Ch.3 and 4: Statutory and Case Law

ratio decidendi

The reason for a decision (the binding part of a decision); the holding

common legal abbreviations

"A. or Atl. Atlantic Crim. Criminal P. Pacific (or Procedure) Ct. Court S.E. South Eastern Super. Superior S.W. South Western N.E. North Eastern C.D. Central District N.W. North Western E.D. Eastern District So. or S. Southern M.D. Middle District F. or Fed. Federal N.D. Northern District R. Rule, Rules S.D. Southern District Supp. Supplement or Support W.D. Western District App. Appellate or Appeal or Appendix J. Judge, Justice (or Journal) D. or Dist. District JJ. Judges, Justices Div. Division A.J. Associate Judge, Associate Justice Ch. Chapter or Chancery C.J. Chief Judge, Chief Justice Cl. Claims P.J. Presiding Judge Cir. Circuit L. Law Civ. Civil"

local court rules

- All of the "local" court rules of the federal courts are now available on the Internet at www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/federal-courts-public/court-website-links. - "www.washlaw.edu"

enactment of federal statutes

- Congress consists of 100 members of the Senate and 435 members of the House - The framers of the Constitution anticipated that most legislation would originate in the House. - The Constitution provides that only the House of Representatives can originate revenue-raising bills. - House also initiates appropriation bills. - Legislation can be proposed by anyone, including members of Congress, executive departments of the federal government, private individuals, or lobbyists. These individuals or groups transmit their proposals to their representative who then introduces the proposed legislation. -There are several steps in the enactment of legislation (we will assume legislation is originating in the House): •A bill, which is a proposed law, is introduced by its sponsor in Congress by being handed to the Clerk of the House or to the Speaker of the House or by being placed in a wooden box called the "hopper." •The bill is numbered. If the bill originated in the House, it will be labeled "H.R." Those bills introduced in the Senate are labeled "S.""

Final Research Steps

- Examine the historical notes, and review the research references to determine whether other sources in the library provide further information on this statute or the subject matter it discusses. Then read the case annotations carefully, and decide which cases you will read in full based on your initial reading of the brief descriptions of these cases. Finally, check the pocket part and any of the interim pamphlets or supplements to determine if the statute has been amended or repealed and to look for annotations or references to cases that have interpreted the statute subsequent to the publication of the hardbound volume. - If you have any difficulty performing statutory research, you may call either Lexis ((800) 833-9844) or West ((800) 733-2889) to receive personal assistance from reference attorneys.

Writing Strategies

- Statutes can be long and complex. To avoid having to reproduce all of a lengthy statute in your writings, say "in pertinent part New York General Business Law section 26 (McKinney 2012) provides . . . ." - If the statute supports the client's position, say so forcefully: "California Government Code section 1322 (West 2014) [requires] or [mandates] or [imposes] . . . ." - If the statute contradicts the client's position, try to shift the focus away from the statute and toward the cases interpreting the statute that may provide you with more latitude due to vague or imprecise language: "In the seminal case interpreting Indiana Code Annotated section 29-1-2-1 (West 2012), the court . . . ."

helpful books at interpreting federal rules

- West's Federal Rules Service, 3d and Federal Rules Digest, 3d, which will direct you to cases interpreting the rules. - (secondary source) Moore's Federal Practice, a set of more than 30 volumes that includes the full text of the federal civil procedure rules together with extensive commentary and analysis; and - (secondary source) Federal Practice and Procedure by Charles Alan Wright and Arthur R. Miller (often referred to as "Wright and Miller"), a more than 60-volume set of books with full coverage and analysis of all aspects of federal civil, criminal, and appellate procedure, as well as relevant forms. -Forms for use in connection with litigation in the federal courts can be found in Federal Procedural Forms, a multivolume set that provides step-by-step assistance in drafting forms (such as complaints, answers, motions for new trials, and so forth) for proceedings before federal courts and agencies. Checklists, "how to" guides, and other information make this an invaluable resource. - An alternative source for forms is Bender's Federal Practice Forms, a multivolume companion set to Moore's Federal Practice, which provides a comprehensive range of litigation forms needed by those who practice in federal courts"

