Allard Introduction to Law and Justice 2012Review for midterm:

1)Summer Reading: To Kill a Mockingbird explores the questions of innocence and harsh experience, good and evil, from several different angles. Tom Robinson’s trial explores these ideas by examining the evil of racial prejudice, its ability to poison an otherwise admirable Southern town and destroy an innocent man, and its effect on young Jem and Scout. Because the point of a trial is to discover guilt or innocence, Tom’s trial serves as a useful mechanism for Lee to lay out the argument against racial prejudice in a dramatic framework suited to the larger themes of the novel. Additionally, because a trial is essentially about the presentation of facts, it serves as a laboratory in which the extent of the town’s prejudice can be objectively measured. Atticus presents a solid case that leaves virtually no room for doubt: Tom Robinson is innocent, and if he is found guilty, then it is only because of the jury’s racism. When Tom is found guilty, the outcome of the trial presents a crisis of confidence, particularly for Jem: if the law fails, then how can one have faith in justice, and if the people of Maycomb fail, then how can one have faith in the goodness of humanity? Although these questions are explored to some degree before the trial, they dominate the novel after the trial. From a structural point of view, the trial serves to bring the narrative’s main issues into focus.

2)Please describe how Scout diffuses the gang at the jail the night before the trial. How is this related to the lessons of the Kitty Genovese Crime we learned in our textbook?

She identifies Mr. Cunningham and asks him about his son, she isolates him from the crowd and by doing so he comes to her aid. A victim has a chance to survive a gang if he/she can make eye contact with one of the gang members and return humanity to the situation.

3)Describe how circumstantial evidence demonstrated Tom Robinson’s innocence.

4)Despite the verdict, Bob Ewell feels that Atticus and the judge have made a fool out of him, and he vows revenge. He menaces Tom Robinson’s widow, tries to break into the judge’s house, and finally attacks Jem and Scout as they walk home from a Halloween party. Boo Radley intervenes, however, saving the children and stabbing Ewell fatally during the struggle. Boo carries the wounded Jem back to Atticus’s house, where the sheriff, in order to protect Boo, insists that Ewell tripped over a tree root and fell on his own knife. After sitting with Scout for a while, Boo disappears once more into the Radley house.

5)Court System:

Describe what the trial court does, describe what the appellate court does, Describe what the United State Supreme Court does. Know the federal and the NJ state court system.

6)Define:

  1. Adversarial System
  2. Arbitration
  3. Attorney
  4. Burden of Proof
  5. Closing Statement
  6. Defendant
  7. Discovery
  8. Double Jeopardy
  9. Due Process
  10. Felony
  11. Injunction
  12. Jurisprudence
  13. Misdemeanor
  14. Negligence
  15. Opening Statement
  16. Peremptory challenge
  17. Plaintiff
  18. Preponderance of the Evidence
  19. Probable Cause
  20. Probate
  21. Reasonable Doubt
  22. Statute
  23. Verdict

7)Constitutional Law:

  1. What were the accusations against Clarence Gideon? State the facts of the case as they were presented at the trial level.
  2. Did Gideon seem capable of defending himself? How could a lawyer have helped him?
  3. What was unusual about the petition Gideon filed with the Supreme Court of the United States?
  4. Why did the Supreme Court of the United States agree to hear Gideon's case?
  5. What is the language in the Bill of Rights that is relevant to this case? Would you interpret those words to mean a defendant cannot be denied an attorney if he can afford one, or that a defendant must be provided an attorney even if he cannot afford one? Why?
  6. Do you think the states should be required to provide defendants like Gideon with a lawyer? Why or why not?
  7. what was the legal argument presented by Gideon’s attorney Mr. Fortas?
  8. What was the legal argument presented by the State of Florida’s attorney?
  9. Please state what the ruling of the United States Supreme Court in Gideon vs. Wainwright?
  10. What is an indigent?
  11. Describe how an indigent defendant is provided with a defense lawyer in the United States today.
  12. What was the legal issue raised in Gideon vs Wainwright at the United States Supreme Court? (what was the USSC asked to decide?).

8)Law is defined as ______

9)Our legal system protects ______(choose an answer from below)

  1. Basic human rights
  2. Only the rights of minorities
  3. The rights of the average citizen
  4. The will of the minority

10)Define human rights.

11)Define inquisitional system

12)Define adversarial system

13)What are the steps of a trial?

14)What are norms?

15)What is the relationship between law and values?

16)Define Hammurabi’s Code

17)Know the basic tenets of the Enlightenment philosophers

18)What is positive law?

19)What is natural law?

20)What is common law?

21)What is statutory law?

22)What is case law?

23)What is administrative law?

24)What is civil law?

25)What is criminal law?

26)What is a treaty?

27)What are checks and balances?

28)What is limited government

29)What is federalism

30)What is judicial review?

31)Know the Kitty Genovese facts

32)What is negotiation?

33)What is jurisprudence?

34)What is the supremacy clause in the Constitution?

35)What do trial courts do?

36)What is legislative intent?

37)What is the job of an agency?

38)What is voir dire?

39)What is peremptory challenge?

40)What is separation of powers?

41)What are the Bill of Rights?

42)Know all ten amendments to the Constitution and what each one stands for.

43)What is an ordinance?

44)What is an unclear law?

45)What is another word for lawsuit?

46)What is limited government?

47)What does veto mean?

48)What Article of the US Constitution authorizes the federal courts?

49)What Article of the US Constitution authorizes the executive branch?

50)What Article of the US Constitution authorizes the legislative branch?

51)What is the job of the United States Supreme Court (USSC)?

52)What is a legal brief?

53)What is certiorari?

54)What is an arraignment?

55)What is double jeopardy and what amendment is it located in?

56)What is “removal for cause”?

57)How many justices are on the USSC?

58)What is stare decisis?

59)What is precedent?

60)What is nolo contendere?

61)What is ex parte?

62)What is opinion per curium

63)What does veto mean and who has the power to use it in the US Constitution?

64)What is the job of a juror?

65)What is the job of the judge?

66)What is an opening statement?

67)What is a closing statement?

68)What is the job of a prosecutor?

69)What burden of proof is needed in a criminal case?

70)What burden of proof is needed in a civil case?

71)What is a plaintiff?

72)WHAT DOES INJUNCTION MEAN?

73)What is a grand jury?

74)How does a judge get appointed to the bench? (there are two common ways to get appointed to the bench).

75)What is a social contract?

76)What is probable cause?

77)Who is the lead attorney of our country?

78)Possible essay questions: Review the fact patterns we used in our handouts. Make sure you know what the elements are for robbery, murder, burglary, illegal possession of a weapon, aggravated assault, possession of illegal drugs etc. You should also know what probable cause is in a criminal case. Make sure you know what the burden of proof is in a criminal case, what possession is and know the legal defenses to the crimes we studied. In addition, you should know the possible crimes the prosecutor will charge a person who is operating a motor vehicle that contains contraband (drugs /guns or other illegal items) also know the defenses used in these cases. Finally be aware of the constitutional law case we reviewed in class. Make sure you understand the Fourth Amendment and what it protects.Finally use IRAC as a tool to write and analyze your essay BUT make sure you write the essay using complete sentences, proper grammar, punctuation and spelling.