Legal Research Ch. 7
Methods of Locating Statutes
1. Citation to a statute that you have obtained from another source (secondary source) can easily locate the statute in a print code or online. 2. If you do not have the citation, can locate statutes using either a source-driven or content driven approach. - If using source-driven approach, the first step will be deciding which jurisdiction's statutes you want to research. -Once a jurisdiction is selected, can search for statutes by subject, by words in the document, or by the name of an act. 3. Researching by subject is often a useful way to locate statutes. The index code will be organized by subject, and using an index is one of the most common subject searching techniques for statutory research. - Every code has a table of contents (print or online) 4. Word searching 5. Locating a statue by name.
Rules of procedure:
1. First, understanding the rules can be challenging. As with any other type of research, you may want to locate secondary sources for commentary on the rules and citations to cases interpreting the rules to make sure you understand them. 2. Second, virtually all jurisdictions have multiple types and levels of courts, and each of these courts may have its own procedural rules. Therefore, be sure you locate the rules for the appropriate court. Determining which court is the appropriate one may require separate research into the jurisdiction of the courts 3. Third, many individual districts, circuits, or divisions of courts have local rules with which you must comply. Local rules cannot conflict with the rules of procedure published with the code, but they may add requirements that do not appear in the rules of procedure. Local rules usually are not published with the code, but you can obtain them from a number of sources, including the court itself, a secondary source such as a practice deskbook, a website, or an online database
What are the three steps when a federal law is enacted?
1. It is published as a separate document. 2. It is included in a chronological listing of all statutes passed w/n a session of Congress. 3. It is reorganized by subject matter and placed within the code.
For the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, two helpful treatises are:
1. Moore's Federal Practice 2. Wright's Miller's Federal Practice and Procedure. Note: for state procedural rules, a state "deskbook" or handbook containing practical information for lawyers practicing in the jurisdiction, may contain both the text of the rules and helpful commentary on them.
Unofficial Codes
1. Published by a commercial publisher without government authorization (ex: USCA and USCS) 2. Often Contain research references (annotations). Both USCA and USCS are annotated codes.
Official Codes
1. Published under government authority. (Ex: USC) 2. May or may not contain research references (annotations). USC is not an annotated code.
A state code can be organized in the following ways:
1. Title 2. Subject name 3. Own unique numbering systems. State statutes are typically subdivided into chapters and sections.
The federal code has ___Titles.
54, each Title is subdivided into chapters and sections.
A published code can come in one of two formats _____ or_____.
Annotated or unanotated
Westlaw
Annotations appear under tabs accompanying the code section: 1. Notes of Decisions tab (summaries of cases) 2. History tab 3. Context & Analysis tab (research references; Code of Federal Regulation for federal statutes)
Annotations follow the text of the code section: 1. History & Notes 2. Library or Research References 3. Code of Federal Regulations (for federal statutes) 4. Notes of Decision or Notes to Decisions (summaries of cases)
Lexis
Annotations follow the text of the code section: 1. History & Notes 2. Notes to Decisions (summaries of cases) 3. Research References & Practice AIDS (research references; Code of Federal Regulations for federal statutes)
You can execute a word search within ____ using the search box at the top of the screen.
Code.
A ___ will publish the laws for a jurisdiction without government authorization. This is known as an UNOFFICIAL CODE.
Commercial publisher
Code of Federal Regulations for federal statues
Contains references to administrative agency regulations implementing the statute.
Research References
Contains references to secondary sources and other materials. It may be divided into sections for digest topics, encyclopedias, law reviews, treatises and other texts, practice aids, and the like
Summaries of cases
Contains summaries of cases interpreting the statute. If the statute has been discussed in a large number of cases, this section may be divided into subject categories.
