyone who hunts, catches, takes, kills, injures, or pursues a wild animate being or bird with a ferret will face a fine of no less than $100 (but no more than $500) and no fewer than ten (but no more than 100) days in jail.^[3] While yous may never have considered taking function in a turkey scramble or hunting with a ferret, chances are good that you have broken some law at some time—perhaps even in the last twenty-4 hours. Did you exceed a speed limit while driving? Roll through a stop sign at an empty intersection while riding your cycle? Drive to the minimart without wearing your seatbelt? Although unlikely that you will be prosecuted and jailed for these minor traffic offenses, the fact is that you broke the law. Why do we have so many laws? Let's take a closer expect at the role of law in social club and why laws are created in the first place.

The Purposes of Police

In a society such every bit the U.s.a., the police informs everyday life in a broad variety of means and is reflected in numerous branches of constabulary. For instance, contract police force regulates agreements to exchange goods, services, or anything else of value, so it includes everything from buying a passenger vehicle ticket to trading options on a derivatives market. Property police force defines people'south rights and duties toward tangible property, including existent estate (i.e., real property, such as land or buildings,) and their other possessions (i.e., personal property, such as wearing apparel, books, vehicles, and so forth), and intangible property, such as banking concern accounts and shares of stock. Tort law provides for compensation when someone or their property is harmed, whether in an car accident or by defamation of character. Those are fields of civil constabulary, which deals with disputes between individuals. Offenses against a federal, state, or local community itself are the subject of criminal police, which provides for the government to punish the offender.

The law serves many purposes. Iv principal ones are establishing standards, maintaining lodge, resolving disputes, and protecting liberties and rights.

Establishing Standards

The law is a guidepost for minimally acceptable behavior in society. Some activities, for instance, are crimes considering society (through a legislative torso) has determined that it volition not tolerate certain behaviors that injure or damage persons or their property. For case, under a typical state police force, it is a crime to crusade physical injury to another person without justification—doing then generally constitutes the crime of attack.^[four]

Maintaining Gild

This is an adjunct of establishing standards. Some semblance of order is necessary in a civil gild and is therefore reflected in law. The law—when enforced—provides order consistent with lodge'due south guidelines. Wildlife management laws, for example, (such as Westward Virginia'south prohibition against using ferrets for hunting,) were first passed in an effort to conserve game that had nigh been hunted into extinction during the nineteenth century. Such laws reverberate the value guild places on protecting wildlife for future generations to enjoy.^[five]

Resolving Disputes

Disputes are unavoidable in a society comprised of persons with dissimilar needs, wants, values, and views. The law provides a formal means for resolving disputes—the court system.^[6]

Protecting Liberties and Rights

The constitutions and statutes of the United states of america and its states provide for various liberties and rights. One function of the police is to protect these various liberties and rights from violations or unreasonable intrusions by persons, organizations, or government. For instance, discipline to sure exceptions, the First Amendment to the Constitution prohibits the government from making a police that prohibits the freedom of speech. Someone who believes that his free speech rights have been prohibited by the authorities may pursue a remedy by bringing a case in the courts.^[seven]

The Rule of Law

What is the rule of law? Aren't laws and rules the same matter? Y'all can recollect of the rule of police force as the rules that govern the law. The rule of police force is the legal principle that law should govern a nation, as opposed to being governed by arbitrary decisions of individual authorities officials. It primarily refers to the influence and authorisation of police force within lodge, specially every bit a constraint upon behavior, including behavior of government officials. The phrase can be traced back to sixteenth-century Britain, and in the following century, the Scottish theologian Samuel Rutherford used the phrase in his argument confronting the divine right of kings. The concept, if non the phrase, was familiar to ancient philosophers such as Aristotle, who wrote, "Law should govern."

Rule of law implies that every denizen is subject to the law, including lawmakers themselves. In this sense, the rule of law stands in contrast to an autocracy, dictatorship, or oligarchy, in which the rulers are held in a higher place the police force. Lack of the dominion of law can be found in both democracies and dictatorships, because of fail or ignorance of the law, for case, and the rule of law is more apt to deteriorate if a regime has insufficient cosmetic mechanisms for restoring it. If you lot've ever read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (or seen the picture show), and you tin recall the Queen of Hearts yelling, "Off with their heads!" at the slightest infraction or criminal offence, you accept some idea of what it would exist similar to alive in a society that is not governed by the dominion of law.

The rule of police force organization in the United States is established in the U.Due south. Constitution.The U.South. Constitution itself became the law of the land well over two hundred years ago, and the tenets set forth in the certificate remain in full force today. The way in which the Constitution is practical, though, has always been bailiwick to courtroom estimation. Every bit circumstances and public opinion evolve through the years, and then too practise the interpretations offered past the courts. From time to time, information technology even becomes necessary to amend the Constitution to keep pace with changes in the state's behavior and values.

Origins of Law

The establishment of a system of laws was not invented by the founding fathers of the U.s.. The idea of written laws goes dorsum to ancient Mesopotamian culture that prospered long before the Bible was written or the civilizations of the Greeks or Romans flowered. In fact, the oldest known bear witness of a law code is tablets from the ancient city Ebla (Tell Mardikh in modern-solar day Syria). They engagement to about 2400 BCE. Nonetheless, well-nigh scholars credit Hammurabi's Lawmaking as the origin of written laws and a formal legal system. If you haven't heard of Hammurabi, yous have certainly heard one of his laws: "An eye for an centre, and a tooth for a tooth." Hammurabi'southward Code, a drove of 282 laws inscribed on an upright stone pillar, contains many fundamental legal concepts we would recognize in today's legal organisation. In fact, Hammurabi's reasoning for creating this code is not that far removed from the rationale for our current legal system. In his preface, Hammurabi writes that he sets along these laws "to bring about the dominion of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; and then that the strong should non harm the weak."

Bank check Your Understanding

Answer the question(s) beneath to see how well you understand the topics covered in a higher place. This short quiz does not count toward your form in the class, and you can retake it an unlimited number of times.

Use this quiz to check your understanding and decide whether to (i) report the previous section further or (2) move on to the next department.

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Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-introbusiness/chapter/meaning-and-purposes-of-the-law/

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