LEGAL RESEARCH Session Laws United States Statutes At Large Laws Of Washington.

LEGAL RESEARCH

Session LawsUnited States Statutes At Large

Laws Of Washington

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Federal And State Session Laws(General)

Defined-Verbatim text of the laws as passed by a particular legislative body during a specific period of time known as a session. Publication organized chronologically (by time of passage of each law and presented in the form in which such laws were actually passed by that legislative body) Federal-United States Statutes at Large State-Laws of Washington

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Example-United States Statutes at Large, normally these are multi volume sets for each Congressional session

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Laws of Washington also are normally multi volume for each legislative session. Note the number of chapters and other information-index is in last volume

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When to use For historical purposes such as determining how a

particular industry has been regulated over the years

For litigation purposes when law suit is based on past practice but law has subsequently changed

For legal examination/evaluation purposes to see how law was previously written and the changes which were made (code does not show deleted language)

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Differences Between Codes And Session Laws Code books break up the laws that were passed and

assigns them to that portion of the code where other laws covering the same subject matter appear

Session laws are simply the laws as they were written at the time of passage, not organized by topic; displays old and new language

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United States Statutes At Large (An In-Depth Examination)

Introductory Remarks things to keep in mind Definitions

Session-a constitutionally established period of time when a legislative body can meet and pass laws Normally two sessions per legislative

body Bill-a proposed law (can originate in House

of Representatives or Senate)

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Resolution a formal expression (usually by vote) of intention, opinion or will of a legislative body. Often used to express policy sentiments. When passed by both houses of

legislature may have force of law Proclamation an official public

announcement made by a legislative body usually regarding some good cause, lacks force of law

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Public Law (P.L.)-a bill which has successfully traversed the legislative process and become law.

Public laws are those which benefit large numbers of persons, major impact

Private Law-a bill which has successfully traversed the legislative process and become law and benefits a single or small number of individuals Can include appropriation for damages or

bestowing of citizenship rights

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Organization Multi volume sets for each legislative session

(can include two or three volumes) General contents

Contents; Bills enacted into public law; List of public laws; Bills enacted into private law; List of private laws; List of resolutions; List of proclamations; Text of public laws; Text of private laws

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United States Statutes at Large

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Title Page-Note the time period covered, contents and fact there are three volumes

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Popular Name Index, Subject Matter Index (one for each volume within the set)

Contents describes what is contained in each volume (called a part) of the set covering a particular session of Congress

List of Bills Enacted Into Public Law Numeric listing of bills (H=House, S=Senate,

R=Resolution, J=Joint) followed by Public Law which enacted that bill (if bill is not listed this indicates passage failed)

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Table of Contents covers all three volumes listing number of chapters and available indices

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Bill to public law table allows researcher to determine which proposed laws passed and which failed to do so

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List of Public Laws is equivalent to a table of contents and includes Public law number (P.L.___-__)

This number represents the order in which the bill successfully traversed the legislative process and if necessary the section within the bill which was passed

Description of the law Date of passage Location in volume of verbatim text of law

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Table of Contents lists Public Law Number, provides description of legislation, passage date and page number in volume

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List of Bills Enacted Into Private Law Numeric listing of bills enacted into private law

includes bill number and private law number. These are bills primarily aimed at benefiting

individuals and can include payment of claims in lawsuits or grants of citizenship or assistance in resolving other immigration related problems.

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List Of Private Laws includes the following information Bill number Description of the legislation Date of passage Page number of location in US Statutes at Large

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List of bills enacted into private law

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Table of Contents includes private law number, description of law, date of passage and page in volume to find text

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List of Resolutions (expression of legislative thought and spirit)

List of Proclamations (legislative recognition of some good cause)

[Note] Full text of resolutions and proclamations can be found in last volume of those covering a particular legislative session Normally full text found in Volume Three

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Number of resolution, description of its purpose, date of passage and what page in volume contains full text

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Number of proclamation, description, date of passage and where in volume to find full text

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Example of text from a resolution, note Whereas sections describing what lead Congress to act

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Verbatim text of Public Laws in order of passage. Usually includes following information: Public Law Number and date of legislation’s

passage Description of the Act and its official title Actual text of the law Note information in margin which includes bill

number

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Example of a public law, includes bill number and actual text

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Popular Name Index Should law be known by a popular name

such is listed (alphabetically) along with page number.

