Chapter
1 -- The Legal System
I.
Introduction
A.
A public school is a governmental agency
B.
There is a diversity of authority under which the American public schools
are governed
C.
The entire system is founded on a legal basis throughout the systems
organizational multiformity and complexity.
D.
The fundamental principles of legal control are those generally
prescribed by our constitutional system, from which the basic organic law of the
land emanates: the written
constitutions of the fifty states and the federal government.
E.
Constitutions at both levels of government are basic because the positive
power to create public education systems is assumed by state constitutions, and
provisions of both the state and federal constitutions serve as restraints to
protect the people from unwarranted denial of basic constitutional rights and
freedoms.
F.
The power of operation of the public educational system originates with a
constitutional delegation to the legislature to provide for a system of
education.
G.
The combination of constitutions, statutes, and court or case law forms
the primary legal foundation on which the public schools are based:
1.
Constitutions
a.
A body of precepts that provides a framework of law within which orderly
governmental processes can operate.
b.
Constitutions of this country secure fundamental liberty, property, and
political rights
c.
A basic principle embodied in a constitution is the provision for
authorized modification of the document.
d.
To be effective a constitution must be flexible and provide for a
systemic change process.
e.
The US constitution expressly provides a process for proposing amendments
by a two-thirds vote of each house (Article V).
f.
Amendments must be ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the
states or by conventions in three-fourths of the states.
g.
Separated powers is important in government (legislative, executive, and
judicial departments)
h.
There is no requirement that a state have separation of powers (All
states have governments with separate branches).
i.
All state constitutions make provision for free public schools
2.
Statutes
a.
An act of government expressing legislative will and constituting a law
of the state.
b.
Statute comes from "statutum" meaning "it is
decided".
c.
Most effective means of making new law or changing old law.
d.
Subject to review by the judiciary to determine their constitutionality.
e.
US public schools are governed by statutes enacted by state legislatures.
f.
Rules and regulations of both state and local boards of education fall
within the category of statutory sources of school lawà
Boards of Education must operate within the limits defined by the legislature.
3.
Court or Case Law
a.
Case law is sometimes called "judge-made" or "common
" law.
b.
Case law and common law are used to distinguish rules of law that are
enunciated by the courts from those that have originated in legislative bodies.
c.
Civil law is a system of statutes in which there is no reliance on
precedent.
d.
Common law originated n England, where precedents of various parts of the
country became common to the entire country.
II.
Powers And Functions of the Courts
A.
Introduction
1.
Courts usually do not question the judgment of either the administrative
agencies of the executive branch or the legislative branch (fed. and local
levels).
2.
When courts do intervene they perform three types of judicial functions:
a.
Settle controversies by applying principles of law to a specific set of
facts.
·
Although
school law cases generally involve the school district itself, they may, in some
instances, concern litigation between individuals.
·
We reach
the land of "mystery" when constitution and statute are silent and the
judge must look to common law for the rule that fits the case.
b.
Construe of interpret enactments of the legislature.
·
Construing
and interpreting statutes is the most common litigation involving public
schools.
·
Four ways
with which litigation may be dealt with by the courts:
ü
Receive
it fully as principle from which to reason
ü
Receive
it fully to be reasoned from by analogy the same as any other rule of law
ü
Refuse to
receive it fully
ü
Refuse to
receive it fully and give to it a strict and narrow interpretation.
·
Courts
today tend to adhere to the second and third hypotheses.
·
Another
explanation of how courts construe states may be found in rules of law laid down
by several judicial presidents:
ü
The
Mischief Rule
ü
The
"Golden" Rule
ü
The
Literal Rule
ü
The Plain
Meaning Rule
c.
Determine the constitutionality of legislative or administrative actions.
·
Functions
and responsibility were set out in Marbury v. Madison
·
Chief
Justice Marshall's landmark opinion stated:
ü
It is
emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the
law is.
ü
If two
laws conflict with each other, the courts must decide on the operation of each.
ü
The court
must determine which of these conflicting rules governs the case.
·
The
courts first presume the act to be constitutional and anyone maintaining the
contrary must bear the burden of proof.
·
It must
be evident that the power to declare legislative enactment void is one which the
judge will shrink from exercising in any case where he can conscientiously and
with due regard to duty and official oath decline the responsibility.
III.
Stare Decisis
A.
Introduction
1.
Implicit in the concept of common or case law is the reliance on past
court decisions that reflect the historical development of legal controversies.
2.
In the United States, the doctrine of precedent (the rule of stare
decisis à "let the decision stand") prevails
(adhered to by lower courts)
B.
The Historical Development of the Doctrine of Precedent
1.
As soon as records were kept in English law (12th century)
judicial decision became a guide to what the law is.
2.
In 14th, 15th, & 16th century law
students kept notes of oral arguments (yearbooks).
3.
16th century à
first reports of cases and first mention of precedent (practice of citing
previous cases became firmly established).
4.
19th century à
a rule developed that a holding by a court is binding on the same (or lower)
court in a similar case (Stare decisis à
"to stand by the decisions")
5.
