Research Guides: Environmental Science &amp; Management Research Guide: Overview of Legal Research

The Law and Its Components

The "law" is defined as a body of rules of societal conduct that is created and enforced by an authority, e.g., an established government. In the United States it is a mosaic of federal and state constitutions, legislation enacted by federal and state governments, treaties, federal and state court decisions, administrative agency regulations, executive orders and local ordinances. This mosaic can be grouped into the following three major components:

1. Statutory Law -- federal and state statutes and constitutions as passed by legislative bodies.
2. Case Law -- decisions of courts and judicial bodies.
  
  The United States uses a "common law" system that operates under the doctrine of "precedent" orstare decisis (Latin for "let the decision stand"). This means that, as judges issue opinions in higher level courts, they establish precedent that guides the rulings of other judges in similar cases and jurisdictions. Over time these legal opinions establish, refine and clarify societal law. This creates an element of societal stability by treating similiar facts in the same way. Legal opinion may respond over time to changing societal mores or technological developments, e.g., the overruling of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) by Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans.(1954) regarding racial segregation.
3. Administrative Law -- regulations issued by governmental agencies.
  
  Agencies are sometimes given in statutory law the regulatory authority to create more detailed rules that define responsibilities and permissible actions in their areas of societal responsibility. (Here is a list of federal departments and agencies with regulatory responsibilities. The Federal Regulatory Directory (KF 5408 A15 F4) describes federal regulatory agencies and the specific statutory laws under which they derive their regulatory responsibilities. )

The Legal Process

The following sources provide a basic introduction to the legislative, judicial and regulatory process:

Legislative Process

Federal
- GOVERNMENT 101: How a Bill Becomes Law (Project Vote Smart) Four page summary of the process including a glossary of key terms.
- How Our Laws are Made (Sullivan--Parliamentarian, U.S. House of Representatives) 2007. Comprehensive introduction to the federal legislative process.
- How Federal Laws are Made (Want Publishing) 1984 (ref KF 4945 Z9 H68 1984)
- How Laws are Made (Ben's Guide to U.S. Government) Simple introduction to the federal legislative process.
California
- California's Legislature (California State Legislature) Biennial (print copy available in CalDocs L525 H5b) Topics include California's historical background, the California Constitution, elections, the executive branch (governor, lieutenant governor, and other state officers), the judicial branch, legislative sessions, legislative districts, and the legislative process.
- Glossary of Legislative Terms (California State Legislature)
- How a Bill Becomes a Law (flowchart) and Overview of Legislative Process (text) (Legislative Council of California) Explanation of the legislative process in California.
- Lifecycle of a Bill (California State Capitol Museum) Includes interactive chart.
- The Legislative Process: a Citizen's Guide to Participation (Governor's Office of Planning and Research) Provides advice on how the California legislative process works; how to appropriately lobby members of the Legislature on issues and bills, both in person and through writing and telephone; how to read actual bill text; and the specific mechanics of how a bill goes from concept to law.

Judicial Process

Federal
- Understanding the Federal Courts (Administrative Office of the United States Courts) Provides an introduction to the federal judicial system, its organization, and its relationship to the legislative and executive branches of the government.
California
- Overview of the California State Court System (Santa Clara Superior Court)

Regulatory Process

Federal
- Administrative Law Research (West's Instructional Aid Series) PowerPoint presentation covers the federal rulemaking process and sources for federal regulations.
- The Federal Register: What It Is and How to Use It Tutorial (National Archives and Records Administration) (An older print edition is available in Docs AE 2.108: F31/2 Legal Alcove) Includes an introduction to the federal rulemaking process and sources for federal regulations. See also the Parallel Codification of Legislation and Regulations which is excerpted from the tutorial.
- Federal Regulations: Laws Behind the Acts (About.com Guide to U.S. Gov Info/Resources) Includes three parts--the federal rulmaking process; the type and number of regulations; and the Congressional control of regulations.
- Reg Map (General Services Administration) Chart that gives an overview of the federal rulemaking process.
- Rulemaking: how government agencies write law and make policy (Kerwin) 2003 (KF 5411 K37 2003)
California
- How to Participate in the Rulemaking Process (California Office of Administrative Law)

Legal Citation--Examples of Key Primary Sources

Statutes, regulations, and court cases are extensively cited in both primary and secondary legal sources. Legal citation uses a standardized set of abbreviations and formatting that allows one to reference them with precision so that others can find and use them. Legal Citation and Abbreviations lists a number of useful guides and dictionaries to legal citation. Following are examples of legal citations to key federal and California legal sources. (Note: the links in the following section go to the descriptions of these primary legal resources in Statutory, Case and Administrative Law: Federal & California)

Statutory Law: Pub. L. 106-67 = the 67th public law passed by the 106th Congress of the United States; 16 Stat. 217 = volume 16 of the US Statutes at Large, page 217; 20 U.S.C. 1681 = title 20 of the United States Code, section 1681; Cal. Stat., 1995, ch. 818 = Statutes of California for 1995, chapter 818; (i.e., the 818th law passed in 1995); Cal. Pub. Res. Code 342 = California Public Resources Code, section 342
Case Law: 416 U.S. 312 = volume 416 of U.S. Reports, page 312; 67 C.2nd 350 = Volume 67 of California Supreme Court Reports, Second Series, page 350
Administrative Law: 42 F.R. 32514 = volume 42 of the Federal Register, page 32514; 43 C.F.R. 3590 = title 43 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 3590; 22 C.C.R. 66261 = title 22 of the California Code of Regulations, section 66261

Citing Legal Sources

Citing and referencing case law, legislation, and regulations: Watch these 3 videos by Peter Martin (2016) in the “Basic Legal Citation” video series:

Categories of Legal Information

Similar to other scholarly areas legal materials can be divided into those that

1) contain original decisions and actions,

2) those that describe, explain or analyze them; and

3) tools to help identify them.

Primary Sources - publications which contain the original decisions and actions of legislative, judicial, and administrative bodies. See Statutory, Case and Administrative Law: Federal & California for those available through the HSU Library.

Secondary Sources - publications that describe, explain, or analyze the law. These publications are typically prepared by scholars, lawyers, and other commentators, and have no official legal authority. Examples are legal practice manuals, treatises, encyclopedias, commentaries, and law review articles. The Legal Reference Resources page lists important general sources available through the HSU Library. This Legal Research Guide also contains tabs listing sources in more specialized fields.

Finding Tools - these facilitate access to primary and secondary sources of law and include literature databases, digests, and citators.

When starting legal research it is best to begin with secondary sources (legal practice manuals, treatises, encyclopedias, commentaries, and law review articles) that provide a broader overview on a topic and cite key laws, cases and regulations. See Legal Reference Resources for databases that index secondary sources.

Finding Legislative History

Guide to finding legislative history and primary documents by Library of Congress