Chapter 3: Statutory Laws

The framers of the Constitution anticipated that most legislation would originate in the House.

True

Tax laws are an example of private law.

False

Nearly all states have modeled their own civil procedural rules after the FRCP.

True

The U.S. Congress consists of 435 members of the Senate and 100 members of the House of Representatives.

False

The U.S. House of Representatives has 31 standing or permanent committees to study bills and hold hearings.

False

37.

Pay and allowances of the Uniformed Services

In the citation, 11 U.S.C. Section 2860 (2006) what does the 2860 stand for?

Section number

7.

Agriculture

39.

Postal Service

in praesenti

at once; now

deprecate

to belittle, depreciate

burnish

to polish, shine

hapless

unlucky

oderint dum metuant

Let them hate, so long as they fear

30.

Mineral Lands and Mining

31.

Money and Finance

32.

National Guard

51.

National and Commercial Space Programs

33.

Navigation and Navigable Waters

34.

Navy

35.

Patents

36.

Patriotic Societies and Observances

In your PLG 200 text on page 56 what is the correct public law cite to the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Establishment Act of 2000.

Pub.L. 106-465

40.

Public Buildings, Property, and Works

41.

Public Contracts

43.

Public Lands

Using your PLG 200 text on page 49 what was the original Public Law Number for Title 35 U.S.C.A. Section 288?

Public Law Number 93-596

44.

Public Printing and Documents

45.

Railroads

In the citation, 11 U.S.C. Section 2860 (2006) what does the word section stand for?

Section

46.

Shipping

6. Surety Bonds

Surety Bonds

47.

Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radiotelegraphs

48.

Territories and Insular Possessions

2.

The Congress

3.

The President

42.

The Public Health and Welfare

49.

Transportation

A Mississippi statute used in a Mississippi Circuit Court would be an example of primary and mandatory authority.

True

A bill in Congress is a proposed law.

True

A bill is a proposed statute.

True

A codification of laws together on the same subject together with any amendments to those laws is called a code.

True

A hardbound volume of U.S.C.S or U.S.C.A. (or many other law books) will have a copyright date and the pocket part of U.S.C.S. or U.S.C.A (or many other law books) will have a copyright date. You should always check and make sure that the copyright date on the hardbound volume runs consecutively with the copyright date on the pocket part. For example if the copyright date on the hardbound volume is 2012 the copyright date on the pocket part should read 2013 on those law books that have pocket parts that are updated once a year.

True

A lot of private law can be found in immigration law.

True

A new edition of the United States code is published every six years (although there is usually a delay in publishing new editions).

True

A permanent law remains in effect until it is expressly repealed.

True

A private law is one that affects only one person or a small group of persons.

True

A private law is one that grants one person or a small group of persons some special benefit that is not afforded to the public at large.

True

A public law is one that affects the public generally.

True

A slip law contains only one act.

True

A slip law is a law initially published on looseleaf sheet(s) of paper.

True

A statute is a law passed by a legislative body.

True

A temporary law has limiting language in the statute itself, such as the following: "This law shall have no force or effect after June 8, 2015.

True

A temporary law has limiting language in the statute itself.

True

After the President signs a bill it is now called a "law."

True

After the President signs a bill it is then called a "statute."

True

After you check the pocket part of U.S.C.A. which is published once a year, you must check West's Statutory Supplements, which are published monthly, to determine if more recent changes have occurred.

True

After you check the pocket part of U.S.C.S which is published once a year, you must check Lexis's Cumulative Later Case And Statutory Service which is publlished three times annually and its monthly pamphlets called U.S.C.S. Advance sheets., which are published monthly, to determine if more recent changes have occurred in federal statutes.

True

All laws in the United States Statutes at Large are arranged in chronological order-namely , in the way in which they were passed by Congress.

True

All matters of evidence in the federal courts are governed by the Federal Rules of Evidence.

True

All matters relating to criminal procedure are governed by the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

True

All of our federal laws since 1789 are contained in the U.S. Statutes at Large.