It was never absolute. The
court is only bound "in the absence of weighty reasons."
6.
In the later 19th and early 20th centuries it was
believed that certainty could be obtained by a scientific use of precedent.
7.
The idea that common law is a body of fixed rules vanished in second
quarter of the 20th century.
8.
There has been a return to an older concept of precedent: Precedent is a means of marshalling past experience, of
providing a historical context, for making the choice at hand.
C.
Henry Campbell Black, Nature and Authority of Judicial Precedents
The doctrine of precedents may be divided into five branches:
1.
First: Inferior courts are
absolutely bound to follow the decisions of the courts having jurisdiction over
them.
2.
Second: The judgments of the
highest court in any judicial system -- state or national -- are binding on all
other courts when they deal with matters committed to the particular
jurisdiction
[When the Supreme Court of the US renders a decision, that decision must be
accepted by all state courts as well as the inferior federal courts, as
conclusive authority]
3.
Third: It is the duty of a
court of last resort to abide by its own former decisions.
4.
Forth: When there is no
precedent, it may consult decisions of any other court, thus looking at the
"general current of authority."
5.
Fifth: A court which is free
to exercise its judgment upon a matter should nevertheless accept and conform
the decision of another court on the same question.
D.
Blackstone, Commentaries
It is an established rule to abide by former precedents, where the same points
come again in litigation: as well
to keep the scale of justice even and steady, and not liable to waver with every
new judge's opinion. What is not reason is not law.
E.
John Hanna, the Role of Precedent in Judicial Decision
1.
Stare decisis et non quieta movere is usually translated "to stand
by (or adhere to) decisions and not to disturb what is settled."
2.
Blackstone says: "The
doctrine of the law then is this: that precedents and rules be followed, unless
flatly absurd or unjust
3.
The general American doctrine is that courts will follow the rule of law
which it has established in earlier cases unless clearly convinced that the rule
was originally erroneous or is no longer sound because of changing conditions
ant that more good than harm will come by departing from precedent.
IV.
Understanding Judicial Decisions
A.
In order to determine the rule of a case, it is necessary to find the
ratio decidendi (the point on which the judgment balances).
B.
Conclusions from a judge departing from this ratio decidendi are
considered to be obiter dicta à
There are two types:
1.
Statement based on facts that were found not to exist or are immaterial
2.
Statement based on established facts that does not conform to the
rationale for the decision
C.
How to read and understand a case:
1.
Read it!
2.
Get a clear decision (Who won?).
3.
What had the case decided, and what can you derive from it as to what
will be decided later?
4.
Look for a statement of facts, a statement of precise way the question
has come before the court, and the reasons the court gives for doing what it
did.
5.
All cases are decided, all opinions are written, all predictions,
arguments are made on certain four assumptions:
a.
The court must decide the dispute that is before it.
b.
The court can decide only the particular dispute which is before it.
Obiter dicta- Words dropped along the road, way-side remarks.
c.
The court can decide the particular dispute only according to a general
rule which covers a whole class of like disputes
d.
Everything, big or small, a judge may say in an opinion, is to be read
with primary reference to the particular dispute, the particular question before
him.
V.
Case or Controversy
A.
Article III of the Constitution of the U.S. limits the power of the
judiciary to "decide and pronounce a judgment and carry it into effect
between persons and parties who bring a case before it for decision."
B.
The judicial branch may settle conflicts that involve only actual
"cases" and "controversies."
C.
Unconstitutional statutes there may be, but unless they are involved in a
case properly susceptible of judicial determination, the courts have no power to
pronounce that they are unconstitutional.
VI.
The American Court System
A.
In our federal form of government it is necessary to have a dual judicial
system (state and federal)
1.
State courts
State courts can be classified into four categories:
a.
Courts of last resort- Found
at the top of the judicial hierarchy in each state (established by state
constitution)
b.
Intermediate Appellate Courts- Established
in some states to hear appeals from trial courts and administrative agencies as
specified by state statute.
c.
Courts of General Jurisdiction- Courts
from which there exists a right of appeal to the intermediate appellate court
(or court of last resort). Common
circuit, chancery, district, superior, and juvenile courts
d.
Courts of Limited Jurisdiction- Lower
trial courts with specified jurisdiction
2.
Federal Courts
a.
Federal court system in the U.S. includes district courts, courts of
appeals, special federal courts, and the Supreme Court.
b.
There is at least one district court in each state and usually more than
two; California, Texas, and New York have four each
c.
Cases litigated in federal district courts classified into two types:
(1) cases between citizens of different states, and (2) cases involving
litigation of federal statutes of the federal constitution.
d.
The Supreme Court of the U.S. is the highest court in the land, beyond
which there is no redress.
e.
Cases may be brought before the Supreme Court by appeal, writ of
certiorari, or through the original jurisdiction of the Court.
f.
Writs of Certiorari, an original action whereby a case is removed from an
inferior to a superior court for trial.
g.
The writ of certiorari is the most common means of getting a case before
the Supreme Court.