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STATUTORY RESEARCH

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STATUTORY RESEARCH

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    1. STATUTORY RESEARCH West’s Instructional Aid Series

    2. CONTENTS Introduction The Legislative Process Anatomy of a Statute Statutory research: Print and Online Updating Statutory Research Expanding Statutory Research KeyCiteŽ Case Law (Annotations) Legislative History Secondary Sources

    3. INTRODUCTION – SOURCES OF AMEICAN LAW Statutory Law is enacted by Legislatures. Case Law is decided by the Courts. Regulations are issued by the Executive Branch (Agencies).

    4. INTRODUCTION – FEDERAL STATUTES Federal statutes are codified in the United States Code. The United States Code (USC) is the official version of the statutes and is published by the Government Printing Office. The United States Code AnnotatedŽ (USCA)Ž in print is published by West. USCA is the database on WestlawŽ that contains the USCA

    5. INTRODUCTION – STATE STATUTES Each state has a statutes publication. The publication might be called statutes, statutes annotated, laws, code, or code annotated. The annotated versions enhance your ability to find relevant cases and statutes. XX-ST-ANN (where XX is the state’s two-letter postal abbreviation) is the database identifier for annotated state statutes on Westlaw.

    6. INTRODUCTION – STATE LEGISLATIVE PROCESSES Most state legislatures are modeled after the United States Congress and consist of two houses. Only Nebraska has a one-house legislature. Legislation moves through state legislatures in much the same way it moves through Congress. The governor signs or vetoes the legislation and there are state provisions for overriding a governor’s veto. What is said about the federal legislative process is usually true of state legislative processes.

    7. STATUTES: THE NEGLECTED SIDE OF LEGAL RESEARCH Most of what you learn in school will be based on the common-law traditions of the courts. Statutory law is often obscurely or ambiguously worded. It must be interpreted by case law. This case law often becomes a more accessible source of law than the statute. Statutory research may seem complicated. This is due, in part, to the fact that most researchers are not trained in statutory research.

    8. STATUTES ARE THE NEGLECTED SIDE OF LEGAL RESEARCH BUT… Statutes are around to stay. They are the cornerstone of our legal system. Only a court of competence can declare a clearly worded statute unconstitutional. Don’t fight them. There is help!

    9. CONTENTS

    10. THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS Introduction of a bill (proposed legislation) Passed by both houses of Congress Signed by president or president’s veto is overridden Becomes a “session law” or “public law” Incorporated into statutory code

    11. THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS: A BILL IS INTRODUCED A bill is introduced by a sponsor(s) in one or both houses of Congress. A bill is assigned a bill number (H.R. 14, 107th Cong., 1st Sess. (2001)). This bill number usually follows the proposed legislation through hearings, amendments, congressional committees, etc., until enactment or the end of the current legislative period.

    12. A companion bill may be introduced in the other house of the legislature at any time. Committee hearings may be held and amendments to the bill may be made. If the committee votes favorably on the bill, a committee report in support of the bill accompanies the bill back to the floor in many jurisdictions. A bill may die in committee and never reach the full house for vote. THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS: A BILL IS INTRODUCED

    14. When the bill passes one house, it is sent to the other house for consideration. The other house may approve and pass the bill to the president in identical form. More likely, the other house will propose a variation of the bill and both houses must negotiate a compromise. When both houses pass the bill in identical form, it is sent to the president for a signature or veto.

    15. If signed (or not vetoed within 10 days), the bill becomes a “session law” or “public law.” If the president vetoes the bill, the veto may be overridden by two-thirds majority in both houses. (If the president takes no activity on the bill at the end of a legislative session the bill is, in effect, vetoed. This is called a “pocket veto.”) The public law is renumbered using the number of the congressional session and the numerical order in which the law was enacted: P.L. 107-14 and P.L. 107-15 are the 14th and 15th bills to be enacted by the 107th session of Congress.

    16. add a section (statute) in the statutory code, change language in a section (statute), repeal a section (statute) of the statutory code, re-number a section (statute), Or do all of the above

    17. An enacted law is first published officially by the Government Printing Office as an individual slip law and sent to government depository libraries and other libraries that subscribe to these publications. Public laws are published in compiled volumes in chronological order in The Statutes at Large, the official government publication. There is a two to four-year lag in publication of these volumes.

