Law Opinion Paper

Law Opinion Paper

Eric Olson

CJA/224

10/19/2011

COLEEN CUSACK

Law Opinion Paper

The Nation’s laws are formulated by politicians. The directive of laws pertain to the ever changing political and social land scape of the United States. The laws of today mirror current criminal trends or incidents that may not have occurred in the past. Certain laws created in history have little relevance in todays society. The United States court system is based on the English court system. Early colonial courts used the English system as a reference in order to establish a method of operation. Much has changed in the evolution of the United States, including changes to the court system (Meyer & Grant, 2003).

Early American courts adhered to a system known as common law. This form of law is based on a system developed in medieval England. English judges would define civil laws on a case by case basis. The laws were based on customs and interpreted by presiding judges. Laws were rarely written down, all except for the most truly heinous of crimes. Judges could decide the case by weighing in with rules of law in previous cases, or by deciding the case without precedence. This mechanism of early courts is known as stare decisis. Codification differs from common law in that it is simply written statutes. Early codified law were samples of customs, written down for use by the government. Rules and regulatory laws were put into place to ensure citizens were given fair warning that laws enacted could deem certain acts as criminal (Meyer & Grant, 2003).

Warnings to citizens is known as fair notice. This act ensures that citizens will be warned that certain actions will be deemed illegal. In many cases, individuals cannot be tried if warnings are not issued. The United States Supreme Court laid down rulings that the ensured citizens protection from vaguely worded statutes. Ex post facto laws, also known as laws that are applied to acts...