Former Oregon Supreme Court justice Sue Leeson explains the concept of common law.

Topics include common law as "judge-made rules"; the slow evolution of common law; the power of judges to make law; common law in the United States; American colonists' reliance on Blackstone's commentaries.

This video corresponds to We the People: The Citizen & the Constitution (Level 3) curriculum, Unit 1, Lesson 4, Section 4.

This video was produced by the Center for Civic Education for the James Madison Legacy Project, which was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education through the Supporting Effective Educator Development program.

The interviewer is Greg Bernstein.