Table of Contents
How do you research statutes?
If you have a citation to a statute, you can use the citation information to quickly locate it in print or electronically. If you don’t have a citation, however, you may be able to find a statute by its title (e.g., “Affordable Care Act”) by using a popular name table for your jurisdiction.
How do I find the history of a statute?
1) Click a state name on the “State materials” tab (California), 2) scroll down and click “California Statutes & Court Rules” on the state’s page, and then 3) click the “Statutes Annotated – Historical” link in the right column under “Tools & Resources.”
Where can I find statutory law?
the first number represents the title containing the provision (which is written on the spine of each U.S.C. volume), the following string of letters is the abbreviation of the United States Code, and. the last number preceded by this symbol “§” represents the section of the statutory provision within that title.
Who are statutes created by?
Statutory law in the United States consists of the laws passed by the legislature. For the federal government, then, the statutory law is the acts passed by the United States Congress.
How are statutes written?
Statutes are laws written and enacted by the legislative branch of government. First, a statute is enacted as a slip law, which is printed on a single sheet or in pamphlet form. When a slip law is published, it will be assigned a Public Law Number to identify it. The Public Law Number (e.g., Pub.
What is legislative history of a statute?
Legislative History is made up of documents preceding and surrounding enactment of a law. These documents generally include bills, public laws, floor debates, committee hearings and reports, and are used to determine the legislative intent of a statute.
Which section of a statute lists public laws?
Public laws are assigned a number, the first part being the session of Congress, the second part indicating it was the nth law passed that session (e.g., Pub. L. 107-110). The second printing of a law comes as one of the session laws printed in the Statutes at Large.
What is the golden rule of statutory interpretation?
It states that if the literal rule produces an absurdity, then the court should look for another meaning of the words to avoid that absurd result. The court applied the golden rule to extend the literal wording of the statute to cover the action committed by the defendant.
What is a statutory law in legal research?
Introduction to Legal Research. Introduction. Statutory law in the United States consists of the laws passed by the legislature. For the federal government, then, the statutory law is the acts passed by the United States Congress.
What is a statute in law?
A statute is a written law enacted by a legislature. The statutes you will deal with most frequently in United States law are federal and state statutes. There are also local (i.e., city or county) statutes, usually called ordinances.
How should a statute be read?
In this pursuit, the Court follows the principle that a statute be read as a harmonious whole whenever reasonable, with separate parts being interpreted within their broader statutory context. Still, the meaning of statutory language is not always evident.
Where can I find additional information about federal and state statutes?
Our Statutory Research Tutorial has additional information about federal and state statutes. Federal laws are issued by Congress in slip law form immediately after they become law, and are made available on the web, Lexis, and Westlaw immediately after they are passed by Congress.