    18. The U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative NewsŽ (USCCAN), published by West, issues monthly pamphlets including newly enacted laws. The monthly USCCAN pamphlets are reissued in bound volume after each congressional session. Public laws are also published in the USCCAN and US-PL (United States Public Laws) databases on Westlaw.

    20. The public law then changes the statutory code to: bring all laws on the same topic together eliminate all repealed or expired statutes unite amendments with the original statute This process is called codification the United States Code is divided into 50 titles, often called codes (see next screen) Title 11 is the Bankruptcy Code Title 26 is the Tax Code

    21. United States Code is organized in broad subject categories called titles. The 50 titles are in rough alphabetical order.

    25. SUMMARY OF THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS

    26. QUESTION Which of the following is a true statement? Each public law amends a single statute. A slip law is the final version of a statute. Codification is the process in which sections of public laws amend, add to, or repeal the relevant portion(s) of the United States Code. The president’s veto of a bill may be overridden by a majority of both houses.

    27. Introduction The Legislative Process Anatomy of a Statute Statutory research: Print and Online Updating Statutory Research Expanding Statutory Research KeyCiteŽ Case Law (Annotations) Legislative History Secondary Sources CONTENTS

    28. The United States Code (USC) Is issued every six years Is updated annually Is arranged into 50 titles References the Statutes at Large citation Includes historical notes and cross-references to related sections Includes an index, a table of acts cited by popular name, and conversion tables that allow you to move between the present version and earlier versions of the Code ANATOMY OF A STATUTE: THE U.S. CODE

    29. The United States Code (USC), as published by the government, has several drawbacks There is a publication lag, especially for the annual supplements. There are no references to interpreting case law. The meaning of a statute is often unclear and must be interpreted by the courts. The decisions of the courts often become more important sources of law than the text of the statutes. ANATOMY OF A STATUTE: THE U.S. CODE

    30. The USCA contains the text and features of the statute as they appear in the USC, plus: references to legislative history, and federal regulations references to the West Key Number System references to law review and journal commentaries library references references to texts and treatises Notes of Decisions (annotations) ANATOMY OF A STATUTE: THE UNITED STATES CODE ANNOTATED (USCA)

    31. ANATOMY OF A STATUTE: THE UNITED STATES CODE ANNOTATED (USCA)

    32. ANATOMY OF A STATUTE: THE UNITED STATES CODE ANNOTATED (USCA)

    33. ANATOMY OF A STATUTE: THE UNITED STATES CODE ANNOTATED (USCA)

    34. ANATOMY OF A STATUTE: THE UNITED STATES CODE ANNOTATED (USCA)

    35. Notes of Decisions (annotations) are summaries of how courts have interpreted the statute with links to the case law. Notes of Decisions are the headnotes from cases that West attorney-editors have identified as significantly interpreting or applying the statute. ANATOMY OF A STATUTE: THE UNITED STATES CODE ANNOTATED (USCA)

    36. QUESTION Notes of decisions are also called: Headings Annotations Credits Statutory history

    37. CONTENTS Introduction The Legislative Process Anatomy of a Statute Statutory research: Print and Online Updating Statutory Research Expanding Statutory Research KeyCiteŽ Case Law (Annotations) Legislative History Secondary Sources

    38. An alphabetical General Index aids you in finding relevant statute sections. The index has “access words” that cross-reference formal index headings. The Index references the relevant title(s) and section(s) (statutes). The Popular Name Table, in the last index volume, helps determine where a public law was codified. STATUTORY RESEARCH: PRINT & ONLINE

    39. Sarah Jones has finished law school, passed the bar, and found a job with a legal aid service. Four years of college and three years of law school have run her student loan debt to well over $100,000 and her salary will never stretch to make the payments on that amount. Sarah is considering filing for bankruptcy. Could this extreme measure solve Sarah’s problem? STATUTORY RESEARCH: PRINT & ONLINE

