COMM 4024 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Appellate Court, Administrative Law Judge, Voir Dire
Public Relations and the Law
• Sources of American Law
o Statutory Law
▪ Created by legislatures
▪ Influenced by legislatures on how to form a law
▪ Language that creates vagueness
o Case Law
▪ Created by courts
▪ Most of the law is case law instead of statutes, something
decided by the supreme court & lower courts
o Administrative Law
▪ Created by government agencies
• 4th ah of goeet
▪ The most common form of regulation
▪ Statutes and case law that is all governed by an agency
o Private Law
▪ Contract between two individuals
▪ As long as the contract meets certain requirements
(written down) the contract is law & legally enforceable
• Communication, Ethics & Law
o Law oftentimes coincides with ethics for communication
practitioners (ex. Unethical behaviors are oftentimes illegal
behaviors)
o This creates conflict between what is good advocacy, personal
values, and what the law allows
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o These ethics can be found in:
▪ Personal philosophies
▪ PRSA Member Code of Ethics International Public
Relations Association Code
▪ International Association of Business Communicators
• Federalism: State vs. Federal Law
o Powers delegated to states:
▪ Schools
▪ Local government
▪ Marriage
▪ Business incorporation
o Powers delegated to federal government:
▪ Military defense
▪ Interstate commerce
▪ Coining money
▪ International treaties
▪ War
▪ Post office
o Both:
▪ Criminal laws
▪ Maintain courts
▪ Taxation
• Civil vs. Criminal Law
o Civil Law:
▪ Regulating lawsuits between private parties where the
wrong will be compensated by money damages
▪ More likely an individual and two businesses
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▪ If ou do’t hae a lae, ou’e seed
▪ A lot less protection in terms of appointed help
o Criminal Law:
▪ Regulating wrongs against the government (society) where
the wrong is punished by fines or imprisonment
▪ Much more protective of the person accused of the crime
▪ Person bringing the lawsuit is always the state
(government)
▪ Tends to be much faster than civil law because you have a
right to a speedy trial
• Vocabulary
o Plaintiff/Prosecutor: (Suers/Trials)
▪ In a civil case, the person who sues someone is the plaintiff
▪ In a criminal case, the person suing someone is always the
prosecutor
o Defendant (Suees/Trials)
▪ Person sued in a civil suit or charged with a crime in a
criminal suit is always the defendant
o Appellant/Appellee:
▪ Appellant is person who is filing the appeal
▪ Person on the other side of the appeal but is a party to the
case is an appellee
▪ A defendant can be the appellant and typically is the
appellant
o Prima Facie:
▪ Basic elements it requires under the law to bring a lawsuit
o Jury Trial:
▪ Trial by jurors
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Document Summary
Unethical behaviors are oftentimes illegal behaviors: this creates conflict between what is good advocacy, personal values, and what the law allows, these ethics can be found in, personal philosophies, prsa member code of ethics international public. Should the jury decide on this kind of charge: judge/appellate judge/justice/alj, all judges at the trial level are a judge. 4: appellate level is still a judge, supreme court are justices, agencies are referred to alj (administrative law judge) Court and legal process: read comm & the law pp. Sometimes the topics covered by these laws are mutually exclusive, sometimes they overlap: terminology of law: list of definitions, case scenario, 1. Is there a state law in virginia that allows me to sue him on this particular fact: 2. Is there a state law in north carolina that allows me to sue him on these facts: 3.
