American Law and Legal Research Class Four May 19, 2011 Jennifer Allison, Research Services Librarian Pepperdine Law School Library © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Review The United States Constitution Our most important legal document Defines structure of the federal government (3 branches) and guarantees individual rights Case law: aids in understanding how the Constitution guarantees rights © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Review For those who sent me their case briefs … excellent job! I hope my comments were helpful. You can still me your brief if you haven’t yet, and I will send you comments on it. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Review A few tips… In the FACTS section, make sure you include some information about what happened in the lower court. That way, you will be prepared if the professor asks you about it (which he or she probably will). © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Review A few tips… It’s a good idea to mention, by name, the older cases that the Court is analyzing, somewhere in your brief. Here, the Court was analyzing (and eventually overruling) its rule from Plessy v. Ferguson. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Review A few tips… If the case OVERRULES a prior Supreme Court decision, this is a big deal. The Supreme Court does not often overrule itself. So it might be a good idea to include this information in the ANALYSIS or HOLDING. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Today’s Class Introducing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Researching federal statutes Secondary sources: law reviews © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act GENDER DISCRIMINATION IS WRONG © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Let’s create a timeline of events… 1998 Lilly Ledbetter sued her former employer for violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, because she had earned less than men for doing equal work as a manager at a tire factory The Supreme Court held that Ledbetter’s lawsuit against her former employer was invalid. Why? © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act We can get the basic idea of what happened from the articles, without reading the case: A Title VII claim must be filed within 180 days of the discriminatory act by the employer. Previously, this rule was interpreted to mean that the 180- day count started over after each salary payment that violated the statute. The Supreme Court held that this interpretation of the rule was wrong. Since she did not file her claim within 180 days of the company first setting her lower salary, her claim was invalid. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act In other words… you snooze, you lose. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Let’s continue our timeline of events… 2008 Congress attempted to enact a statute that would overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. This statute failed to pass in the Senate The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which has the effect of reversing the Supreme Court’s decision in Ledbetter, was passed in both the House and the Senate, and signed into law by the new President, Barack Obama. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Summary of Events: 1.In 1998, Lilly Ledbetter sued her employer for gender-based pay discrimination under Title VII. 2.In 2007, the Supreme Court held that her claim was time- barred, because she did not file it within 180 days of her employer setting her salary lower than that of her male colleagues. 3.In 2009, Congress passed a statute that changed this legal rule, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and President Obama signed it into law. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes All of these events might make the idea of researching a statute like the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act seem overwhelming… © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes ! © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes ! Westlaw has a lot of great resources that make federal statutory research easier. However, in order to understand what we are seeing in Westlaw, we need to learn more about how federal statutes are enacted and published. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Enacting a federal statute: 1.A bill is introduced in the House or the Senate. 2.The Senate and the House debate and vote on the bill. 3.The same version of the bill is passed in both the House and the Senate. 4.The President signs the bill, and the bill becomes law. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Enacting a federal statute: 1.A bill is introduced in the House or the Senate. 2.The Senate and the House debate and vote on the bill. 3.The same version of the bill is passed in both the House and the Senate. 4.The President signs the bill, and the bill becomes law. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes After a federal statute is enacted, it is published… © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Publication of federal statutes is a two-part process… © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes First, the statute is published, in chronological order, in the United States Statutes at Large. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes At this point, the statute is assigned a public law number. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Next, the statute is codified in the United States Code. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes The United States Code contains all federal statutes currently in force. It is organized by subject. Each subject is called a “title,” and there are 50 titles altogether. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Here are some of the titles… © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Title 7: Agriculture © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Title 11: Bankruptcy © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Title 21: Food and Drugs © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Title 42: Public Health and Welfare © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Title 45: Railroads © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes There are actually multiple versions of the United States Code… © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes The “official” version of the United States Code is published by the United States government. It includes only the statutory language. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Westlaw’s version of the United States Code is called the United States Code Annotated (USCA). © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Each code section published in the USCA includes multiple parts, in this order: 1) Statutory Text 2) Historical and Statutory Notes 3) Law Review Commentaries 4) Library and Research References 5) Notes of Decisions (related cases) © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Why is the Westlaw version called the “annotated” code? © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes The information beyond the statutory text refers to other sources that define or explain the statutory text, including journal articles and cases. These references are called “annotations.” © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Now that we know more about the U.S. Code, we are ready to take a look at it in Westlaw. