Question

Please conduct an analysis of the United States current legal system.

Answer 1

Analysis of the US Legal System-

The American legal system has many distinctive features. In my opinion, these features are most important because they give the American legal system its uniqueness, they set the forum for any economic, legal or political relationships it engages in domestically and internationally. An analysis of any legal system must involve an examination of the historical circumstances from which that legal system emerged.

The colonization of the United States began in the 16th Century. The first settlers were not all English. In what is today known as Florida, they were Spanish; in Louisiana, French. The Dutch were the first to settle parts of New York. Consequently, the legal traditions and laws of some states of the United States still contain elements that draw from Civil Law tradition. The path of political and economic development, however, has been such that the Common Law tradition came to take over in American law.

The American Constitution was created in 1789 and is one of the most distinctive features of the American legal system. It made a clear distinction between the various branches of government and their respective jurisdictions. This separation of powers provides a system of shared power known which acts as checks and balances between the various branches of government. Three branches of government were created in the Constitution. These are: the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judiciary branch. Each of these branches has certain powers, and each of these powers is limited. For example, the President appoints judges and departmental secretaries. But these appointments must be approved by the Senate. The Congress can pass a law, but the President can veto it. The Supreme Court can rule a law to be unconstitutional, but the Congress, with the States, can amend the Constitution.

One of the most notable and recognizable elements of the American legal system is its robust system of constitutional review. This refers to the process by which a court invalidates the actions of another branch of government as being inconsistent with a higher law, and the other branch of government cannot do anything about it. This feature is particular to the legal system of the United States. As with the separation of powers between Federal and state government, constitutional review is unrivalled in any of the democracies of the western world.

American law has over the years established its own tradition, one which though connected in important ways with the Common-Law tradition and in a lesser degree with the Civil-Law tradition, has many uniquely American traits. They derive from institutions and conditions that are not replicated elsewhere. The U.S. legal system is, for the most part, derived from the English common law system in which previous case decisions are used as precedents and followed. Other countries such as France, have a code-based legal system in which case law is far less important.

Summary of Basic American Legal Principles

1. Impact of Precedent—The Principle of Stare Decisis- The defining principle of common law is the requirement that courts follow decisions of higher level courts within the same jurisdiction. It is from this legacy of stare decisis that a somewhat predictable, consistent body of law has emerged.

2. Court Hierarchy- Court level or hierarchy defines to a great degree the extent to which a decision by one court will have a binding effect on another court. The federal court system, for instance, is based on a three-tiered structure, in which the United States District Courts are the trial-level courts; the United States Court of Appeals is the first level court of appeal; and the United States Supreme Court is the final arbiter of the law.

3. Jurisdiction-  The term “jurisdiction” has two important meanings in American law. One meaning of “jurisdiction” refers to the formal power of a court to exercise judicial authority over a particular matter. Although the term most often is used in connection with the jurisdiction of a court over particular matters, one may also speak of matters being within or beyond the jurisdiction of any other governmental entity.

Second, the federal court system is based on a system of “jurisdictions,” the geographic distribution of courts of particular levels. For instance, while there is only one Supreme Court, the court of appeals is divided into 13 circuits, and there are 94 district courts. In addition, each state court system comprises its own “jurisdiction.” As indicated above, the jurisdiction in which a case arose will determine which courts’ decisions will be binding precedents.

4. Mandatory / Binding versus Persuasive Authority- Some of the various sources of law that will be examined are considered to be “mandatory” or “binding,” while other sources are considered to be merely “persuasive.”

Indeed, a court may completely disregard precedent that is not binding. The issue of whether authority is mandatory or persuasive relates directly to the application of stare decisis principles.

5. Primary versus Secondary Authority- The various sources of law may also be broken down into primary and secondary sources of law. Primary sources of law may be mandatory on a particular court, or they may be merely persuasive. Whether they are binding or persuasive will depend on various factors. Secondary authority is not itself law, and is never mandatory authority. A court may, however, look towards secondary sources of law for guidance as to how to resolve a particular issue. Secondary authority is also useful as a case finding tool and for general information about a particular issue.

6. Dual Court Systems- The American legal system is based on a system of federalism, or decentralization. While the national or “federal” government itself possesses significant powers, the individual states retain powers not specifically enumerated as exclusively federal. Most states have court systems which mirror that of the federal court system.

7. Interrelationship Among Various Sources of Law- One of the more complex notions of American jurisprudence is the extent to which the various sources of law, from both the state and federal systems, interrelate with one another. There is a complex set of rules that defines the relative priority among various sources of law and between the state and federal systems.

The American Judicial System: A System Based on Advocacy and the Presence of Actual Controversy

The American legal system is adversarial and is based on the premise that a real, live dispute involving parties with a genuine interest in its outcome will allow for the most vigorous legal debate of the issues, and that courts should not have the power to issue decisions unless they are in response to a genuine controversy. Hence, federal courts are prohibited from issuing “advisory” opinions, or opinions that do not involve a live case or controversy.

1. Threshold Issues Designed to Preclude Advisory Opinions

Given the prohibition against advisory opinions by the federal courts, there are certain threshold prerequisites which must be satisfied before a federal court will hear a case. Issues surrounding the applicability of these prerequisites may also arise in state courts and on petitions for review of agency orders. The principal prerequisites to court review are the following-

Standing—The parties must have an actual, cognizable, usually pecuniary or proprietary, interest in the litigation.

Finality—In the case of appeals or agency review, the action by the trial court or administrative body must be final and have a real impact on the parties.

Exhaustion—The parties must have exhausted any possible avenues for relief available in the trial court or administrative body.

Ripeness—The dispute must present a current controversy which has immediate rather than anticipated or hypothetical effects on the parties.

Mootness—The dispute must not have been resolved. Nor must the circumstances have changed in any way that renders the dispute no longer subject to controversy.

No Political Questions—Courts will not involve themselves in nonjusticiable disputes that are between the other two branches of the federal government and are of a political nature.

While these prerequisites are well-established, the courts tend to apply them in a pragmatic way and allow exceptions to these requirements when warranted by the facts.

This is the analysis as well as some of the characteristics of US Legal System.