Reservation a legal way of making a provision less enforceable than it might be otherwise.
limited government a basic principle of our constitutional system. it limits government to powers provided to it by the people.
statues written lawws enacted by legislatures.
criminal law the branch of law dealing with crimes and their punishment
felony a serious criminal offense, less serious than a felony, punishable by a prison sentence of one year
misdemeanor a criminal offense, less seriuse than a felony, punishable by a prison sentence of one year or less.
civil law al law that does not involve criminal matters such as tort and contract law. civil law usually deals with private rights of indivduals groups or buisneses.
civil action a noncriminal lawsuit broght to enforce a right or redress a wrong
defendant the person against whom a claim is made. in a civil suit the defendent is the person being sued, in a crimainal cassethe defendant is the person charged with commiting a crime.
plaintiff in a civil case the injured party who brings the legal action against the alleged wrongdoer.
checks and balances the power of each of the 3 brainches of government(legislative judicial executive) to limit the other branches power so as to prevent an abuse.
veto prohibit in goverment the veto is the power of the chief executive to prevent enactmento of a bill(ie. to prevent the bill from becoming a law)
judicial review the process by which courts decide whether the laws passed by congress or stat legislatures are constitutonal.
unconstitutonal conflicting with some provision of the constituion.
federalsim the division of powers between the states and the federal government.
bill of rights the first ten amendements to the constitution which guarantee basic individual rights to all persons of the united states.
prosecuter the state or federal governments attorney in a crimminal care.
beyond a resonable doubt the level of proof requiered to convict a person of a crime. it does not mean convinced 100 percent but does mean there are no reasonable doubts as the guilt.
preponderance of the evidence usually the standard of proof used in a civil suit, the burden of proof a party must meet in order to win the lawsuit. to win, a party must provide evidence that is more convincing than the other sides evidence.