History
Contains the history of the section, including summaries of amendments. For federal statutes, public law numbers and Statutes at Large citations may appear here. This section can also refer to the legislative history of the statute
Examples of U.S.C.A. and U.S.C. citations:
Criminal statute: 18 U.S.C 1550 18 U.S.C.A. 1550
Two additional notes will help you format statutory citations properly:
First, always insert a space between the section symbol (§) and the section number. Second, when you look at the entries in Table T1 of the Bluebook, you will notice that the names of the codes are in large and small capital letters, e.g., N.Y. Penal Law. Remember that this is the type style for law review footnotes. According to Bluepages B2, you may use regular type when citing statutes in briefs and memoranda.
FastCase Caveats
First, with the exception of Fastcase, the versions of the codes available from these other online sources are usually unannotated, so you will only find the statutory text, not any additional research references. Second, it is important to check the date of any statutory material you use. Statutory compilations available online may be updated only as frequently as official print sources. If the material is not up to date, you will need to update your research.
Field Search (Westlaw)
If you want to search only the statutory language, you can execute your search in an unannotated version of the code or limit your search to words in the statute itself using a special type of search called a field search
Segment search
If you want to search only the statutory language, you can execute your search in an unannotated version of the code or to limit your search to words in the statute itself using a special type of search called a segment search
Westlaw contains annotated versions of the federal code_____
In all 50 states codes AND The District of Columbia code.
Notes of Decisions, History, and Context & Analysis Tabs
Information from the annotations appears under the Notes of Decisions, History, and Context & Analysis tabs. The Notes of Decisions tab contains brief summaries of the most important cases that have analyzed the statute. The History tab lists amendments and other legislative actions affecting the statute, along with legislative p. 155history documents if they are available.
Codes are published by ____.
Jurisdiction, each jurisdiction that enacts statutes collects them in its own code.
Bloomberg Law
Menu options accompanying the code section: 1. Smart Code (list of cases containing citations to the code section.) 2. Related Content (administrative materials for selected federal statutes only.)
An ____ is when a government arranges for the publication of its laws.
Official code
Pocket parts are published only ___a year. Statutes can be amended and cases interpreting a statute can be decided at ___.
Once, any time
The index to a code is an _____.
Ordinary subject index
The index to the code may include entries for acts known by their _____.
Popular names
Currentness link
Tells you the date through which the statute has been updated.
The Citing Decisions (Shepard) / Other Citing Sources
The Citing Decisions section lists cases that have cited the statute, and the Other Citing Sources section contains references to statutory annotations, law review articles, treatises, and other forms of authority that have cited the statute. You can limit the display p. 162to focus on the information most relevant to your research, and you can monitor a statutory Shepard's entry with Shepard's Alert
Citing References
The Citing References tabs contain the KeyCite information for the statute. The Citing References tab lists every case or other source that has cited the statute. Because KeyCite's Citing References list is comprehensive, everything under Notes of Decisions and Context & Analysis will also appear under Citing References, but the reverse is not true. You may find the presentation of the material in Notes of Decisions and Context & Analysis easier to use.
Context & Analysis tab
The Context & Analysis tab lists secondary sources and other research references that refer to the statute
Who publishes the United States Code, which contains all federal statutes?
The Federal government, statutes for each state are published in individual state codes. Many state codes contain the text of the state constitution and the U.S. Constitution.
In the Tools and Resources section on the right, you will see additional search options, including the following:
The Find Template displays a list of templates you can use to retrieve statutory citations. You do not have to choose a statutory database to retrieve a statute from its citation, but the template may be useful if you are unsure about the citation form for statutes from a particular jurisdiction. The code's Index allows you to search the code's subject index just as you would if you were researching in print. The index entries p. 157will refer you to statutory provisions. This is a good research option when you want to search by subject because the index is organized around concepts instead of individual terms in a document and contains cross-references to related terms and concepts. The Popular Name Table lists laws by their popular names. Choosing the Popular Name Table option displays an alphabetical list of acts by their popular names. The link to an act's popular name will retrieve an entry listing the Title(s) and section(s) where the act is codified. When you know the popular name of a statute but do not have its citation, this is a good research option.
History Tab (Shepard)
The History section shows the history of the statute, indicating, for example, whether the statute has been amended
What is the Uniform Law Commission?
