The Role Of Law In The United States

While every country has its own set of laws and rules the question of what is law is not so easily defined. Here in the United States the definition of law means a set of rules and regulations and to the social institution that creates, implements, and enforces these rules and regulations (Barkan pg. 21 2013). The United States law derives from Common Law from England. The ancient law of England is based upon societal customs and recognized and enforced by the judgments and decrees of the courts. The principles and rules of action, embodied in case law rather than legislative enactments, applicable to the government and protection of persons and property that derive their authority from the community customs and traditions that evolved over
The laws must change as society changes and new revelations come about, for instance the laws had to change when issues such as same sex marriage came along. Before current times there were no cases of gay rights, and judges had to look at our constitution and decide if there was any reason that would break the supreme law of the land by making this right legal. This became a great controversy because there were no laws protecting gay rights or giving gay rights, this became a question really of moral beliefs, which should not play a role in law making. As society change laws must adapt and judges must decide on new arising situations where there are no preceding rulings to help them decide. There are many functions of law but all come back to maintaining peace and
This is called the social control function. Without law, society would be much more chaotic (Barkan pg. 4 2013), we would see far more crimes being committed and less control by the authorities to stop it. Maintaining social order is one of the most important functions of the law, because not everyone is raised with good morals, and often have total disregard for the rest of society. If this type of chaos ensues our country would become a war zone. Another important function of law, at least in a democracy, is the preservation of civil rights and civil liberties and more generally of individual freedom. In the United States, this function is a key element of our Constitution and Bill of Rights and the subject of innumerable rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court. The term rule of law captures this idea and more formally means that no one in a democracy, no matter how wealthy or powerful the individual may be, is above the law (Barkan pg. 4 2013). Our civil rights and liberties are key to a well-functioning society, when we see people protesting against things they deem unfair or wrong it is our civil rights that give us the right to stand up for what we believe. Not all will agree on what is wrong and right and everyone’s views will differ, that is why we have the legal system in place so a judge or jury can look at the facts and make a