True

An H.R. is used and placed on bills that originate in the U.S. House of Representatives.

True

An act is the official document that contains a statute passed by the legislature.

True

Appellate practice in the federal courts of appeal is governed by the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.

True

As each federal law is passed by Congress, it is published by the United States government Printing Office as a looseleaf unbound pamphlet or sheet of paper, referred to as a slip law.

True

At the end of each congressional session, all slip laws for that session are taken together and are published in a hardbound set of volumes called United States Statutes at Large.

True

Bankruptcy laws are an example of public law.

True

Both Lexis and Westlaw provide computerized access to recently enacted federal statutes.

True

Both U.S.C.A. and U.S.C.S. have separate volumes marked "Tables," which will convert a public law number or a United States Statutes at Large citation into a citation to U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S.

True

Both West and Lexis have help lines to help attorneys and paralegals learn to perform statutory research.

True

Both the U.S.C.A. and the U.S.C.S. contain volumes for the U.S. Constitution which will help you find annotations to actual clauses, sections, paragraphs, or amendments of the U.S. Constitution that have actually been litigated.

True

Civil law countries usually place much heavier reliance on their collections of statutes than on their much smaller collections of cases.

True

Civil law systems follow a comprehensive set of codes.

True

Congress and state legislatures are sources of statutory law.

True

Congress consists of senators, two from each state, regardless of state population and representatives based on population of the state.

True

Court rules are binding on those practicing before the court.

True

Courts are free to interpret statutes.

True

Every state in the United States except for Nebraska has a legislature divided into two chambers.

True

Failure to follow local rules in a state court may result in the rejection of documents and pleadings.

True

Federal statutes are amended frequently, so U.S.C.A. and U.S.C.S. are kept current by updating each volume annually with a cumulative pocket part.

True

Federal statutes are classified as public or private and as permanent or temporary.

True

Generally statutes govern which cases are subject to exclusive jurisdiction.

True

Hob Bryan is a member of the Mississippi Senate Constitution Committee. (Use the Mississippi Legislature link on the assignment page)

True

If a legal argument relies on or cites a case, constitution, statute, or administrative regulation that is relevant to the legal issue, it must be followed.

True

If the President vetoes a bill, it can still become a law if two-thirds of the House and two-thirds of the Senate approve it.

True

If the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate pass different versions of a bill, the bill moves to a conference committee, composed of members of the House and Senate, where any differences between the two bill versions are worked out.

True

If you don't follow local rules in a state court, your documents and pleadings may be rejected and your client's rights may be jeopardized, and your firm may be subject to a claim of legal malpractice.

True

If you find a hardbound volume of U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S (or any lawbook) with a copyright date of 1995 and a pocket part date of 2010 you know that the librarian is not doing their job and that you are about to commit malpractice and miss ten years of cases that might have come out and maybe miss a case that is key to your research and your case.

True

If you quote from annotations found in U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S. (or any set of books you are not quoting anything legal because the annotations are prepared by the commercial book publishers and not the courts.

True

If you research a legal issue and find that a state or federal statute is on point, you should then read the statute itself and then review any cases or other sources that may interpret the statute that you have found.

True

In civil actions, all federal district courts follow the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP).

True

In the U.S. House of Representatives the House Rules Committee may call for a bill to be voted on quickly if it is important.

True

It is easier to govern public behavior with statutes rather than deciding every case one at a time by a judge.

True

It is unethical to quote a case from an annotation in U.S.C.S. or U.S.C.A. (or from any annotation in any set of law books).

True

Latin for "below." Used in footnotes in lawbooks.

True

Legislation can refer to the statutes themselves that are passed by a legislature.

True

Legislation in the U.S. Congress can be proposed by anyone.

True

Legislation in the U.S. Congress is always introduced by a member of of the U.S. Congress.

True

Legislation is the process of making statutory law by the legislature.

