1. Judicial and Legal Research Ryan Petersen 1

2. 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 Regulations 3. Executive Orders? 4. Judicial Interpretations (Judicial Review) State Level: 1. Statutes 2. Administrative regulations 3. Court Rulings Local Level: 1. Home Rule 2

3. Judicial and Legal Research What is the Law? Federal Level: Example: Gun Free School Zone Act of 1990 Should 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.

4. 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). LinkLink …

5. 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 Reporter 3. Federal Supplement Legal Databases 1. Lexis-Nexis 2. Westlaw 3. Legal Blogs

6. 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).