The ULA set is organized like an annotated code. It contains the text of the uniform law or model act and annotations summarizing cases from jurisdictions that have adopted the statute. It also provides commentary that can help you interpret the statute
The abbreviation "et seq." means...
The abbreviation "et seq." means that the index is referring to a series of sections beginning with the section listed; often, this will be a reference to an entire chapter within the code. The index also contains cross-references to other subjects relevant to the topic.
Popular Name
The code may also contain a separate alphabetical list or table of acts by popular name. The popular name table will tell you where the act is codified. Remember that when a law is passed by a legislature, it may affect many different areas of the law and, therefore, may be codified in many different places within the code. Thus, the popular name table may refer you to a number of different areas within the code. For many well-known statutes, however, the popular name table is an efficient way to locate the law within the code
The easiest way to research a statutory scheme is to use _____to identify related code provisions.
The statutory outline or table of contents
What is one way to find procedural rules?
Through the applicable code.
In a citation to a Title code, you will ordinarily give the:
Title number, the abbreviated name of the code, the section symbol, the section number, and, if required, a parenthetical containing information about the source you are citing.
The federal code is organized into ____. Each ____covers a difference subject area.
Title, title
T/F - A code is a subject matter compilation. A statutory code is arranged by subject area. Each subject area is then subdivided into smaller units. A section is the smallest individual unit of a code.
True
T/F - Annotated must include the name of the publisher (McKinney) in the parenthetical. The parenthetical also identifies the source (Westlaw or Westlaw Edge), along with information about the database's currency.
True
T/F - Bloomberg Law provides access to unofficial versions of the federal code, all 50 state codes, and the District of Columbia code
True
T/F - Both the slip law and session law versions of a statute should be IDENTICAL. The only difference is the form of publication.
True
T/F - In Westlaw, word searching is useful when you are searching for unique terms that are not likely to be included in the statutory index or table of contents
True
T/F - In lexis, the organization of the results of a statutory search is usually by relevance.
True
T/F - Index searching is available for only a few states. Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute site offers a popular name table for the United States Code. The Appendix lists websites that may be useful for statutory research. In addition, court rules of procedure, including local court rules, are often available on court websites. If the code or rules of procedure you need to research are available and up to date online, this can be an economical alternative to research with a commercial service.
True
T/F - Lexis offers several search options for statutory research. If you know you want to research statutes, you should use a source-driven strategy to search within a statutory database
True
T/F - Research using a subject-matter index is appropriate when you know the subject you want to research but do not know the exact statute you need to find
True
T/F - Statues enacted by a legislature are organized by subject matter into what is called a "CODE."
True
T/F - Table of contents searching is a good option when you are familiar enough with the code to know which subject areas are likely to contain relevant statutes but do not have specific statutory citations. It is also an excellent feature for viewing an entire statutory scheme
True
T/F - The KeyCite (Westlaw) entry will often contain more information because it lists every case that has cited the statute and may be more up to date than the statutory annotations
True
T/F - The date of the code is optional in a citation to a federal statute presently in force, and an official code citation does not require publisher information
True
T/F - The display for an individual code section begins with a heading containing, among other things, the citation for the section and a notation with the date through which it is updated
True
T/F - The pieces of the bill are reorganization according to the difference subjects they cover, and they are placed by subject, or codified, within the federal code.
True
T/F - To execute a content-driven search, use the search box at the top of the screen or select All Legal Content as your source. After you execute the search, you will have a range of options for filtering the results.
True
T/F - U.S.C. is updated differently than other print codes, including U.S.C.A. and U.S.C.S. The index and main volumes of the code are published every six years
True
T/F - United States Code (U.S.C.) is Government Official.
True
T/F - although there is only one CODE for each jurisdiction, the text of the laws may be published in more than one set of books or online databases.
True
T/F - if both official and unofficial codes are published for a jurisdiction, they will usually be organized and numbered identically. For example, all sets will be organized by subject or by Title.