True

Lexis and Westlaw update statutes for U.S.C.S. and U.S.C.A. almost immediately if they have been changed by Congress and offer hyperlinks to relevant cases, making statutory research using Lexis and Westlaw easy and effective.

True

Lexis's set of books for the United States Code is called United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.)

True

Most federal statutes are known by a popular name.

True

Much private law can be found in naturalization law.

True

Occasionally a softcover book, called a supplement will be placed on the shelf next to the hardbound volume of the U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S. to update it.

True

Once a bill is introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, the bill is assigned to a committee by the Speaker of the House so that it can be studied.

True

Once a state adopts a uniform law, it then becomes a state statute like any other statute and can be found in that state's code.

True

One of the worst research features of the U.S.C. is that it sends you to no cases that have been litigated under that code section.

True

Only in the most detailed research project would you consult both U.S.C.A and U.S.C.S. for statutory annotations.

True

Private laws apply to specifically named individuals or groups and have little or no permanence or general interest.

True

Public laws are also known as public statutes.

True

Session laws are also known as Statutes at Large.

True

Session laws contain both public statutes and private statutes.

True

Session laws contain many acts.

True

Slip laws for the U.S Statutes at Large may be found in any federal depository library.

True

State statutes initially appear in slip form and are then compiled in sets of books generally called session laws.

True

States may make changes and modifications to uniform laws resulting in laws that are highly similar from state to state but that are not perfectly uniform across the nation.

True

Substantive law includes common law and statutory law that define and establish legal rights and regulate behavior.

True

Supra is Latin for above.

True

Tax laws are an example of public law.

True

The "index method" is called the "index method" because you use the general index to U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S. (or any law book) and it is usually the easiest and most efficient way to locate statute.

True

The FRCP governs all trial-related matters from the commencement of an action, through the pleadings allowed, to motions and discovery practice, to the trial itself in United States District Courts.

True

The Federal Rules Service, 3d is a reporter which includes the text of the federal rules and directs you to cases that interpret the FRCP.

True

The Mississippi Code of 1972 is arranged by titles, chapters, and sections. ( You may use the Mississippi Secretary of State's website link to the Mississippi Code of 1972 to determine the answer to this question.

True

The U.S. Congress consists of 100 members of the Senate and 435 members of the House of Representatives.

True

The U.S. Congress is a bicameral (two-chamber) legislature.

True

The U.S. Constitution provides that only the House of Representatives can originate revenue-raising bills.

True

The U.S. Senate has 16 permanent or standing committees.

True

The U.S.C.A. by West and the U.S.C.S. by Lexis are essentially the same and have mostly the same material in them.

True

The U.S.C.A. will normally have more annotations listed under a federal statute than will U.S.C.S. (not in your text)

True

The U.S.C.S will occasionally have annotations that U.S.C.A. does not have and this would be a good reason to check the annotations in U.S.C.S. and U.S.C.A to make sure you have found everything that is available under a particular statute. (May not be in your text)

True

The Uniform Commercial Code is considered a major example of a uniform law.

True

The Uniform Partnership Act has been adopted in nearly all U.S. jurisdictions and relates to the formation, operation, and dissolution of partnerships.

True

The United States Code (U.S.C.) arranges all federal laws by topic or subject matter into 51 different largely alphabetically arranged categories, called titles.

True

The United States Code (U.S.C.) is an official code.

True

The United States Code (U.S.C.) is an unofficial code.

True

The United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN) is published by West Publishing Company.

True

The United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN) provides the text of public laws passed during the previous month.

True

The United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.) is an unofficial code.

True

The United States Statutes at Large, which is compiled of slip laws in chronological order, is extremely difficult to research.

True

The bills in the U.S. House of Representatives are printed by the Government Printing Office.

True

The chief function of the U.S. Congress is its lawmaking task.

True

The current codification of the United States Statutes at Large is called the United States Code.

True

The descriptive word approach is considered the simplest and most reliable way to locate federal statutes.

True

The executive branch issues regulations passed under statutes.

