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Category Archives: Legislative History

In Custodia Legis Free Webinar Honeypot

22 Sunday Nov 2020

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Case of First Impression, Federal Law, Legislative History, Library of Congress, Research, U.S. Government

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Federal Statutory Research, In Custodia Legis, Margaret Wood

December 2020 US Law Webinars: These Are a Few of My Favorite Things, by Margaret Wood, In Custodia Legis, Law Librarians of Congress

https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2020/11/december-2020-us-law-webinars-these-are-a-few-of-my-favorite-things/?loclr=eaiclb

A CLE honeypot for those who need CLE credits to maintain bar requirements or professional paralegal designations or who simply want to improve their legal research skills. In Custodia Legis, Law Librarians of Congress, is now giving free one-hour webinars. On December 10, 2020, sign up for a review of the U.S. Code and Statutes at Large. In February, there will be a webinar on case law.

If you are asking yourself why on earth would I need to know anything about the Statutes at Large, or do not know what it is, here is a refresher: https://bit.ly/35TKW0f. If you ever have had to research the legislative intent of a federal statute, this is one of the best research tools to find it.  

I highly recommend signing up to sharpen up your research skills regardless of whether you need the CLE credits. -CCE

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Legal Research Finally Demystified.

26 Sunday Apr 2020

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Case Law, Court Rules, Federal Law, Internet, Law Journals, Law Reviews, Legal Encyclopedia, Legislative History, Mandatory Law, Primary Law, Regulations, Research, Secondary Resources, State Law, Statutes

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Eric Voight, Legal Analysis, Legal Research

Legal Research Demystified, by Eric Voight, Professor of Legal Research and Writing, Faulkner University

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3354594 (table of contents and a sample chapter)

I have a new favorite legal research textbook and reference guide for law and paralegal students — Legal Research Demystified.  In my opinion, it offers a fresh approach to finding and understanding the law. It guides a student in a logical process to research common law and statutory issues. It minimizes the chances that students will miss an important step or forget a necessary tool, such as the digest system or a citator.    

I like the way this book uses hypotheticals and visual aids, including screen captures from online databases, checklists, and charts. It does what a book on legal research should do – it shows and tells you how to do legal research rather than discussing finding research tools in a vacuum.

Everyone learns in a different way, but I think the opportunity to practice what you have learned is one of the strongest ways to teach. I was impressed to see that both students and professors have access to online exercises for each chapter using Core Knowledge for Lawyers (https://coreknowledgeforlawyers.com).

Each self-guided exercise walks students through the steps identified in the textbook and teaches them to research on Westlaw and Lexis Advance, again using visual aids, tips, and hypotheticals. As students electronically answer each question, Core Knowledge instantly provides feedback and an explanation of the right anwer.  It is my understanding that additional exercises should be available May 2020. -CCE

 

 

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Excellent Beginner’s Guide to Federal Legislative Intent.

14 Sunday Jul 2019

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Law, Legislative History, Research, Statutes

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In Custodia Legis Blog, Legal Research, Legislative Intent, Statutes at Large

Research Guides in Focus – Compiling a Federal Legislative History: A Beginner’s Guide, by Barbara Bavis, In Custodia Legis Blog

https://guides.loc.gov/legislative-history/introduction?loclr=bloglaw

You may remember the Schoolhouse Rock song, “I’m Just a Bill.” Both state and federal laws – statutes – start out as just a bill. Once the bill is passed by a state or federal legislature and signed by a governor or the President, it becomes law. If you want to be proficient in legal research, it is important to understand this process. This post is an excellent introduction to federal legislative intent and how to use it to research and interpret federal statutes, also called codes.

If you are researching a new statute, you need to know where to look. Once a statute becomes law, it is not immediately categorized into the federal code.  Instead, it is published chronologically in the Statutes at Large. (See https://www.loc.gov/law/help/statutes-at-large/.)  Statutes are “codified,” meaning categorized and published in the United States Code, anywhere from 6 weeks to a year after it became law.  The United States Code, just like state statutes, are organized alphabetically into titles and numbered consecutively, such as Title 26, Internal Revenue Code. (See http://uscode.house.gov/browse.xhtml.)

There will be situations in which you will need to research why a statute or federal code was written and passed into law. When the legal argument hinges on a particular law, we normally look to case law to see how our jurisdiction’s court, or those that would be persuasive to our court, interpreted this statute. But, if your statute is recent and no case law has yet addressed it, you must research the legislative intent to support your argument. In other words, why was the bill written, what was its purpose, and what were the reasons given when the bill was debated to pass it?

Courts apply the law to the facts of each case to decide that case’s outcome, while relying on precedent and doctrine of stare decisis. But, when no case law interpreting a law exists in your jurisdiction – a case of “first impression” – you must look elsewhere for legal authority to support your argument.  Persuasive authority, cases decided by courts from other jurisdictions, can be just that – persuasive – but they are not cases your court must follow. The legislative intent is a stronger argument on which your court can rely to make its decision.

Because the Library of Congress and other online sources have digitalized the Statutes at Large and other online resources, it is much easier to research federal legislative intent. I encourage you to look to the Library of Congress and the law librarians at In Custodia Legis Blog to help you on that journey. -CCE

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Beginner’s Guides on Researching Federal Legislative Intent.

