ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the sources and categories of American law from the US Constitution to equity. The Constitution limits and defines the powers of federal government, but it is principally an outline of the structure, powers, limitations, and obligations of government. Most of the details are left to statutory, common, and sometimes equity law. State constitutions are also important sources of US law because they serve as the supreme laws in their respective states except when they are in direct conflict with the US Constitution or valid federal statutes. Most state constitutions also provide for a state constitutional convention to consider amendments. Common law is based on previous cases, if they exist, but statutory law and constitutional law are occasionally not based on prior decisions. Although equity law falls at the bottom in the hierarchy of laws, it plays an important role in judicial system, especially in communication law.