features of state statutes

- constitution of the state will be contained in the code; - The statutes will be organized by subject matter so that all of the corporations' statutes are together, all of the penal statutes are together, all of the workers' compensation statutes are together, and so forth; - There will be a general index to the entire set and often each title will be separately indexed, so that after you read the last evidence statute you are given an index to all of the evidence statutes, and so forth; - The statutes are kept current by annual cumulative pocket parts, which will be placed in the back of each hardback bound volume, or by supplements placed on the shelves next to the volumes being updated; - Annotations will be provided to direct you to cases interpreting the statutes, typically through the use of a one-sentence summary of the case and its citation, similar to the arrangement and organization of annotations provided by U.S.C.A. and U.S.C.S.; - Historical notes, which explain the history and amendments to the statute, and research references, which will direct you to other sources in the law library to assist you in interpreting the statute, will typically be provided (see Figure 3-11 for a sample page of a state statute); and - Conversion tables are provided in each volume so that if a state statute has been repealed or renumbered, you will be informed of the repealing or provided with the new section number of the statute.

Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure

- govern the form and procedure for appeals from the U.S. District Court to the Court of Appeals within the federal system. - All of the major federal rules (the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, and Federal Rules of Evidence) are available on the Internet at www.uscourts.gov/Rules-policies.

internet resources

- www.congress.gov Congress.gov provides the full text of pending bills, key legislation, committee and congressional information, links to the Congressional Record, the text of historical documents, and information about the legislative process and legislators. - www.govinfo.gov GovInfo, the U.S. Government Publishing Office site, offers access to authenticated bills, public and private laws, United States Code, the U.S. Constitution, United States Statutes at Large, and various congressional documents. - http://uscode.house.gov The site for the Office of the Law Revision Counsel provides information about the United States Code, allows searching of the United States Code, and provides classification tables listing sections of the United States Code affected by new laws. - www.law.cornell.edu The site of Cornell Law School provides easy access to the U.S. Constitution and to federal statutes, including a list of titles of the United States Code, a list of federal statutes by popular names, and a form allowing rapid access to specific sections of the Code. - www.loc.gov/law/help/guide.php The Guide to Law Online, offered by the Library of Congress, provides links to the United States Code, to United States Statutes at Large, and to state sources, including statutes. - www.ncsl.org The National Conference of State Legislatures offers links to all state legislatures, their constitutions, bills, statutes, and other legislative information. - www.uscourts.gov Site offering direct links to federal courts for access to their rules.

NEVER QUOTE FROM AN ANNOTATION

.... from USCA or USCS, etc, etc

elements of a case

1. case name 2. docket 3. date of decision 4. case summary 5. headnote 6. names of counsel 7. opinion 8. decision

elements of a case

1. case name 2. docket number and deciding court 3. date of decision 4. case synopsis or summary 5. headnotes

three primary techniques you may use to locate federal statutes:

1. the descriptive word approach 2. the title/topic approach 3. and the popular name approach

publication of federal cases

1. united states reports (U.S) 2. Supreme Court Reporter (S.Ct) 3. United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition (L.Ed)

citation form

1.Federal Cases a.Cases from the U.S. Supreme Court: Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973). b.Cases from the U.S. Courts of Appeals: Drakes v. Zimski, 240 F.2d 246 (3d Cir. 2001). c.Cases from the U.S. District Courts: Allen v. Carr, 315 F. Supp. 2d 207 (W.D. Tex. 2004). 2.State Cases Local state court rules often require citation to the official report followed by a parallel citation to a regional reporter, as follows: Baker v. Dolan, 281 Mich. 114, 204 N.W.2d 909 (1995). The Bluebook requires legal professionals to follow all applicable local rules. Unless local rules require parallel citations, under The Bluebook, the citation would include only West's regional reporter and not all parallel citations, as follows: Baker v. Dolan, 204 N.W.2d 909 (Mich. 1995).

engrossed bill

A bill that has been given final approval on third reading in one chamber of the legislature.

per curiam opinion

A brief, unsigned opinion issued by the Supreme Court to explain its ruling.