True
T/F - The general rules for citing statutes can be found in Rule 14 in the ALWD Guide (7th ed.) and Bluepages B12 and Rule 12 in the Bluebook (21st ed.).
True, Citations to statutes can be broken into two components: (a) information identifying the code and code section; and (b) parenthetical information containing the source and date.
T/F - Supplements may be cumulative or noncumulative.
True, Cumulative supplements include all available updates since the pocket part was printed. Noncumulative supplements cover a specific time period.
T/F - Westlaw will also allow you to execute a word search without first selecting a database.
True, If you use this content-driven approach, you will ordinarily want to prefilter by jurisdiction. Your search results will include many types of authority, including statutes, which you can view in the Statutes section, and the results screen will show a variety of options for filtering the search results
T/F - Table of contents searching is a good option when you are familiar enough with the code to know which subject areas are likely to contain relevant statutes but do not have specific statutory citations.
True, It is also an excellent feature for viewing an entire statutory scheme.
T/F - KeyCite information is automatically included under the History and Citing References tabs when you view a statutory provision. You can also type kc: and a citation to go directly to a statute's KeyCite entry.
True, KeyCite history lists amendments and other legislative action affecting the statute, along with legislative history documents if they are available. KeyCite citing references will list every case or other source that has cited the statute. You can monitor a statutory KeyCite entry by creating a KeyCite Alert
T/F - If the statute was enacted after the main volume was published, you will not find it in the hardcover book.
True, More recent statutes will appear in the pocket part or supplement, which are explained in the next section.
T/F - The federal code, all 50 state codes, and the District of Columbia code are available online from many sources, including commercial services such as Fastcase and Casemaker; government websites, such as the website for the House of Representatives' Office of Law Revision Counsel; or general legal research websites
True, Often these sites have search functions that will allow you to retrieve statutes using word, subject, or table of contents searches
T/F - You can retrieve a code section by citation using the search box at the top of the screen. You can execute a source-driven search for statutes by selecting a code from the Browse menu on the left or the Select Sources drop-down menu on the right side of the search box.
True, Once you identify the code you want to search, you can view the table of contents and expand the headings to view chapters and individual sections. You can execute a search within the code using the search box or check off individual sections to limit the search to those portions of the code. For the U.S. Code, the Popular Name Table is included with the table of contents. You can browse or search by popular name for federal statutes.
T/F - If you execute a word search in a database that includes an annotated version of a code, the search will retrieve documents that contain your search terms not only in the text of the statute but also in any of the annotations.
True, Sometimes this is an advantage in your research. If the statute uses technical terms that are not in your search but the research references contain your search terms, executing a search that includes the annotations can improve your search results. But sometimes searching both statutes and annotations can retrieve irrelevant results if you are trying to search only statutory language.
T/F - The pocket part or supplement is organized in the same way as the main volume
True, The pocket part or supplement will show any revisions to the statute. If there is new statutory language, the text in the pocket part or supplement supersedes the text in the main volume. In an annotated code, new research references may also be included even if the statute itself has not changed. If you find no reference to the section, the statute has not been amended, and no new research references are available
T/F - The most common way to locate statutes by subject is through an index.
True, The research process entails three steps. 1. Look up the topics you want to research in the index. 2. Locate the relevant code section(s) in the main volumes of the code, and evaluate the material in the accompanying annotations. 3. Update your research using the pocket part and any supplementary pamphlets that accompany the code.
T/F - U.S.C. (The official federal code) is an unannotated code, as are many official state codes.
True, U.S.C. And the official code for all 50 states and the District of Columbia are publicly available online.
T/F - Statutes in Bloomberg Law are not annotated, but Bloomberg Law has a search function to help you locate cases that cite a statute
True, When you view a code section, you can select SmartCode to run a search for cases that include the citation to the code section. The search retrieves every case that cites the section, not an edited selection of case summaries like those in an annotated code. Consequently, you will likely need to filter the results or change the default display order to locate the most relevant case summaries. You can also use the Strength of Discussion filter to target cases with the most discussion of the statute.