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Let’s go back to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act… © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes We only know the statute by its popular name at this point. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes In the directory, under U.S. Federal Materials, click Statutes. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes To find a statute by name, use the Popular Names Table. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Legal citation for this statute: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, Pub. L , 123 Stat. 5 (2009). © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Legal citation for this statute: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, Pub. L , 123 Stat. 5 (2009). This is the statute’s public law number. It means it was the second law enacted by the 111th Congress. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Legal citation for this statute: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, Pub. L , 123 Stat. 5 (2009). This statute was published in volume 123 of the Statutes at Large, beginning on page 5. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes This screen shows the text of the statute, as it was passed and published in the Statutes at Large. It also shows where this statute is codified in the United States Code. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Where this statute is codified: Multiple sections of Title 29 of the United States Code: § 626 § 633a § 794a © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Title 29: Labor © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Where this statute is codified: Multiple sections of Title 42 of the United States Code: § 2000a NOTE § 2000e-5 NOTE § 2000e-16 © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Title 42: Public Health and Welfare © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes Why is this statute codified in two different titles of the United States Code? © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes This act amends (changes) several other statutes that are already in force and codified in the United States Code, including: Civil Rights Act of 1964 (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 2000) Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (codified at 29 U.S.C. § 626) © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes If we go back to the Popular Names table page, we can also find a link to 42 U.S.C.A. § 2000a. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes If we scroll down from here… © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes …we see a list of links to law review articles related to this section of the United States Code. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes However, look at the article dates… © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes While these articles might help us understand 42 U.S.C.A. § 2000a as it was in the past… © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Researching Federal Statutes …they’re all too old to discuss the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which was enacted in © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Secondary Sources: Law Reviews However, we can search for analysis of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in Westlaw’s Law Reviews database. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Secondary Sources: Law Reviews © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Secondary Sources: Law Reviews © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Secondary Sources: Law Reviews Use the Fields option to search for articles that have “Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act” in their titles first… © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Secondary Sources: Law Reviews © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Secondary Sources: Law Reviews © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Secondary Sources: Law Reviews If you want more articles, then you can search the entire text of all the articles in the database… © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Secondary Sources: Law Reviews © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Secondary Sources: Law Reviews Why are law review articles so helpful, anyway? © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Secondary Sources: Law Reviews Law review articles provide more legal analysis than newspaper articles. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Secondary Sources: Law Reviews They also include a lot of footnotes. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Secondary Sources: Law Reviews In Westlaw, footnotes in law review articles include hyperlinks to cited cases, statutes, and other articles. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Secondary Sources: Law Reviews We can follow the link in the article to the Supreme Court’s opinion in the Ledbetter case. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Secondary Sources: Law Reviews Of course, this case is no longer good law. As we know, the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act invalidated it. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Review Articles from newspapers like the New York Times can provide good general information about important American laws and cases. If you need to find a statute and you don’t have the citation, look in the USCA Popular Names Table in Westlaw. Law review articles provide in-depth information about a legal topic in pages, with citations to primary sources in footnotes. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Questions?

Final Exam Tomorrow morning, I will upload the final exam to my website. You will read a case, brief it, and answer a question about it. When you finish the exam, send it to me by , no later than next Monday (May 23). I will send you personal feedback on your exam by the end of next week. © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Upcoming Events I will be giving a Westlaw training class next Monday (May 23), beginning at 4pm, in German, here in the CIP-POOL. If you are interested, please join us! © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Upcoming Events I will also be giving a training class for HeinOnline, another American legal database. This class will either take place on Monday, May 30 at 10am, or Tuesday, May 31 at 2pm. Please with your preferred time if you are interested in © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Conclusion For the students who will study in the U.S., please contact me if you have questions while you are there: Office Phone Number: © 2011 Jennifer Allison

Conclusion Thank you all for a great class! © 2011 Jennifer Allison