James V. Calvi - American Law and Legal Systems

Eighth edition published 2017
by Routledge
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The right of James V. Calvi and Susan L. Coleman to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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Fifth edition published by Pearson Education, Inc., 2004
Sixth edition published by Pearson Education, Inc., 2008
Seventh edition published by Pearson Education, Inc. 2012, and Routledge, 2016

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Calvi, James V., 1949- author. | Coleman, Susan L., author.
Title: American law and legal systems / James V. Calvi, West Texas A&M
University, a member of the Texas A&M University system,
Susan Coleman, attorney at law.
Description: Eighth edition. | Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY :
Routledge, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016011952| ISBN 9781138654389 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781138654396 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781315623276 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: LawUnited States.
Classification: LCC KF387 .C28 2017 | DDC 349.73dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016011952

ISBN: 9781138654389 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781138654396 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781315623276 (ebk)

Typeset in Sabon
by Cenveo Publisher Services

For my friends and colleagues in the Law Related Education Section of the State Bar of TexasJim
and
For my family and friends who have so enriched my lifeSusan

More than one commentator on the nature of the law has noted the glacial pace at which the law appears to move. Certainly, as one views areas of the law such as property and contracts, it is easy to see why concepts rooted in the Middle Ages make the law appear stagnant and sluggish. Yet, since the first publication of American Law and Legal Systems in 1988, we have seen tremendous change take place in the law. This current edition reflects some of the dynamic changes law has undergone since that first edition. Perhaps the starkest change has been in the area of family law with the Supreme Courts landmark decision to legalize same-sex marriages in the United States. Not only questions about the institution of marriage itself but also questions of adoption, child-rearing, insurance, entitlements, and medical care will continue to come before the courts because of the Obergefell decision. To continue the analogy, we have only seen the tip of the iceberg.

But other areas of the law have also undergone dramatic change. The ability to transform and to copy vast amounts of information into electronic and digital forms has shaken traditional approaches to intellectual property. In criminal law the proliferation of electronic devices presents new challenges to the reasonableness of searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment. The enactment of open and concealed carry laws portend an increase in civil suits surrounding the use of handguns in society. As we write, an unexpected vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court could result in an ideological shift in the makeup of the Court that could last a generation.

As with any new edition, we have tried to include the developments in the law that have occurred since the last edition was published in 2012. At the same time we hope we have retained the concepts and features that appealed to our readers in the past. We have also tried to keep the language of the text as clear, precise, and accurate as possible. As teachers, our major goal has always been to explain the abstract concepts of the law in a manner that our readers can understand. Only our readers can judge whether we have succeeded.

It is always challenging when writing a revision of a book to decide what should remain and what should be deleted. For example, the 1983 case of Bob Jones University v. United States seemed to be a natural candidate for deletion until the Obergefell v. Hodges case made Bob Jones very relevant once again. In law, as in many other areas of life, the more things change the more they stay the same. We have made a conscious attempt not to become too attached to the examples and explanations used in previous editions but if, after reflection, we concluded that previous examples had not lost their relevancy, we did not hesitate to keep them.