Tort Law
This is the most common type of tort, involving harm caused by a failure to exercise reasonable care.
What is negligence?
This amendment guarantees freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition.
What is the First Amendment?
This 1803 case established the principle of judicial review, allowing courts to strike down unconstitutional laws.
What is Marbury v. Madison?
This type of crime involves the unlawful taking of another person’s property without their consent, such as shoplifting or robbery.
What is theft?
This term refers to the government-sanctioned execution of a person as punishment for a crime.
What is capital punishment?
This intentional tort occurs when someone unlawfully restrains another person's freedom of movement without consent.
What is false imprisonment?
This amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, requiring warrants supported by probable cause.
What is the Fourth Amendment?
This 1954 case declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, overturning "separate but equal."
What is Brown v. Board of Education?
This crime involves intentionally causing or attempting to cause physical harm to another person, ranging from simple to aggravated forms.
What is assault?
This 1972 Supreme Court case temporarily halted the death penalty nationwide, ruling that its application was arbitrary and capricious.
What is Furman v. Georgia?
In tort law, this term describes the obligation one person has to avoid causing harm to another, often central to negligence cases.
What is duty of care?
This amendment, ratified in 1868, grants citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. and ensures equal protection under the law.
What is the Fourteenth Amendment?
This 1963 case ruled that states must provide free legal counsel to indigent defendants in felony cases.
What is Gideon v. Wainwright?
This property crime involves the unlawful entry into a building with intent to commit a felony, typically theft.
What is burglary?
This method of execution, involving the administration of drugs to cause death, is the most common in U.S. states today.
What is lethal injection?
This doctrine holds that a defendant can be liable for damages even if they were only partially responsible for the plaintiff's injury, alongside other parties.
What is joint and several liability?
This amendment, part of the Reconstruction era, prohibits states from denying any person the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
What is the Fifteenth Amendment?
This 1973 case established a constitutional right to abortion, balancing a woman’s privacy with state interests.
What is Roe v. Wade?
This crime, often called a "white-collar" offense, involves deceit or misrepresentation to obtain money or property, such as Ponzi schemes.
This 1976 Supreme Court case reinstated the death penalty by upholding Georgia’s revised death penalty statute, which included bifurcated trials to address arbitrary sentencing.
What is Gregg v. Georgia?
This defense in tort law completely bars a plaintiff from recovering damages if they were even slightly at fault for their own injury, though it’s only used in a few jurisdictions today.
What is contributory negligence?
Ratified in 1913, this amendment authorizes Congress to impose an income tax without apportioning it among the states based on population.
What is the Sixteenth Amendment?
This 1819 case upheld Congress’s implied powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause and affirmed federal supremacy over state laws attempting to tax the Second Bank of the United States.
What is McCulloch v. Maryland?
This federal crime, defined under 18 U.S.C. § 1962, involves a pattern of illegal activity carried out as part of an ongoing criminal enterprise, often prosecuted against organized crime syndicates.
What is racketeering?
This 2005 Supreme Court case, Roper v. Simmons, prohibited the execution of individuals who were under this age at the time of their crime, citing evolving standards of decency.
What is 18?