Subject Matter Index All legislation passed by this particular

Congress are also organized alphabetically by topic (along with page number)

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Popular Name Index lists laws by their popular name, often popular name is established by the law itself

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Laws Of Washington (General)

Organization Multi volume sets for each legislative session

(normally two volumes, can be three if there is an extraordinary session)

State legislature meets annually on the second Monday in January in Olympia. In even numbered years, the legislature meets for 60 days and in the odd numbered year - the budget year - they meet for 105 days.

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If necessary, the Governor can call legislators in for a special session for a 30 day period. Legislators can call themselves into special session with a two-thirds vote of the two bodies.

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Laws of Washington

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Washington State Permits Initiatives And Referenda

Initiative process means laws can be created or changed by popular vote.

Any registered voter, acting individually or on behalf of an organization, may propose an initiative to create a new state law or to amend or repeal an existing statute.

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To place issue before people sponsor must obtain a number of legal voter signatures equal to eight (8) percent of the number of votes cast for the office of Governor at the last regular gubernatorial election.

Washington State recognizes two types of initiatives.

Initiatives to the People Initiatives to the Legislature.

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Initiatives to the People-Initiatives to the people, if certified to have sufficient signatures, are submitted for a vote of the people at the next state general election (majority vote sufficient unless gambling or lottery 60%)

Initiatives to the Legislature-if certified, are submitted to the Legislature at its regular session each January. Once submitted, the Legislature must pass the law, defeat the law or pass it in amended form.:

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Washington Law Recognizes Two Types Of Referenda

Referendum Bills - Referendum bills are proposed laws referred to the electorate by the Legislature.

Referendum Measures - Referendum measures are laws recently passed by the Legislature that are placed on the ballot because of petitions signed by voters.

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Process Any registered voter, individually or on behalf of an organization, may demand, by petition, that a law passed by the Legislature be referred to a vote of the electorate prior to its going into effect

Sponsor must circulate among voters the text of the legislative act to be referred, and obtain a number of legal voter signatures equal to four (4) percent of the number of votes cast for the office of Governor at the last regular gubernatorial election.

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A referendum certified to the ballot must receive a simple majority vote to become law (except for gambling and lottery measures which require 60 percent approval).

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Laws Of Washington (An In-Depth Examination)

General contents Laws Of Washington Cover Page, Preface/Instructions, Table Of

Contents, Text Of Passed Laws, Tables (Bill to Chapter Number, RCW Sections Affected), Subject Matter Index, History Of State Measures (Initiatives and Referenda)

Cover Page identifies legislative session and dates during which legislature met.

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Title Page includes date of session and type (regular or extraordinary)

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Preface/Instructions provides general information on how Laws of Washington can be obtained, its contents and instructions on use.

Table Of Contents includes Chapter Number-order of law’s passage Bill Number (Senate, House, Initiative) Description of Law Page Number in Laws of Washington

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Preface contains general information on the volume

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Table of Contents includes Chapter number, Bill number, what law covers and where in volume to find full text

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Text Of Law includes chapter number (order of passage of legislation); bill number description and verbatim text of the law. Entirely new sections are identified as

such Language amended out of existence is

stricken Replacement language is underlined

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Text of law written in manner it passed legislature

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Note how old language is stricken and new language underscored or identified as a new section

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Tables Bill To Chapter Number Table allows

reader to know if a bill became law by listing bills which became law in numeric order (should bill not be listed it failed to pass the legislative process)

RCW Sections Affected numeric listing of all RCW sections impacted by legislative action.

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Bill to chapter number allows researcher to know if proposed law passed or failed

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RCW Sections Affected lists all provisions of the code impacted by that session’s legislation and identifies the impacting law

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Subject Matter Index alphabetical listing by topic of all bills passed into law.Allows researcher to find text of legislation if only type of law and year of passage is known.

History Of State Measures (initiatives and Referenda) identifies all initiatives and referenda which were proposed during the year of the legislative session and their outcome.

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Subject Matter Index organizes new laws by topic and identifies their chapter number

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Information is provided on all proposed initiatives, did they qualify and if so did they pass or fail

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Session LawsThings To Remember

Used to find verbatim text of laws as passed by a legislative body

Session laws are of special use to highly regulated industries Regularly check to see if legislation governing

business has been impacted by legislative action Session laws can also be used by businesses and

organizations which propose legislation Use as a monitoring tool

LEGAL RESEARCH Session Laws United States Statutes At Large Laws Of Washington.

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Transcript of LEGAL RESEARCH Session Laws United States Statutes At Large Laws Of Washington.