Annotated Code

A code that provides, in addition to the text of the codified statutes, such information as cases that have construed the statute; law review articles that have discussed it; the procedural history of the statute (amendments or antecedents); cross-references to superseded codifications; cross-references to related statutes; and other information.

plurality opinions

A type of judicial opinion, the reasoning of which is agreed to by fewer than a majority of judges on a court; although it resolves the particular case, the opinion does not establish a binding precedent.

Statutory Supplement pamphlets

After you check the pocket part (published yearly) or softcover supplement to determine if a statute has been amended or repealed, check the _____________________ __________________ __________________(published periodically) to determine if even more recent changes have occurred

concurring opinion

An opinion that agrees with the majority in a Supreme Court ruling but differs on the reasoning.

In written projects, discuss cited cases in the past tense.

Any discussion in a project in the present tense ("the Defendant argues," "a duty is owed," "the Plaintiff appeals") will be interpreted as referring to your case, not a cited case on which you are relying

session laws

Collection of laws enacted during a particular legislative session (analogous to the USS at Large)

where to start: federal vs state statutes

If you are uncertain whether an area is governed by federal or state law, examine the federal statutes first. If the topic is not covered by federal statute, proceed to examine your state statutes

The Caselaw Access Project (CAP)

In late 2018, Harvard Law School Library and its partner, Ravel Law, launched their Caselaw Access Project, which places the entire body of published U.S. case law online for anyone to use and access for free. This five-year project digitized more than 40 million pages, covering approximately 6.5 million cases (from every volume designated as an official report of cases by a U.S. court), from 1658 until June 2018. Access http://case.law to explore the database.

United States Code Annotated

One of the unofficial publications of federal legislation arranged by subject; the annotated version by West Group.

advance sheets

Paperback pamphlets published by law book publishers weekly or monthly that contain reporter cases, including correct volume number and page number. When there are sufficient cases, they are replaced by a bound volume.

dissenting opinions

Separate opinions in which judges disagree with the conclusion reached by the majority of the court and expand on their own views about the case.

enactment of state statutes

Similar to the process of enacting federal law, much of the work in enacting state law is done by committees. When a final version of a bill is agreed upon, it will be sent to the governor of the state for signature, at which time it is referred to as a "law" or "statute" rather than a bill.

True

The Federal Reporter is the only set that reports decisions from intermediate appellate courts: True or False? -no parallel citations because of this!

True

The Federal Supplement and its second and third series and the only unofficial sets that publish US District Court cases (trial court cases): True or False

codification

The process of developing a set of books that compiles the currently valid laws on the same subject together with any amendments to those laws is referred to as ______________________

United States Statutes at Large

The official publication containing all federal laws, arranged in chronological order. - if you were asked to find all of the federal laws relating to trademarks, you might find them scattered over more than 120 volumes rather than being contained in volumes devoted solely to the topic of trademarks. - Subsequent amendments to or even a repeal of a previously passed law will not appear together with that law but will appear in the volumes relating to the session in which those amendments or repeals were enacted. That is, if a law enacted in 1990 was amended in 2000 and repealed in 2019, you would need to look at three separate volumes of United States Statutes at Large — those for 1990, 2000, and 2019 — to obtain the complete history and current status of this legislation.

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

The rules controlling procedural matters in civil trials (US district courts) brought before the federal district courts; almost all states have adopted (court rules typically refer to those local procedure)

Federal Rules Decisions

The unofficial publication from West containing cases from the federal trial courts on issues involving interpretation and application of the federal rules of court.

reverse or overturn

To annul or make void a court ruling on account of some error or irregularity.

affirm

To declare that a court ruling is valid and must stand.