    40. There are several different but effective ways to find the Exceptions to Discharge in Bankruptcy statute (section). If Sarah knows the citation of the discharge statute, she can simply type it in the Find this document by citation: text box on the Paralegal page or click the Find link on the toolbar. STATUTORY RESEARCH: ONLINE AND THE FIND FEATURE

    41. STATUTORY RESEARCH: FINDING A STATUTE BY CITATION ON WESTLAW.COM You can type the following in the Find this document by citation: text box: Enter xx st nnn.nn (where xx stands for the state’s two-letter postal abbreviation and nnn.nn stands for the citation number) Example: mn st 313.01 (do not include paragraph letter or number, as in 313.01(a)(4)) For code states or other states with irregular numbering, simply type xx st in the Find this document by citation: text box. See next screen.

    42. A template for the state’s statutes is displayed. Just type in the statute number in the appropriate code’s text box. Click GO beside the text box and you will retrieve the state statute, in this case, Texas Agricultural Code, section 41.002. STATUTORY RESEARCH: STATE STATUTE TEMPLATES

    43. If Sarah isn’t sure she retrieved the correct section but believes she is very close to it, she can use the Documents in Sequence feature by selecting Previous Section or Next Section links at the top of the screen. STATUTORY RESEARCH: DOCUMENTS IN SEQUENCE ON WESTLAW.COM

    44. Now you are viewing 11 USCA 524. The Documents in Sequence arrows allow you to move forward or backward, statute by statute, just as if you were paging through the statutes in print. STATUTORY RESEARCH: DOCUMENTS IN SEQUENCE ON WESTLAW.COM

    45. Sarah could also access the Table of Contents service, which is available for each statutory database on Westlaw and open it to the desired section. The Table of Contents service is also a great way to browse the sections around the desired statute to see if they any have relevance to Sarah’s situation. STATUTORY RESEARCH: TABLE OF CONTENTS ON WESTLAW.COM

    46. If Sarah knows that Title 11 is the bankruptcy title and she needs the exceptions to discharge statute, the following field restricted search using terms and connectors would be effective: ca,pr(“title 11” & exception) This search retrieves 11 USCA 523. The terms can be in either the caption or the preliminary fields. STATUTORY RESEARCH: CAPTION & PRELIMINARY FIELD SEARCHING

    47. Sarah could try a Terms and Connector search in the digest field of a case law database. (Here we will use the ALLFEDS database.) For example: di(discharg! /p "student loan”) STATUTORY RESEARCH: DIGEST FIELD SEARCHING IN CASES

    48. The key number 51K3371(1) assigned to this headnote links to other cases discussing the same point of law. Sarah will have to examine these cases to determine if her situation can be considered a “hardship.” There are also references to the controlling statute(s).

    49. Sarah could run a Natural Language search, which can be very effective in annotated statute database, in that. The looser structure of a natural language search will often be more successful than a terms and connectors search in capturing the unpredictable language of a statute. The search: can student loans be discharged in bankruptcy retrieves the Notes of Decisions shown on the next slide.

    51. If Sarah is unfamiliar with both the language of the law and key numbers, Key Numbers could be the place to start research.

    52. KeySearch divides the law into widely recognized areas of the law, such as Bankruptcy.

    53. The opened Bankruptcy folder reveals the bankruptcy subtopics, one of which is Discharge. If Sarah opens the Discharge subfolder and she will find Educational Loans.

    54. Sarah selects the All Federal Cases (ALLFEDS) database. She could click the View/Edit Full Query link to see the pre-formulated query. Notice that the query is a combination of words and key numbers. Sarah could add additional terms.

    55. This is one of the cases retrieved from the ALLFEDS database and it talks about discharging student loans on the basis of hardship. There is also a reference to the discharge statute.

    56. CONTENTS Introduction The Legislative Process Anatomy of a Statute Statutory research: Print and Online Updating Statutory Research Expanding Statutory Research KeyCiteŽ Case Law (Annotations) Legislative History Secondary Sources

    57. UPDATING STATUTORY RESEARCH: VERIFYING THAT STATUTE IS CURRENT Sarah has found the statute and interpreting case law that says that student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy. She has found cases that state the only exception is on the basis of undue hardship. What if the statute has been recently amended or repealed or case interpretation of the statute has changed?

