Legislative Process: Four Fundamental Ideas; Legislative Institutions; Processing Bills; Legislative Advocacy; Making a Bill; Ideas for Legislation; Bill Drafting; Perspectives on Legislative Power; Legislative Policy Making; Running Government; Limitations on Power; Struggle for Legislative Power; Impact of Constitutions: Constitutional Tests of Legislation; Constitutional Rules Aimed at Legislatures; Statutory Interpretation: Fundamentals of Statutory Interpretation; Lawmaking Roles of Courts and Legislatures.
This Second Edition blends recent developments with the basic, foundational materials the authors view as crucial to an understanding of the legislative process & the interpretation of statutes. The book retains the basic structure of the first edition, but has been reorganized & expanded to take account of the developments of the 1980?s, as well as to provide more focus on issues common to state statutes. This coursebook contains several approaches that have been found useful in conveying the legislature?s role in shaping the law. The use of political science materials & also of case studies is not necessarily novel. Those trained in law have learned to use appellate cases effectively for teaching certain kinds of legal analysis. Unfortunately, vehicles of equivalent utility have not yet been fully developed to teach the legislative process. This book contains some materials that are in an evolutionary stage of development, & these materials are intended as a contribution towards efforts to develop such instruments.
People are generally aware that legislation is introduced through Bills that are sent to the legislature, usually by the executive, and then passed into law. Few, however, are familiar with the processes that precede the submission of a Bill to the legislature. In fact, what eventually comes to the legislature is the product of long, often laborious processes, which go on for weeks, months and even years. To ensure that the civil servants and others who may be involved in shaping proposals are able to candidly express their views on policies that are being developed and refined, the deliberations on the executive side of government traditionally take place in secrecy. Mainly for that reason, the processes are not well known to the general public and even to some activists who lobby for or against legislation. This book, written by a lawyer who has long experience participating in these processes, gives rare insight into how legislative proposals are conceived, developed and finally written into the law. It also contains easy-to- understand technical information that explains the significance of certain features of statutes. Further, it deals with other matters that follow after enactment including publication, entry into force, application and much more.
This casebook is designed for a class on legislation, statutory interpretation, and regulation. It uses a combination of highly edited cases and problems to help students explore the practice of these three areas of law, with a strong emphasis on statutory interpretation. The book begins by introducing the legislative process, moves to explore in detail statutory interpretation, and ends with an introduction to the administrative state. After reading this text, students should understand how statutes are enacted and interpreted, the role that agencies play both in regulating and in interpreting statutes, and the breadth of arguments that are available to lawyers that master this topic.
Once again, expert authors Mikva and Lane draw on their considerable experience to explore and explain the legislative institutions and processes of the United States. Legislative Process, Second Edition, offers a current and comprehensive examination about the realities of how law is made. Here are just a few reasons why so many of your colleagues choose this distinctive casebook: extraordinary authorship, Abner J. Mikva is a former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals, a five-term Congressman, and Counsel To The President during the Clinton Administration. Eric Lane has extensive experience with both state and local legislatures effective use of primary materials, including bills and statutes, committee reports and debates, legislative rules, Constitutional provisions and legislative authorities, and cases practical and process-oriented approach shows students what happens, plus how it happens, step-by-step historical focus gives context To The topics and perspective to current legislative enactments a statutory paperback from the same authors is also available Completely revised for its Second Edition, The casebook now covers: new limits to Congress' commerce clause power an enhanced discussion of what documents evidence the enactment of statutory law the continuing debate over statutory construction the end of the term limit movement the New Lobbying Disclosure Act and campaign finance proposals equal protection jurisprudence to limit the reach of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 major new cases US v. Morrison (Violence Against Women Act), Hunt v. Cromartie (voting rights), US Term Limits v. Thornton and Cook v. Gralike (congressional term limits), Colorado Federal Campaign Committee cases (limits on First Amendment), and Clinton v. New York (balanced budget bill)
This new 8th edition of Constitutional Law in a Nutshell serves as an updated guide and summary of constitutional law. Expert authors summarize judicial review and its limits, national legislative powers, state power in American federalism, Congress and the executive power, due process of law, equal protection, freedom of expression and religion, state action, and controversial Supreme Court cases. For example, this edition features the opinions of the Justices of the Supreme Court opinions in the Affordable Care Act decision, National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012). This edition discusses the impact of the decision on the law concerning the Taxing Power, the Spending Clause and the Commerce Clause. Also, highlighted are extensive case discussions illustrating the Supreme Court's continuing focus on the First Amendment. These cases include the funeral picketing case, Snyder v. Phelps (2011), the dog fight video case, United States v. Stevens (2010), the video games case, Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (2011) and a case dealing with the conflict between freedom of expression and national security, Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project (2010). In short, landmark Supreme Court cases, past and present, in these and other areas of constitutional law are presented in a concise, comprehensive readable and informative way.
Serving as both a text for beginning law students and a reference for experienced researchers, Legal Research in a Nutshell provides an overview of basic research methods. The expert authors discuss case law, statutes, secondary sources, and other research tools; they also analyze resources in more specialized areas, such as legislative history and administrative law. Completely updated with dozens of new Web addresses and 20 percent more illustrations of print and electronic sources, this comprehensive guide explains the investigative process using online databases, CD-ROM, and Internet resources, including free and commercial internet sites. Discussion also includes international and comparative law materials, as well as business and interdisciplinary research.