True

The historical notes and statutory notes in U.S.C.A. by West and U.S.C.S. by Lexis provide an overview of the history of a statute, including the Public Law number, the effective date of the statute, its citation in United States Statutes at Large, and an indication of the date(s) on which certain parts or subsections of the statute were amended, added, or deleted.

True

The legislative branch passes statutes.

True

The local rules for each federal district court and each federal circuit court may now be found online.

True

The logical progression many legal researchers will follow when given a legal research task is to first determine whether there is a state or federal statute that relates to the legal issue being researched.

True

The lower federal courts are free to enact their own more local rules of court.

True

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

True

The rules of court, also called court rules, are the laws of procedure that govern the conduct of litigation before a particular state or federal court.

True

The state session laws are analogous to the federal United States Statutes at Large.

True

The steps a bill goes through before it becomes a law is known as its legislative history.

True

There are few invariable or inflexible rules in legal research, but one of them is that you must always consult a pocket part (or supplement) if the U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S. volume you are using is updated by one.

True

There are now several online resources that will help you track pending legislation for the Congress or for the states.

True

There are three main techniques to find federal statutes: (1) the Descriptive Word Approach, (2) The Title or Topic Approach, and (3) the Popular Name Approach.`

True

To pass a bill in the U.S. Senate you only need a simple majority or 51 out of 100 votes.

True

To use the title or topic approach to research federal statutes in the U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S. you really need to be very familiar with the organization of these books

True

Under the concept of stare decisis it is not the naked statutory language that controls a given situation but a court's interpretation of that statute.

True

Uniform laws are those drafted for topics of the law in which uniformity is desirable and practical.

True

West Regional Reporters will contain a statutes table listing the statutes construed or interpreted in cases within an individual reporter volume.

True

West's set of books for the United States Code is called United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.)

True

Westlaw but not Lexis provides computerized access to recently enacted federal statutes.

True

When a final bill is sent to the President for signature; the President has ten days to sign or veto the bill.

True

When researching federal statutes you are far better off to use the commercial codes put out by West and Lexis, namely: U.S.C.A and U.S.C.S. than to use the official U.S.C. that is put out by the federal government.

True

When the President signs a bill it then may be called a law.

True

When the President signs a bill it then may be called a statute.

True

When you locate a statute that appears directly to address your research problem, you must read the cases that have interpreted the statute, because it is the judicial interpretation of a statute rather than the statute's naked language that is binding under the doctrine of stare decisis.

True

You always, always, always, always, always, always, check the pocket part of a bound volume (or any law book) of U.S.C.S. or U.S.C.A to see if it has been updated.

True

You may contact your congressman to ask for the complete text of a recently enacted law.

True

You only need to use U.S.C. to check the exact wording of a federal statute.

True

38.

Veterans' Benefits

50.

War and National Defense

n the citation, 11 U.S.C. Section 2860 (2006) what does the (2006) stand for?

Year of the U.S. Code

malediction

a curse

panacea

a remedy for all ills or difficulties

acrimony

bitterness, discord

jure divino

by divine right

recalcitrant

defiant, unapologetic

oblique

diverging from a straight line or course, not straightforward

gregarious

drawn to the company of others, sociable

tantamount

equivalent in value or significance

egregious

extremely bad

pro hac vice

for this occasion

ab initio

from the beginning

wistful

full of yearning; musingly sad

nefarious

heinously villainous

quixotic

idealistic, impractical

flagrante delicto

in the very act of committing the crime

videlicet (viz.)

it is easy to see, that is to say namely

non est factum

it is not his deed

acumen

keen insight

vapid

lacking liveliness, dull

clemency

mercy

pendens

pending

demure

quiet, modest, reserved

salient

significant, conspicuous

fatuous

silly, foolish

unctous

smooth or greasy in texture, appearance, manner

impassive

stoic, not susceptible to suffering

capricious

subject to whim, fickle

sine qua non

that without a thing cannot occur, indispensable condition or part

largess

the generous giving of lavish gifts

res gestae

things done, excited utterance

consortium

union of lots of chances, conjugal fellowship of husband and wife

eo instanti

upon the instant

animo

with intention, deposition, design, will

mala in se

wrong in itself, an act which is morally wrong

buffet

- to strike with force - an arrangement of food set out on a table

8.

