Most commonwealth member states as well as the US adopted the common laws used legally by the English. However, certain practices previously accepted by the English laws are outlawed by the current US constitution. Common law courts in the US have over the time become stater desicis. This means that common law judges are not only mandated to apply the law but they also create laws. In this context, court decisions become precedents for future case rulings.

English law was formally applied in the US through various ways. With the exclusion of Louisiana, all states in the US applied the reception statue that states that the English law is the state law. Another way that the English law became applicable in the US is that most states in the US reenacted the important British statues during the Revolution. One of the statues commonly adapted from the Revolution period is the statue of fraud still commonly used by that name in the US.

During early times, American courts hardly cited contemporary English laws. This was as a result of appellate decisions from most American courts not being regularly reported. However with time, English legal decisions disappeared in the 19th century which was as a result of American courts becoming more independent in solving legal problems. According to Carp, today in US courts, foreign laws are never cited as precedent but may be cited as a reflection with regards to western civilization (Carp & Stidham, 2001).

There are various types of law in the US. Procedural law is one type of law that controls court procedures. Under this are two subdivisions that are criminal procedure and civil procedure. The criminal procedure provides guidelines for the creation and operation of law enforcement agents including the prison system. The civil procedure on the other hand governs the process of legal proceedings between private parties. A