Nursing home law_v4

Introduction to the Law

Focus on Nursing Home Law

Neal R. Axton, Information Resources

Summer, 2010

Finding “The Law”

Primary Sources are “The Law”

Secondary Sources explain “The Law”

Secondary Sourcesalso known as

Legal Commentary

Three Branches of Government

Executive

Legislative

Judicial

Federalism

National

State

County

City City

State

CountyCounty

CityCity

Types & Sources of Primary Law

• Constitutions• Statutes from Congress &

Legislature• Common Law / Case Law created

by Courts• Regulations from Administrative

Agencies

Thinking Like a Lawyer

• Jurisdiction– International–Federal–Tribal–State–County–Local

• Criminal vs. Civil• Legal vs. Equitable – Equitable remedies include

injunctions & constructive trusts

Starting your Search

• Research Plan– Where to Look•Resources: Print & Online•Legal vs. Non-Legal

• Determine jurisdiction & overlap• Multiple Branches of Government• Research Log– Searches– Results– Dead Ends

Legal Dictionaries

• Explains legal phrases

• Law sometimes uses Latin, French & even Old English phrases

• Black’s Law Dictionary

• Ballentine’s Legal Dictionary

Legal Encyclopedias

• Corpus Juris Secundum

• American Jurisprudence

• Dunnell Minnesota Digest

Legal ToolsCongress

Legislation &Statutes

Executive (President)

Veto & Signing Statements

Executive (Agencies)

Regulation &Enforcement

Judiciary

Interpretation &Gap Filling

Statutes

• Laws as enacted by Congress or Legislature

• Published:Slip Laws – individual laws

• Session Laws & Statutes at Large – chronological arrangement

• Codes – subject arrangement

Memes & Memory

• Popular Names– USA PATRIOT Act–CAN SPAM Act

– Clean Water Act– Superfund

Superfund• Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and

Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA)

• Public Law 96-510– 510th law passed by 96th Congress– Passed as House Resolution 96-773 & Senate Bill 1480

• 94 Stat. 2767 – Volume 94, Statutes at Large, page 2767

• Codified at Title 42 United States Code section 9601 et seq.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/topn/

Statutes – Federal & State

National

State

County

City City

State

CountyCounty

CityCity

Laws from the Legislature

Statutes arranged by Chapters

Chapters 144-46

Chapter 144A

Chapter 144G

Cyclical Nature of LawCongress

Delegate Power to Agency

Executive (President)

Executive Orders

Executive (Agencies)

Implement Congress’ Vision

Judiciary

Ensure Agencies do not exceed

authority

Executive Branch DocumentationCongress

Legislation &Codification

Executive (President)

Executive Orders

Executive (Agencies)

Rule-Making

Judiciary

Injunctions& Invalidation

Federal & State Register• Newspaper of the Government• 5 days per week• Print and Online• Preamble and Regulation (aka Rule)– Link to Website becoming Common

• Regulatory History and Intent• Proposed Rule• 60 days to comment• Final Rule

Informal Rule-making Process•Proposed Rule

•Comment Period

•Final Rule

Subject Arrangement: Codification

• Final Rules = Power of Law

• Notice to Industry, Citizens, Counsel

• Minnesota Compilation of Final Rules–Minnesota Rules

• Federal Compilation of Final Rules–Code of Federal Regulations

Minnesota Rules

Regulations – Federal & State

National

State

County

City City

State

CountyCounty

CityCity

Free and Current!

Regulatory Agenda

• What do agencies plan to regulate in the next six months• What regulations need updated• Notice • Fair Warning to Counsel

Federal Regulatory Agenda

Executive Branch DocumentationCongress

Legislation &Codification

Executive (President)

Executive Orders

Executive (Agencies)

Rule-Making

Judiciary

Injunctions& Invalidation

Executive Orders in the Code of Federal Regulations

• Published for current year ONLY• Title 3 of CFR• Historically in Federal Register• Collections of Presidential Papers• My favorite site for Executive Orders: http://www.archives.gov/federal-

register/executive-orders/

or http://bit.ly/1BsbGa

Browse and Update!

Currency

Recent Executive Orders

Federal Register

Cyclical Nature of LawCongress

Delegate Power to Agency

Executive (President)

Executive Orders

Executive (Agencies)

Formal & Informal

Rule-Making

Judiciary

Interpret the Law

Hold Agencies Accountable

Case Law Research

• Reporters – contains the text judicial opinions

• Digests – subject access to cases

• Law Reviews – Legal Articles

• Treatises – Book Length Treatment

Case Citations

• Use Case Citation to find Case

• Example:

Kroschel v. City of Afton, 524 N.W.2d

719 (Minn. 1994)

Parts of a Judicial Decision

• Parties• Docket Number• Dates Argued & Decided• Attorneys & Judges• Synopsis• Headnotes• Text of Decision

Questions or Comments

Neal.Axton@wmitchell.edu

Reference@wmitchell.edu