Introduction

As you hopefully remember from your middle and high school classes, there are three branches of government: legislative, judicial, and executive. The basic framework is the same at the state and federal level. The Constitution (federal or a state constitution) is the "instruction manual" for our government. It lays out the responsibilities of and places restrictions on each branch of government. The legislative branch proposes and passes laws (called statutes), which are then enforced by the executive branch and interpreted by the judicial branch. One very important role of the courts (judicial branch) is to make sure the legislative and executive branches do not exceed their authority under the Constitution. For example, if the state assembly in Pennsylvania passes a law making it a crime to complain about legislative pay raises, irate taxpayers would likely sue the State of Pennsylvania. The court that hears the case would strike down the Pennsylvania law and declare it unconstitutional because it would violate the U.S. Constitution as well as the Pennsylvania Constitution. Similarly, if the federal government passed a law regulating building heights in Pennsylvania, a court would strike down that law as well because the U.S. Constitution does not give the federal government the power to regulate building heights within a particular state.

Just as the U.S. Constitution outlines what Congress can and cannot do, when Congress creates an independent agency like the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the statute that creates the agency acts as that agency’s “constitution,” limiting what the agency is allowed to do.

Spectators listen as Florida Supreme Court spokesman Craig Waters, at the podium, announces the Supreme Court's response to the U.S. Supreme Court in Tallahassee, Fla., Monday, Dec, 11, 2000.

Objectives

Upon completion of this unit, you will be able to

• Describe the role of the three branches of government;
• Demonstrate the sources of law;
• Describe the role of courts and precedents;
• Explain the basics of how a legal case proceeds and the role of appellate courts in the U.S. legal system;
• Use some legal Web sites;
• Analyze a court case;
• Learn the basic justifications for free speech.

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