ABSTRACT
This chapter examines legal concepts and procedures that are important to an understanding of the law of public communication. It explains the purpose and organization of law and describe court procedures. The chapter discusses how communicators work with lawyers. The law in the United States comes primarily from six sources: constitutions, statutes, administrative rules and regulations, executive actions, the common law and the law of equity. The federal court system is the most important for the law of public communication. The federal courts exercise ultimate authority over the meaning of the Constitution, including the constitutionality of statutes that impinge on the First Amendment. Civil law ordinarily resolves disputes between two private parties. Most communication cases are brought in civil court rather than criminal court. A civil case begins when the person suing, called the plaintiff, files a legal complaint against the person being sued, the defendant. A criminal action begins with a law enforcement investigation.
