Exam 1: Introduction to Legal Principles and Authorities

The doctrine of stare decisis requires lower courts to follow the decision of a higher court in a jurisdiction in cases involving similar issues and facts.

The basic principle that requires a court to follow a previous decision of a higher court, when the current decision involves issues and facts similar to those involved in the previous decision, is the doctrine of:

The United States Supreme Court may declare laws enacted by state legislatures unconstitutional.

When looking for a review of selected court opinions on specific topics and scholarly commentaries on the opinions which option would be used?

A constitution is not an example of enacted law.

Constitutions:

A court of appeals may review new evidence when considering a matter on appeal.

If times have changed and there is good reason not to follow a prior decision of a higher court, then a lower court may choose not to follow the precedent of a higher court in the same jurisdiction.

Administrative law is usually more specific than statutory law.

Law reviews are usually published by law schools.

Decisions of the highest court in a state are examples of common law.

Primary authority is:

In regard to subject matter jurisdiction, the basic types of courts are courts of:

Which of the following are courts of limited jurisdiction?

A court of appeals may:

Which of the following is used to obtain a summary of the law?

The term case law does not encompass a broader range of law than the term common law .

Legal dictionaries include definitions of legal terms and commentaries on the definitions.

The American Law Reports (ALR)is a series of books that contain the text of selected court opinions, along with scholarly commentaries on the opinions.

Mandatory authority is a nonlaw source that a court may rely on when reaching a decision.