Aliens and Nationality

9.

Arbitration

10.

Armed Forces

11.

Bankruptcy

12.

Banks and Banking

13.

Census

14.

Coast Guard

15.

Commerce and Trade

16.

Conservation

17.

Copyrights'

18.

Crimes and Criminal Procedures

19.

Custom Duties

20.

Education

A Nevada Statute used in a Mississippi Circuit Court would be an example of primary and mandatory authority.

False

A bill is the official document that contains a statute passed by the legislature.

False

A new edition of the United States code is published every ten years.

False

A permanent law puts a permanent fixed date on a law that tells when it will expire. Such as "This law shall have no force or effect after June 15 2015.

False

A private law is one that affects the public generally.

False

A proposed bill is a statue.

False

A public law is one that affects only one person but the law must be made public to make sure elected officials are not doing something dishonest.

False

A slip law contains two or more acts.

False

A slip law is a law that "slipped" by Congress with serious errors in it that must be quickly repealed.

False

A statute is a law passed by a judicial body.

False

A statute is a law passed by an executive body.

False

A temporary law has limiting language in the statute itself, such as the following: "The law remains in effect until it is expressly repealed."

False

A uniform law can never become a state statute since it was originally drafted by a bunch of old smart judges and lawyers who they think they know the law better than anyone else and it was not passed by the legislature.

False

All federal statutes are public laws.

False

All laws in the United States Statutes at Large are arranged in alphabetical subject matter order.

False

All of our federal laws since 1865, right after the Civil War," are contained in the U.S. Statutes at Large.

False

An act is a proposed statute.

False

Apply to specifically named individuals or groups and have little or no permanence or general interest.

False

Bankruptcy laws are an example of private law.

False

Civil law countries usually place much lighter reliance on their collections of statutes than on their much bigger collections of cases.

False

Courts are not free to interpret statutes.

False

Every state in the United States has a legislature divided into two chambers.

False

If a legal argument relies on or cites a case, constitution, statute, or administrative regulation that is relevant to the legal issue, a judge may rely on the case, constitution, regulation or statute in his discretion.

False

If the President vetoes a bill, it can still become a law if three-fourths of the House and three-fourths of the Senate approve it.

False

If the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate pass different versions of a bill, the bill moves to the President where any differences between the two bill versions are decided on by the President.

False

If you have difficulty researching in the U.S. Statutes at Large, once you go to work in a law office, you should just use the master index for the books.

False

If you research a legal issue and find that a state or federal statute is on point, you do not need to look for any other research.

False

In civil actions, all federal district courts follow the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure (MRCP).

False

In the U.S. House of Representatives the House Rules Committee may never call for a bill to be voted on quickly if it is important only the President can do that.

False

It is always safe to rely on the one-sentence annotations or descriptions of cases that are provided by U.S.C.A. and U.S.C.S rather than go to the case itself and read it.

False

It is the naked statutory language of a U.S.C. section that controls a given legal situation.

False

Latin for "above." Used in law book footnotes.

False

Legislation can not originate in the U.S. Senate.

False

Legislation in the U.S. Congress can be proposed only by Senators, Representatives, and the President.

False

Legislation in the U.S. Congress is always introduced by a member of of the U.S. Congress, the President and on rare occasions by the U.S. Supreme Court.

False

Legislation that has been signed by the President is known as a bill.

False

Lexis but not Westlaw provides computerized access to recently enacted federal statutes.

False

Lexis's set of books for the United States Code is called United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.)

False

Most states have their own constitution.

False

Neither Lexis or Westlaw provide computerized access to recently enacted federal statutes.