    58. UPDATING STATUTORY RESEARCH: OFFICIAL PRINT UPDATES Print updates Slip laws are individually printed and sent to all U.S. government depository libraries. The Statutes at Large is the earliest official compilation of all laws passed at the end of each session of Congress. Published in chronological order No general index Publication lags about two years behind the enactment of the public laws

    59. U. S. Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN) issues monthly pamphlets. After each session, the monthly USCCAN pamphlets are reissued in a bound volume. Laws are in the US-PL (United States Public Laws) database on Westlaw within hours of passage. XX-LEGIS is the identifier for the state session law databases on Westlaw. State laws go online as soon as they are received by West. UPDATING STATUTORY RESEARCH: PRINT & WESTLAW CURRENCY

    60. Always check in the following print publications to determine current law: Cumulative pocket parts Interim pamphlets and statutory supplements that include the public law changes to the code and recent notes of decisions from cases that have construed the statute since the last supplement was published. UPDATING STATUTORY RESEARCH: U.S. CODE UPDATES

    61. Use KeyCite History to determine whether the statute is good law UPDATING STATUTORY RESEARCH: KEYCITE ON WESTLAW

    62. A red flag means that the statute has been Recently amended Repealed Ruled unconstitutional Preempted All or a portion of the statute may no longer be good law. UPDATING STATUTORY RESEARCH: KEYCITE ON WESTLAW

    63. Click the red flag or History on the Links for tab to see that this statute has been held unconstitutional by several courts.

    64. A yellow flag means that the statute Has pending legislation Has been renumbered Has been transferred Contains an editor’s amendment note. The statute is good law but should be monitored for changes. UPDATING STATUTORY RESEARCH: KEYCITE ON WESTLAW

    65. Click the yellow flag on the Links for tab to display this statute’s Pending Legislation. Note that you can link to the pending bills.

    66. Updating documents (recently passed public laws that have amended or repealed the statute) Pending legislation that may affect the statute Credits (citations to past public laws that have enacted, amended or renumbered a statute) Historical and statutory notes that describe the legislative changes that have affected that statute Cases that have held that the statute is unconstitutional UPDATING STATUTORY RESEARCH: KEYCITE HISTORY FOR STATUTES

    67. QUESTION A red flag on a statute can mean that the statute Has been declared unconstitutional Has pending legislation Has been amended Both 1 and 3

    68. CONTENTS Introduction The Legislative Process Anatomy of a Statute Statutory research: Print and Online Updating Statutory Research Expanding Statutory Research KeyCiteŽ Case Law (Annotations) Legislative History Secondary Sources

    69. Expanding Statutory Research KeyCite Citing References Case law that has interpreted or applied the statute Annotations (Notes of Decisions) Legislative history Secondary sources American Law Reports American Jurisprudence 2d

    70. Expanding Statutory Research: KEYCITE CITING REFERENCES

    71. KeyCite Citing References consists of citations to legal documents that discuss or mention the statute. Citing references include: Pending legislation Notes of Decisions (Annotations) Cases on Westlaw that do not appear in notes of decisions Administrative materials (includes agency decisions) Secondary sources, such as ALRŽ articles, Am Jur 2dŽ sections, law reviews, and treatises Briefs Expanding Statutory Research: USING KEYCITE

    72. 11 USCA 523 (the Exceptions to Discharge statute) has 41,791 citing references. Click the Limit KeyCite Display button near the bottom of the screen to limit the citing references to the ones of most use to you. Expanding Statutory Research: LIMITING KEYCITE CITING REFERENCES

    75. Many statutes are obscurely worded and must be interpreted by case law. Notes of Decisions (or annotations) are headnotes of cases that significantly interpret or apply the statute. Case law compares the language of the statute with the language of other statutes, reconciles language within the statute, and explores legislative history concerning the statute to discover the intent of the legislature. The language of the case law often becomes more useful for the researcher than the language of the statute. Expanding Statutory Research: NOTES OF DECISIONS

