WGU Business Law for Accountants - D216 Already Passed!!
14th Amendment - Answer passed in 1868 after the Civil War, provides, in part, that "[n]o State shall . . . deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."
action at law - Answer File a complaint, jury or judge, judgement, monetary damages
or property
action in equity - Answer File a petition, judge, decree, injunction, specific performance, or rescission
administrative agency - Answer A federal or state government agency created by the
legislature to perform a specific function, such as to make and enforce rules pertaining to the environment.
appellant - Answer The party who takes an appeal from one court to another.
appellee - Answer The party against whom an appeal is taken—that is, the party who
opposes setting aside or reversing the judgment.
Bill of Rights - Answer The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
binding authority - Answer Any source of law that a court must follow when deciding a case.
breaches - Answer To violate a law, by an act or an omission, or to break a legal obligation that one owes to another person or to society.
business ethics - Answer Ethics in a business context; a consensus of what constitutes right or wrong behavior in the world of business and the application of moral principles to situations that arise in a business setting.
case law - Answer The rules of law announced in court decisions. Case law interprets statutes, regulations, constitutional provisions, and other case law.
categorical imperative - Answer A concept developed by the philosopher Immanuel Kant as an ethical guideline for behavior. In deciding whether an action is right or wrong, or desirable or undesirable, a person should evaluate the action in terms of what would happen if everybody else in the same situation, or category, acted the same way.
checks and balances - Answer The system by which each of the three branches of the U.S. national government (executive, legislative, and judicial) exercises checks on the powers of the other branches.
Civil law - Answer The branch of law dealing with the definition and enforcement of all private or public rights, as opposed to criminal matters. WGU Business Law for Accountants - D216 Already Passed!!
commerce clause - Answer The provision in Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution that gives Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce.
common law - Answer a body of general rules that applied throughout the entire English realm
compelling government interest - Answer A test of constitutionality that requires the government to have compelling reasons for passing any law that restricts fundamental rights, such as free speech, or distinguishes between people based on a suspect trait.
concurring opinion - Answer A court opinion by one or more judges or justices who agree with the majority but want to make or emphasize a point that was not made or emphasized in the majority's opinion.
Constitutional law - Answer Law that is based on the U.S. Constitution and the constitutions of the various states.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) - Answer The concept that corporations can and should act ethically and be accountable to society for their actions.
cost-benefit analysis - Answer A decision-making technique that involves weighing the costs of a given action against the benefits of the action.
courts of equity - Answer A court that decides controversies and administers justice according to the rules, principles, and precedents of equity.
courts of law - Answer A court in which the only remedies that can be granted are things of value, such as money damages. In the early English king's courts, courts of
law were distinct from courts of equity.
Criminal law - Answer The branch of law that defines and punishes wrongful actions committed against the public.
cyberlaw - Answer An informal term used to refer to all laws governing electronic communications and transactions, particularly those conducted via the Internet.
damages - Answer A monetary award sought as a remedy for a breach of contract or
a tortious act.
defendant - Answer One against whom a lawsuit is brought, or the accused person in a criminal proceeding.
defense - Answer Reasons that a defendant offers in an action or suit as to why the plaintiff should not obtain what he or she is seeking.
dissenting opinion - Answer A court opinion that presents the views of one or more judges or justices who disagree with the majority's decision. WGU Business Law for Accountants - D216 Already Passed!!
due process clause - Answer The provisions of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution that guarantee that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Similar clauses are found in most state constitutions.
Duty-based ethics - Answer An ethical philosophy rooted in the idea that every person has certain duties to others, including both humans and the planet. Those duties may be derived from religious principles or from other philosophical reasoning.
Eighth Amendment - Answer Prohibits excessive bail and fines, as well as cruel and unusual punishment.
Electronic Communications Privacy Act (1986) - Answer Prohibits the interception of information communicated by electronic means.
equal protection clause - Answer The provision in the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that guarantees that no state will "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." This clause mandates that state governments treat similarly situated individuals in a similar manner.
equitable maxims - Answer General propositions or principles of law that have to do with fairness (equity).
establishment clause - Answer The provision in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that prohibits Congress from establishing a state-sponsored religion, as well as from passing laws that promote religion or show a preference for one religion over another.
ethical reasoning - Answer A reasoning process in which an individual links his or her moral convictions or ethical standards to the particular situation at hand.
ethics - Answer Moral principles and values applied to social behavior.
executive agencies - Answer An administrative agency within the executive branch of government. At the federal level, executive agencies are those within the cabinet departments.
federal form of government - Answer A system of government in which the states form a union and the sovereign power is divided between a central government and the member states.
Fifth Amendment - Answer Guarantees the rights to indictment (formal accusation) by a grand jury, to due process of law, and to fair payment when private property is taken for public use. The Fifth Amendment also prohibits compulsory self-
incrimination and double jeopardy (trial for the same crime twice).