Infra/Supra

When using indices for almost any set of law books, you may encounter the words infra (meaning "below") and supra (meaning "above"). These are signal terms that direct you to other pages within the index. For example, if you look up the word "tenant" in an index, you may see the instruction "See landlord, supra," meaning that you should look at the entries listed under the word "landlord" given previously in the index. The instruction "See tenant, infra," directs you to look at entries given later in the index

Federal Reporter

Where federal Circuit Court/US Court of Appeals opinions are reported

reading USCA and USCS index: 8 § 1409

You are thus directed to Title 8, Section 1409.

parallel citations

You have seen that many cases can be found in more than one place. This is because many cases are published officially and unofficially. The different citations to a case are known as parallel cites

The United States Code also includes a table, "Acts Cited by Popular Name," in a separate volume

You may also find a popular name tool at http://uscode.house.gov

majority opinion

are those written by a member of the majority after the court has reached its decision. A majority opinion is one in which more than half of the judges or justices agree. The holding, or ratio decidendi, announced in the majority opinion is the law and serves as binding authority on lower courts in that jurisdiction.

in-chambers opinion

are written by a U.S. Supreme Court Justice in his or her capacity as the Justice assigned to a circuit rather than in the capacity of writing for the majority. An in-chambers opinion is usually used to dispose of an application by a party requesting some form of interim relief, such as a temporary injunction or a stay of a judgment or order of a lower court

en banc opinions

decisions rendered in the bench; decided by all judges

vacate or annul

declare invalid

temporary laws

laws that have limiting language in the statute itself (often called "sunset clauses"), such as the following: "This law shall have no force or effect after December 31, 2021."

permanent laws

laws that remain in effect until they are expressly repealed

headnotes

mental notes made while in the field; If your examination of the headnotes reveals that headnote 6 discusses fraud, you should then examine the case and locate a boldface, bracketed "6." This [6] corresponds with and directs you to the portion of the case devoted to the discussion of fraud. Because the headnote is usually only a single sentence, you should now read this section [6] of the case in full. If this reading looks promising, you should return to the beginning of the case and read the entire case

uniform and model acts

those drafted for topics of the law in which uniformity is desirable and practical

private law

those that affect only one person or entity or a small group of persons, granting them some special benefit not afforded to the public at large. The most common private laws are those dealing with immigration or naturalization; for instance, those allowing an individual or a family to enter the United States even though the immigration quota of that country has been met. Only a handful of private laws are passed in any congressional session

public law

those that affect society as a whole, such as tax laws, laws relating to federal lands, laws relating to bankruptcy, and the like

remand

to send a case back to a lower court to be tried again

True

trial court decisions are NOT published: True or False?

conclusion

what the final decision was in the case

Federal Supplement

where federal district court opinions are reported

To obtain the exact wording of a federal statute without waiting for the hardback bound volumes of United States Statutes at Large to become available, consult the following:

•Slip Laws. The slips themselves are usually available in the more than 1,150 federal depository libraries (see Chapter 1). •United States Code Congressional and Administrative News ("USCCAN"). This monthly West publication provides the text of public laws passed during the previous month. •Congressional Representatives. Contact your congressional representative to ask for the complete text of a recently enacted law. •Lexis Advance and Westlaw. The computerized legal research systems provide access to recently enacted federal statutes. •Congress.gov. One of the best websites for legislative information is Congress.gov, provided by the Library of Congress to make federal legislation available to the public. Access www.congress.gov (see Figure 10-1). Searching may be done by keyword or bill number."

For rapid access to U.S. Supreme Court cases, use one of the following sources:

•The Supreme Court's website at www.supremecourt.gov (which will post an opinion within minutes after its release) or numerous Internet websites (see Chapter 12); or •Lexis Advance or Westlaw (which will have the full text of Supreme Court cases within hours after a decision is released)."