    76. Notes of decisions can be accessed by clicking the Notes of Decisions link on the Links for tab when viewing a statute. Notes of Decisions are preceded by a main index and, if needed, subdivision indexes. Each subdivision deals with one topic of interpretation of the statute by the courts. Expanding Statutory Research: NOTES OF DECISIONS

    77. Above are the Notes of Decisions for 11 USCA 523 under the Educational or Student Loan subdivision. Note the links to the full-text cases. Expanding Statutory Research: NOTES OF DECISIONS

    78. As in the online Notes of Decisions, the print Notes of Decisions are the last portion of the annotated statute format. The Notes of Decisions for some statutes may be hundreds of pages long. Expanding Statutory Research: NOTES OF DECISIONS IN PRINT

    79. Because so many statutes are obscurely worded: courts often look to the legislative history of a statute to determine the intent of the legislators. debates in Congress or congressional committees, early drafts of the bill, testimony of experts, amendments to the language of the proposed statute, etc., often reveal the intent of the legislature. Committee reports provide the most definitive evidence of legislative intent. Expanding Statutory Research: LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    80. Legislative history may include documents that exist even before a bill is enacted: Presidential recommendations. Congressional and committee hearings in sessions in which the bill was discussed but not passed. Agency memoranda. Expanding Statutory Research: EARLY LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    81. You can access Legislative History directly from the link on the Links for tab in the left frame. Click Text Amendments, also called Credits. They are the public laws that created and amended the statute. Expanding Statutory Research: LEGISLATIVE HISTORY in annotations

    82. You can also link to the Editor’s Notes, also called the Historical and Statutory Notes, that follow each USCA section. Editor’s Notes give more detailed information regarding the legislative history of the statute, including House and Senate Reports, Committee Reports and explanations of the change in language from one report or public law to the next. Expanding Statutory Research: LEGISLATIVE HISTORY in annotations

    83. Early congressional hearings and testimony can be found in several databases on Westlaw, including USTESTIMONY, USPOLTRANS, CQ-NEWS, BNA-TRACK and APN-HO. Presidential messages can be found in the PRES-DAILY, USPOLTRANS, USCCAN, BNA-PRSCAL, and CQ-NEWS databases on Westlaw. Committee Reports, the most definitive evidence of legislative intent, can be found in the LH database. Expanding Statutory Research: EARLY LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    84. Discussions/debates regarding a federal bill can be found in the Congressional Record in print and on Westlaw in the CR database United States Code Congressional & Administrative News (USCCAN) in print and in the USCCAN database on Westlaw Expanding Statutory Research: bill discussion & testimony

    85. Language of bills as they are modified in the legislative process can be found in: microfiche in government depositories, including many law libraries materials from the clerk of the legislature Congressional Record and USCCAN in print CR, USCCAN, CONG-BILLTXT, and LH federal databases on Westlaw XX-BILLTXT (where XX is state’s two-letter postal abbreviation) databases on Westlaw. Expanding Statutory Research: History of modification to bills

    86. The status of a bill can be found in: Federal materials print status tables US-BILLTRK (United States Bill Tracking) State materials XX-BILLTRK (where XX is the two-letter postal abbreviation of the state) databases on Westlaw Expanding Statutory Research: current status of a bill

    88. Secondary sources are analytical materials that comment on, explain, and analyze a wide range of legal topics. Secondary-source materials are prepared by legal experts in a non-litigious context. Most contain a detailed discussion of the legal topic. Most are carefully researched. Expanding Statutory Research: secondary sources

    89. The following are some of the secondary sources that are available in print and on Westlaw that can be used to expand your statutory research. American Law Reports (ALR) – ALR database American Jurisprudence (Am Jur 2d) – AMJUR database Law review articles – JLR (Journals and Law Reviews) database Restatements – REST databases West’s Digests – -HN is suffix for digest (headnote) databases, e.g., MN-HN, ALLFEDS-HN Expanding Statutory Research: secondary sources

    92. CONCLUSION There are many ways to approach statutory research. No one method is correct. If one method doesn’t seem to be working, try another. Still need help? Call the West Reference Attorneys at 1-800-850-WEST (9378) They are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

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