STRUCTURE

In this post I try to present a basic structure of the law which is applied in this course to U.S. Constitutional law (though this structure would apply to any legal system).

TYPES OF RIGHTS/FREEDOMS 
 
Hortatory (Anspornsrechte)

License (Erlaubnis)

Executory (etwa wie eine Anwartschaft)

Vested (sicher begründete Rechte)

Fundamental freedoms from State action (Civil and Political Rights) (Abwehrrechte; Freiheitsrechte)

Positive claims to state resources (Economic and Social Rights)

Civil Rights (Bürgerrechte)

Rights in Personam
Rights in Rem (Sachenrechte)

STRUCTURE OF THE GLOBAL LEGAL SYSTEM

             National Law — International Law<br />
private law               !!
————————–!!——————
public law                !!

STRUCTURE OF THE U.S. FEDERAL SYSTEM

         Executive — Legislative — Judicial
                    !               !
Federal             !               !
………………………………………..
State               !               !

In this course we are mostly looking at conflicts between the branches or between the federal and state governments and at conflicts between individuals and the state or federal government.

STRUCTURE OF ARGUMENTS
METHODENLEHRE

Text (what does this term mean? what does this term Not mean?)
Grammar, Structure (Context)
Legislative History
Teleology (what would this lead to? where do we want to go)

THEORIES OF LAW 
Conceptual jurisprudence (Begriffsjurisprudenz)
-deduction of legal will from the legal code
-rules
-conditionals “if … then”

Legal process interest balancing (Interessenjurisprudenz)
-standards, norms, policies
-interest balancing (Interessenabwägung)
*identify interested parties (plaintiff, defendant, state, stakeholders)
*identify competing interests
*evaluate interest, i.e. assign a “weight” ($) to the interest
*compare the competing interests

Creative Legal Arguments
*History
*Economics
*Legal Theory
*Comparative Law