These are primarily committee reports, hearings, and debates. Committee reports and hearings are published either as separate entities or in compilations. Debates are found in the United States Congressional Record. Again, federal legislative materials are easier to find, for most states do not actively publish these materials. To locate these state materials, find out whether the state legislative branch has a legislative reference bureau or library available to you. The Law Library has the entire range of debates occurring on the floor of the House and Senate as part of the Century of Lawmaking digital collection:.
Administrative agencies serve two major functions: rule-making and adjudication or enforcement. The rules and regulations of administrative agencies and executive documents are generally published in a register and compiled in a code.
For example, federal materials are published in the Federal Register F. Decisions rendered by an agency's adjudicatory body may be published as well. If a decision or order is not published, anyone wanting a copy must contact the agency to receive it. As in searching for laws, the general subject of a regulation can be searched in the general index that a code provides. To find a rule or regulation in a register, the researcher should know the date of the final regulation or the year of enactment.
Most registers have no general index that covers all regulations currently in force. Links in the following notes will take researchers to the corresponding entries in the Library of Congress online catalog. Sources linked in previous note sections will not be re-linked. Search this Guide Search. American Women: Resources from the Law Library. Types of Law and Jurisdiction Once you have become familiar with a legal topic from reading an overview of it in a legal encyclopedia, treatise, or other secondary source, you will likely want to explore it further in a host of primary legal sources.
Although the term law is often used generically, there are three major categories of law, each of which is described more fully in the following subsections of this research methodology: Case law or Common law - created by a judicial body, such as the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals or the Virginia Supreme Court Statutory law - created by a legislative body, such as the U.
Congress or the State of Maryland General Assembly Regulatory law - related and enforced by an administrative body, such as the U. Department of Labor or the State of Michigan Fair Employment Practices Commission Jurisdiction Any or all of these categories might apply to any given topic relating to women. To add to the complexity, these types of laws are created by the appropriate body in each of the different jurisdictional units: federal state regional county city In other words, each jurisdictional entity has governmental bodies that create common, statutory, and regulatory law, although some legal issues are handled more often at the federal level, while other issues are the domain of the states.
Court Systems Court systems vary depending on whether they are federal or state. Statutory Law Statutory law can be found in two types of publications: compilations of statutes or codified laws. Legislative History Materials To get a clearer picture of the passage of a law, the underlying legislative intent, and any political ramifications, it is often necessary to consult legislative history materials.
Annals of Congress Formally known as The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States , cover the 1st Congress through the first session of the 18th Congress, from to The Annals were not published contemporaneously, but were compiled between and , using the best records available, primarily newspaper accounts. Speeches are paraphrased rather than presented verbatim, but the record of debate is nonetheless fuller than that available from the House and Senate Journals.
Register of Debates The Register of Debates is a record of the congressional debates of the 18th Congress, 2nd Session through the 25th Congress, 1st Session It is the second of the four series of publications containing the debates of Congress. It was preceded by the Annals of Congress and succeeded by the Congressional Globe. Congressional Globe The Globe , as it is usually called, contains the congressional debates of the 23rd through 42nd Congresses Congressional Record The Congressional Record began publication in Printed by the Government Printing Office, it is the fourth and final series of publications containing the debates of Congress.
The Record is far more comprehensive than its predecessors in reporting Congressional debates. Appendixes appear in most volumes, the earlier ones limited mainly to speeches of members. Regulatory Law Administrative agencies serve two major functions: rule-making and adjudication or enforcement.
Bankruptcy Courts Each of the 94 federal judicial districts handles bankruptcy matters, and in almost all districts, bankruptcy cases are filed in the bankruptcy court. Bankruptcy cases cannot be filed in state court. Bankruptcy laws help people who can no longer pay their creditors get a fresh start by liquidating their assets to pay their debts, or by creating a repayment plan.
Bankruptcy laws also protect troubled businesses and provide for orderly distributions to business creditors through reorganization or liquidation. The vast majority of cases are filed under the three main chapters of the Bankruptcy Code, which are Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter Courts of Special Jurisdiction These include the U. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the U. Court of Federal Claims, the U. Court of International Trade, the U. Tax Court, the U. Depending on the dispute or crime, some cases end up in the federal courts and some end up in state courts.
Learn more about the different types of federal courts. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States. Article III of the U. Constitution created the Supreme Court and authorized Congress to pass laws establishing a system of lower courts. Learn more about the Supreme Court. There are 13 appellate courts that sit below the U.
Supreme Court, and they are called the U. Courts of Appeals. The 94 federal judicial districts are organized into 12 regional circuits, each of which has a court of appeals.
Appeals courts consist of three judges and do not use a jury. A court of appeals hears challenges to district court decisions from courts located within its circuit, as well as appeals from decisions of federal administrative agencies. In addition, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals in specialized cases, such as those involving patent laws, and cases decided by the U.
Court of International Trade and the U. Court of Federal Claims. Learn more about the courts of appeals. Bankruptcy Appellate Panels BAPs are 3-judge panels authorized to hear appeals of bankruptcy court decisions.
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