T/F - The process of using Shepard's for statutes is virtually identical to the process of using it for cases
True, You can enter a citation or access the service from a statute you are viewing. A Shepard's entry is divided into three sections: History, Citing Decisions, and Other Citing Sources
T/F - For federal statutes, your best research options are the unofficial annotated codes, U.S.C.A. and U.S.C.S.
True, You can research the official version of the code (U.S.C.) using the same techniques you would use with the annotated codes. But U.S.C. is not an annotated code, making it less useful than U.S.C.A. and U.S.C.S. as a research tool, and the print version is difficult to update, as explained below.
T/F - If you use this content-driven approach, you will ordinarily want to prefilter by jurisdiction using the drop-down menu on the right side of the search bar or the options in the Content menu.
True, Your search results will include many types of authority, including statutes, which you can view in the Statutes and Legislation section, and the results screen will show a variety of options for filtering the search results.
T/F - Westlaw and Lexis provide access to annotated state and federal codes. Bloomberg Law provides access to unofficial versions of state and federal codes.
True, although the codes in Bloomberg Law are not annotated the same way they are in Westlaw and Lexis, Bloomberg Law has search features that will allow you to find sources that have cited a code provision.
T/F - Lexis contains annotated versions of the fe
True, deral code, all 50 state codes, and the District of Columbia code. The annotated version of the federal code in Lexis is derived from U.S.C.S. For most jurisdictions, you will find court rules of procedure included with the code, and for some you will find local court rules as well.
T/F - Unofficial codes are often (but not always) annotated.
True, for example, USCA and USCS are annotated codes. Annotated codes are often available in print.
T/F - An unannotated code contains only the test of the law.
True, it may have a few references to the statutes' original public law numbers, but other than that, it will not contain research references. An annotated code is a more useful research tool than an unannotated code.
T/F - Slip law are complied together in chronological order.
True, laws organized within this chronological compilation are called session laws because they are organized according to the session of Congress during which they were enacted.
T/F - More often, a statutory scheme enacted by a legislature will be codified in a chapter or sub chapter of the code comprising multiple code sections.
True, rarely will an individual code sections viewed in isolation resolve your research question. You will need to research the entire statutory scheme to ensure that you consider all potentially applicable code sections.
T/F - Every law passed by Congress is assigned a public law number.
True, the public law number indicates that session of Congress in which the law was passed and the order in which it was passed.
T/F - An annotated code contains the text of the law, as well as different types of research references.
True, the research references may include summaries of cases or citations to secondary sources discussing a statute.
T/F - Even though statutes in Lexis are usually up to date, you may still want to use Shepard's in your research.
True, using a statutory citator ensures that your research is fully updated. In addition, a citator will provide the most complete research references because it lists every case that has cited the statute and may be more up to date than the statutory annotations.
The annotated version of the federal code in Westlaw is derived from
USCA
Uniform laws and model acts
Uniform laws and model acts are proposed statutes that can be adopted by legislatures. Technically, they are secondary sources; their provisions do not take on the force of law unless they are adopted by a legislature.
Session laws are complied in a publication called
United States Statutes at Large, a citation of this kind will tell you the volume of Statutes at Large containing the law and the page number on which the text of the law begins.
If you locate the rules through a secondary source, be sure to___
Update your research BECAUSE the rules can be amended at any time.
In a citation to a subject-matter code, you will ordinarily list the:
abbreviated name of the code, the section symbol, the section number, and a parenthetical containing the required information for the source you are citing
United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A) (unofficial) serves as a:
research tool because you will find cases, law review articles, periodical that they may mention in the annotation.
Unannotated versions of uniform laws and model acts are available online from
the Uniform Law Commission (also known as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws). Additionally, many uniform laws and model acts are published in a publication entitled Uniform Laws Annotated, Master Edition (ULA).
T/F - The index will list topics alphabetically. Next to each topic, references to code provisions will appear.
true
Word searching is useful when you are searching for _____ that are not likely to be included in the statutory index or table of contents.
unique terms
