Is there a word that encompasses laws and Supreme Court cases?
February 18, 2010 4:23 PM   Subscribe

Is there a word that encompasses laws and Supreme Court cases?

The US government was set up by the Constitution and over the years has been modified by congressional laws and Supreme Court decisions. Is there a word that covers both?

"Case" is listed as a synonym for "law"; but Supreme Court decisions aren't laws, are they? "Jurisprudence," maybe?

I'd use it in an informal context to describe how the laws and decisions affected the makeup of the federal government.
posted by kirkaracha to Writing & Language (18 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Cases are a subcategory of "law." The concept. Not pluralized. Law is sometimes divided into case law, statutory law (the "laws" you're thinking of), regulatory law, and perhaps others.
posted by aswego at 4:29 PM on February 18, 2010 [1 favorite]


I'm not really sure you'd WANT to conflate those. Wouldn't it be better to give background like this, as in statutory AND common law?
posted by StrikeTheViol at 4:32 PM on February 18, 2010


"Case" is listed as a synonym for "law"; but Supreme Court decisions aren't laws, are they?

First of all, "laws" =/= "law" or "the law." These need to be distinguished.

Supreme Court cases are not "laws." The Supreme Court does not make/pass/enact "laws."

But Supreme Court cases are part of "the law."

Supreme Court cases (or "decisions" or "opinions") have "holdings" (a better term than "rulings"), or they "hold" that something is the case. If you want a synonym for these, you could say the Supreme Court, through its decisions, establishes (sets forth, creates, clarifies) "rules." You could also call them "doctrines."

"Jurisprudence" can be used to mean the same thing as "case law": the law as it has been created through Supreme Court (and other court) cases.

You could also just describe what the Court did: "The Supreme Court interpreted the First Amendment to say that _______." "The Supreme Court struck down the statute as unconstitutional." etc.

Does that answer your question, or is there more you're wondering about?
posted by Jaltcoh at 4:34 PM on February 18, 2010


To be more specific...

"Jurisprudence" isn't so far off, but it could also be construed to include commentary about the law from people without any authority. "Law" is better.

And Supreme Court cases are not the only ones that "modify" acts of Congress. There are many other federal courts. All of them are relevant.

You can, of course, just speak of "federal law" if you want to leave out the law of various states.
posted by aswego at 4:34 PM on February 18, 2010


Oh, I should clarify that "jurisprudence" is only sometimes used as a synonym for "case law." As aswego says, "jurisprudence" can also mean legal analysis done by random people ("This is an interesting jurisprudential issue" -- meaning an issue of interest to legal theorists). This is why I prefer the term "case law."
posted by Jaltcoh at 4:35 PM on February 18, 2010


I'm unclear what you're looking for. How are you looking to use this word? Can you provide a sample sentence?
posted by bitdamaged at 4:36 PM on February 18, 2010


Jurisprudence is more like legal theory. "Laws" encompasses both statutory law (the kind passed by Congress) and case law or precedent (the kind created by SCOTUS).

That's kind of unsatisfying, I admit: when I think of laws, I think of statutory laws. I'm not sure how to state it to emphasize both aspects.
posted by adamrice at 4:37 PM on February 18, 2010


Jurisprudence is more like legal theory.

Again, it can mean legal theory, but it can also mean case law. That's what a court means when it refers to "this court's jurisprudence."

And yeah, "precedent" is another good term.
posted by Jaltcoh at 4:42 PM on February 18, 2010


None of these is quite enough if you want everything that "modifies" the federal government. In fact the vast majority of things that actually affect the operation of the federal government are neither laws nor Supreme Court (or other) case decisions, they are administrative regulations. Lawyers often talk about "rules, regulations and laws" in an effort to capture all the different kinds of non-Judge-made law that could be out there, but there could be others as well.
posted by The Bellman at 4:50 PM on February 18, 2010


I would use the broad term "legal authority," which encompasses all laws, court decisions, rules, and regulations. Legal authority is broken down into "binding authority" (for example, Supreme Court opinions are binding everywhere) and "persuasive authority" (for example, a decision from the Supreme Court of Virginia might have good ideas, but it does not compel courts in Georgia to follow it).

If you're talking about the makeup of the federal gov't, don't forget to include where most law-making takes place: agencies, also known as "the fourth branch of government."
posted by lockestockbarrel at 5:00 PM on February 18, 2010


I would use the broad term "legal authority," which encompasses all laws, court decisions, rules, and regulations.

Some people don't think it's so broad.
posted by Jaltcoh at 5:43 PM on February 18, 2010


Case law is "law." It is as applicable as statutory law. That's why its called case law.
posted by Ironmouth at 5:43 PM on February 18, 2010


It sounds to me like you want the word "law". Only specify to the extent necessary.

"Under US law, until the 1930s the federal government had generally limited powers, but the Great Depression brought fundamental change."
posted by dhartung at 6:30 PM on February 18, 2010


I think plain old "law" is best. It's possible that a lay person might not understand that "law" in general includes the stuff courts do. So you might say "law, both statutory and decisional". But that sounds a little clunky for your "informal context."
posted by lex mercatoria at 6:35 PM on February 18, 2010


There are a number of different things at work.

There is a constitution - an overarching set of rules that sets the stage for everything else. In the U.S., most of it is written, but some is unwritten.
There are statutes passed by Congress and by state legislatures.
There are regulations which are adopted by agencies within the executive department (Federal and state) when legislatures have granted that authority.
There are common law court decisions which apply and define the law that is not governed by statutes. Much more prevalent in the states.
There are, only occasionally, court decisions at all levels which consider whether a statute or regulation should be overruled because it conflicts with other, higher level, law.
There are other court decisions at all levels, which apply and sometimes interpret the wording of statutes and regulations.
There are principles of precedent, which determine which previous case decisions are binding and must be followed, and which are non-binding.

To focus on only statutes and Supreme Court decisions is to lose track of most of what goes into making "the law".
posted by megatherium at 6:35 PM on February 18, 2010


Response by poster: I'm making a timeline of the development of the composition of the federal government. Specifically, the varying number of Supreme Court seats, Cabinet-level offices, and the makeup of Congress over time.

As far as I know those are primarily affected by the Constitution and laws passed by Congress (like the US Code), and occasionally affected by Supreme Court holdings like Marbury v. Madison.

I'm only dealing with a high-level view of the makeup of the federal government, so executive department regulations and state statues are too detailed for my purposes.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:00 PM on February 18, 2010


Is there any reason not to just use "statutes" to refer to legislation passed by Congress and "cases" or "precedents" or "rulings" to refer to court decisions?

Note also megatherium's point that it's not just the Supreme Court that interprets statutes. All courts do this. Often an issue will go years before it is addressed by the Supreme Court, but in the interim, decisions of other courts are still "law."
posted by ewiar at 7:59 AM on February 19, 2010


Most attorneys I know think of and refer to Supreme Court decisions and other case law as "black letter law"; black letter law is the law as created and interpreted by the court systems.
posted by LOLAttorney2009 at 6:55 PM on February 19, 2010


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