13 Sunday Mar 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Federal Law, Legislative History, Library of Congress, Research, U.S. Government

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Barbara Bavis, In Custodia Legis, Law Librarians of Congress, Legal Research, Legislative Intent, Research Guide, Robert Brammer

Presidential Communications: A Beginner’s Guide, co-authored by Robert Brammer and Barbara Bavis, Research Guide, In Custodia Legis, Law Librarians of Congress

http://blogs.loc.gov/law/category/research-guide-2/

Please keep going after clicking on this link. The following posts are beginner’s guides to locating: (1) congressional documents; (2) a congressional committee print, (3) compiled federal legislative history; and (4) unpublished congressional hearing. Keep going – there is more. If you are interested in honing your research skills, learn how to research legislative intent at the state and federal level. -CCE

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Free Access to Federal Law and Resources.

21 Tuesday Oct 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Constitutions, Federal Law, Law Libraries, Legislation, Legislative History, Primary Law, References, Regulations, Research, Secondary Resources, State Law, Statutes, U.S. Government

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beSpacific Blog., Code of Federal Regulations, Emily Carr, Federal Register, HeinOnline, Law Library of Congress, Sabrina I. Pacifici, US Reports

Free Public Access to Federal Materials On Guide To Law Online, by Sabrina I. Pacifici, BeSpacific Blog

http://www.bespacific.com/free-public-access-federal-materials-guide-law-online/

There’s more here than you think. Executive, judicial, federal, legislative, state, legal guides, and general sources. Definitely worth a look. -CCE

[Via Emily Carr, Senior Legal Research Specialist, Library of Congress] – this posting by Ann Hemmens, legal reference librarian at the Law Library of Congress: Through an agreement with the Library of Congress, the publisher William S. Hein & Co., Inc. has generously allowed the Law Library of Congress to offer free online access to historical U.S. legal materials from HeinOnline.  These titles are available through the Library’s web portal, Guide to Law Online: U.S. Federal, and include:

  • United States Code 1925-1988 (includes content up to 1993)

  • From Guide to Law Online: United States Law

  • United States Reports v. 1-542 (1754-2004)

  • From Guide to Law Online: United States Judiciary

  • Code of Federal Regulations (1938-1995)

    • From Guide to Law Online: Executive

    • Federal Register v. 1-58 (1936-1993)\

    • From Guide to Law Online: Executive

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Cool Developments at Congress.gov, including THOMAS. Check It Out.

22 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Government, Legislation, Legislative History, References, Research, Statistics, THOMAS

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Andrew Weber, Appropriations Table, Congress.gov, Congressional Record, In Custodia Lexis: Law Librarians of Congress, Nominations, THOMAS

Nominations, Accounts, Saved Searches – Congress.gov Continues to Grow, by Andrew Weber, In Custodia Lexis: Law Librarians of Congress

http://tinyurl.com/o3zc7lt

There’s a lot of information here. Take your time, and give it a good look. I think you’ll find it worth it. -CCE

I have been looking forward to this Congress.gov release for several months.  There is now nomination information, accounts, the ability to save searches, an expanded About section, an FAQ section, easy access to Member remarks in the Congressional Record, and more.

With the new updates, you can locate nominations dating back to 1981.  The nominations section allows you to retrieve information via faceted navigation, just as you do throughout the rest of the site.

*  *  *

On THOMAS, individual accounts were a feature that the system could not support.  Now you will have the option to save your search so you can quickly run it again later.  This is especially useful for those highly complex customized queries.  Adding accounts will enable us to do new things with the system in the future.

*  *  *

The About section has been expanded with the aim of making Congress.gov more user friendly.  Also with this release, you can now access a Frequently Asked Questions section, which covers:

•Congress.gov Overview

•Learn Congress.gov and the Legislative Process

•Features, Updates and Technology (which includes a link to a page on how to embed the Congress.gov search box on your website)

•Congressional Record

•Committees

•Legislation

•THOMAS Retirement

I highlighted some of these Congress.gov enhancements during my presentation at the 2014 Legislative Data Transparency Conference.  Grant Vergottini, in his write up of the conference, stated that although it was ‘still in beta, this site has now essentially replaced the older Thomas site.’  I would have to agree.

These improvements build upon those added in February: Advanced Search, Browse, and the Appropriations Table. . . .

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Legal Research Tutorials.

05 Saturday Apr 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Administrative Law, Case Law, Legal Directories, Legal Encyclopedia, Legislation, Legislative History, Mandatory Law, Primary Law, Regulations, Research, Secondary Resources, State Law, Statutes

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Administrative Law, Bloomberg Law, Case Law, Georgetown Law Library, Legal Research, Legislative History, Secondary Resources, Statutory Law, Tutorials

Legal Research and Writing Tutorials, Georgetown Law Library

http://www.law.georgetown.edu/library/research/tutorials/lrw.cfm

This link will lead you to these tutorials. -CCE

  • Administrative Law Research Tutorial
  • Bloomberg Law Tutorials
  • Case Law Research Tutorial
  • Legislative History Research Tutorial
  • Secondary Sources Tutorial
  • Statutory Research Tutorial

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