False

No state has a constitution since the federal government has the U.S. Constitution.

False

Once a bill is introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, the bill is assigned to a committee by the President so that it can be studied.

False

One of the best research features of the U.S.C. is all of the cases that it sends you to that have been litigated under that code section.

False

Only U.S.C.A. and not U.S.C.S. has separate volumes marked "Tables," which will convert a public law number or a United States Statutes at Large citation into a citation to U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S.

False

Only the U.S.C.S. and not the U.S.C.A. contains volumes for the U.S. Constitution which will help you find annotations to actual clauses, sections, paragraphs, or amendments of the U.S. Constitution that have actually been litigated.

False

Private laws are also known as public statutes.

False

Private statutes apply to the general public to a segment of the public and have permanence and general interest.

False

Public laws are also known as public statues.

False

Session laws contain many bills.

False

Slip laws for the U.S Statutes at Large may be found in any local library.

False

States may make no changes or modifications to uniform laws and must accept them as they are in their state for them to become law.

False

Supra is Latin for below.

False

The U.S. Congress is a unicameral legislature.

False

The U.S. States Statutes at Large are a very viable research tool for finding laws that have been passed by Congress.

False

The U.S.C.A. by West and the U.S.C.S. by Lexis are completely different sets of books and have completely different statutes in them.

False

The United States Code (U.S.C.) arranges all federal laws by topic or subject matter into 50 different largely alphabetically arranged categories, called titles.

False

The United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) is an official code.

False

The United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN) is published by Bancroft-Whitney.

False

The United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.) is an official code.

False

The United States Statutes at Large, which is compiled of slip laws in chronological order, is extremely easy for a paralegal to research.

False

The annotations found U.S.C.A. and U.S.C.S. and in nearly all law books are considered legal and acceptable to quote from because they are considered law.

False

The executive branch passes statutes.

False

The federal statutes contained in U.S.C.A. and U.S.C.S are amended so rarely, there is little use in updating them more than once every five to seven years.

False

The index method approach is considered the hardest way to locate federal statutes.

False

The judicial branch issues regulations under statutes that have been passed.

False

The judicial branch passes statutes.

False

The legislative branch issues regulations under statutes that have been passed.

False

The lower federal courts are not free to enact their own more local rules of court.

False

The popular name approach is considered the simplest and most reliable way to locate federal statutes.

False

The steps a bill goes through before it becomes a law is known as its legislative intent.

False

The title approach is considered the simplest and most reliable way to locate federal statutes.

False

There is little need to waste the time to check out the pocket part in the back of a volume of the U.S.C.S. or U.S.C.A. if you have found what you wanted in the bound part of the volume.

False

To pass a bill in the U.S. Senate you only need a two-thirds or 67 out of 100 votes.

False

Uniform state laws are statutes that cover areas of law where uniformity across state lines is deemed appropriate.

False

Very few federal statutes are known by a popular name.

False

Very few states still follow the civil procedural rules known as the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP).

False

West's set of books for the United States Code is called United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.)

False

When a bill proceeds to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives for voting the bill needs to pass by a simple majority of 435 votes out of the 869 representatives when all are present.

False

When a final bill is sent to the President for signature; the President has fourteen days to sign or veto the bill.

False

You may not contact your congressman directly anymore to ask for the complete text of a recently enacted law (slip law) due to Homeland Security precautions.

False

You never, never, never, never, never, never, check the pocket part of a bound volume (or any law book) of U.S.C.S. or U.S.C.A to see if it has been updated.

False

apply to specifically named individuals or groups and have little or no permanence or general interest.

False

4.

Flag and Seal, Seat of Government, and the States

21.

Food and Drugs

22.

Foreign Relations and Intercourse

1.

General Provisions

5.

Government Organization and Employees

23.

Highways

24.

Hospitals Asylums

25.

Indians

26.

Internal Revenue Code

27.

Intoxicating Liquors

28.

Judiciary and Judicial Procedure

29.

Labor