Judicial and Legal Research

Ryan Petersen

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Judicial and Legal Research

What is the Law?

Federal Level: 1. Statutory Rulings (laws passed by Congress) he Power and Culture of the 2. Administrative Regulations3. Executive Orders?4. Judicial Interpretations (Judicial Review)

State Level: 1. Statutes2. Administrative regulations3. Court Rulings

Local Level:1. Home Rule

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Judicial and Legal Research

What is the Law?

Federal Level: Example: Gun Free School Zone Act of 1990Should you be able to carry a gun into a school zone? Who should prosecute such an act? The state or the federal government? On what constitutional basis would you restrict guns in a school zone?

Courts: United States v. Lopez (1995)The ruling overturned Gun Free School Zone Act of 1990.

Judicial and Legal Research

Where Can I Conduct Legal Research?

Researching statutes:

Statutes at Large: Full text of all the laws passed by Congress since its first session. The statutes

are somewhat cumbersome to use.

Citation: 104 Stat. 4844 (Volume, Statutes at large, page number).

The US Code: (USC) The US Code is organized by title sections and subsections, and page numbers.

Citation: 18 U.S.C. 922 (q)(1)(A) (title number, US Code, subsection/paragraph). Link

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Judicial and Legal Research

Where Can I Conduct Legal Research?

Researching Case Law: (Judicial Decisions)

Court Reporters (bound volumes with court opinions)1. United States Reports (US Supreme Court)2. Supreme Court Reporter3. Federal Supplement

Legal Databases1. Lexis-Nexis2. Westlaw3. Legal Blogs

Judicial and Legal Research

Where Can I Conduct Legal Research?

Researching Case Law: (Shepard’s Citations) How do you determine whether a law is still valid?

Citation: United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995) (case name, volume, court reporter, page number, year).