Law Llb Undergraduate Newcastle College

The actual substance of English law was formally “received” into the United States in a number of methods. First, all U.S. states besides Louisiana have enacted “reception statutes” which typically state that the widespread law of England (particularly judge-made law) is the law of the state to the extent that it isn’t repugnant to home law or indigenous circumstances. Some reception statutes impose a selected cutoff date for reception, such because the date of a colony’s founding, whereas others are deliberately imprecise.

Rules on civil asset forfeiture enable law enforcement officers to seize anything which they’ll plausibly declare was the proceeds of a crime. The property-owner need not be convicted of that crime; if officers discover drugs in a home, they will take money from the house and possibly the home itself. Commentators have said these guidelines provide an incentive for law enforcement officers to concentrate on drug-related crimes rather Law News than crimes towards persons, corresponding to rape and homicide. They also provide an incentive to arrest suspected drug-dealers inside their houses, which may be seized, and to raid stash houses after most of their drugs have been offered, when officers can seize the cash. In most states, law enforcement officers function underneath the same self-defense laws as the common public.