Legislation Overview. What is Legislation? the bodies of laws enacted in a particular jurisdiction Why is it important? governs activities by public and

Legislation Overview

What is Legislation?

the bodies of laws enacted in a particular jurisdiction

Why is it important?governs activities by public and

private entities


Quick and Efficient Ways to use Lexis and Westlaw

Annotated v. Unannotated Codes – Does it really matter which you use?

Uniform Laws

Bill Tracking and Legislative History

Quick Tips on Lexis and Westlaw

• Be efficient and use the following when looking for statutes:– Popular Names Table– Boolean Searching and Locate/Find Feature– Table of Contents

This is Jerry. He has no chance in hell of being a Survivor so he has turned to coin collecting.

He wants to know more about the Liberty Coin Act, but doesn’t know where to begin.

His helpful librarian, Connie (who could be a Survivor), shows him where to look.

Popular Names Table

Popular Names Table

Popular Names Table

Text of the Statute

Westlaw Popular Names Table

Popular Names Table

Lexis Popular Names Table• search full-text of table or TOC• browse table of contents

Westlaw Popular Names Table• Contains browse feature only• Provides parallel table for Public Law

section to USC section.

Jerry reads the statute and is amazed at the detail provided on how coins are made. It practically provides instructions so that he can make the coins himself.

Knowing that he won’t win his million on Survivor, he creates a mold for the $50 gold coin and begins producing imitation pieces.

Jerry’s new line of work is short-lived. His house is raided and law enforcement officials recover the molds and thousands of counterfeit coins. One of the many charges brought against Jerry is possessing counterfeit molds for coins. Is this a viable charge and if so what is the penalty?

Keyword Searching

Locate

18 USCA §487 Making or possessing counterfeit dies for coins

Current through P.L. 109-211 approved March 24, 2006

Jerry has hired an attorney to defend him.

On the day of the raid, the police officer executing the warrant had a ride along, a community citizen accompanying him. The citizen entered Jerry’s home and it was the citizen served the warrant and found the molds, not the officer.

Jerry’s attorney believes that since the citizen entered Jerry’s home and located the molds, the search warrant is invalid. Is there a statute that supports this claim?

18 USCS §3105 Persons authorized to serve search warrant

Text of Statute



Annotated v. Unannotated Codes

Uniform Laws



• Advantages of Annotated Code– Broader search terms

• Example: gay marriage

– Annotations

• Disadvantages of Annotated Code– Can be too broad at times

• Example: search warrants

United States Code (Unannotated)

USCA (Annotated Code)




Uniform Laws


Challenge

The following are examples of what?

Ooh! I know! I know!

What are uniform laws?• Unofficial laws proposed as legislation to be

adopted by all states.

Who creates them?• National Conference of Commissioners on

Uniform State Laws

• Created over 200 uniform laws. 100 have been adopted by at least 1 state.

• Uniform Laws Annotated– Availability

• Library – Law Core KF165 .A6 1968• Westlaw - Database Identifier: ULA

– Access Points• Directory of Uniform Acts• Jurisdiction Tables• Index

– Features• Table of Jurisdictions• Historical Notes• Commission’s Notes• Law Review and Journal Commentaries• Library References – CJS, Key Number & Topic, and

Westlaw references• Court Decisions

– Updated annually with pocket parts

Where can you find Uniform Laws?

Directory of Uniform Acts

Jurisdiction Tables

Subject Index

Table of Jurisdictions

Annotations

• National Conference on Uniform State Laws http://www.nccusl.org/Update/


http://www.nccusl.org/Update/

• NCCUSL Drafts of Uniform and Model Acts http://www.law.upenn.edu/bll/ulc/ulc_frame.htm


http://www.law.upenn.edu/bll/ulc/ulc_frame.htm

Where can you find uniform laws?

• State codes for those states adopting it– Arizona Revised Statutes Index Heading:

“Uniform Laws”

Where can you find articles about uniform laws?

• LegalTrac– Subject Heading: “Uniform State Laws” or by

name of uniform law

• Index to Legal Periodicals (ILP)– Subject Heading: “Uniform Laws” or by name of

uniform law (to a lesser extent than Legaltrac)




Uniform Laws


• Documents relating to the passage or rejection of a proposed law

• Used to define legislative intent

• Can be very time consuming

• Results may be ambiguous

What is Legislative History and Bill Tracking?

•Bill (in all its variations)

•Committee hearings

•Committee reports

•Congressional debates

•Presidential approval or veto message

Components of Legislative History

Compiled Legislative Histories

•Sources of Compiled Legislative Histories

•Federal Legislative Histories: an Annotated Bibliography and Index to Officially Published Sources

•Union List of Legislative Histories

Getting Started•For Legislative History

• Identify the statute• Locate public law numbers for original enactment and pertinent amendments

•For Bill Tracking•Identify the bill number

Congressional Universe





Links to the Congressional Debates


Links to Reports and Hearings


Congressional Universe Bill Tracking




Uniform Laws
