U.S. Legal System Today
Evaluation of how you view the U.S. legal system today. In your essay you must identify and explain:
(1) one of the four major assumptions of law;
(2) one function and one dysfunction of law; and
(3) one definition of law (the definition should come from Chapter 2).
In your analysis, you should explain how each of the selected topics relate to one another: in other words, show the connections between your selections for the definition, assumption, function, and dysfunction of the legal system and how these guide the behavior of members of society. Use examples to assist in
your analysis.
Sample Solution
The American legal system is based on a system of federalism, or decentralization. The laws from both the federal and state legal systems stem from three primary sources: the Constitution, statutes, and common law. Although constitutional laws are relatively small in number, they are important because they protect rights that we as a society have found to be of fundamental importance. The American system is a “common law” system, which relies heavily on court precedent in formal adjudications. In our common law system, even when a statute is at issue, judicial determinations in earlier court cases are extremely critical to the court`s resolution of the matter before it.
