Transcript Administrative Law & Legislative History Research

Administrative Law &
Legislative History
Research
April 6, 2009
Learn These Terms
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Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR)
Federal Register
U.S. Government
Manual
Ohio Administrative
Code (OAC)
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Register of Ohio
Ohio Monthly Record
LexisNexis
Congressional
USCCAN
Compiled legislative
histories
Federal Administrative
Law
What Is Admin Law?
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A third source of primary law.
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The output of federal and state admin bodies.
Three Hints for Researching
1.
Know the agency, e.g. using United States
Government Manual.
2.
Read the underlying legislation. This is
really important!
3.
Monitor the agency.
Agencies Make Regulations
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Regs are published in TWO formats.
1. Federal Register
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Daily publication; chronological order
Publishes final regs and proposed regs.
Generally hard to find stuff in it
But essential for the most up-to-date regs & for updating
the CFR.
2. Code of Federal Regulations
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More accessible.
Arranged by issuing agency and subject.
Usually start here.
Where to Find the CFR?
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e-CFR, GPO Access, Lexis, Westlaw,
HeinOnline
Print version comes out quarterly.
Where to Find the Federal
Register?
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GPO Access/FDsys, Regulations.gov, Lexis,
Westlaw, HeinOnline
Print version runs about 2 weeks behind.
Two Ways to Find Regs
1.
In Annotations to US Code (USCA, USCS)
2.
By searching the CFR
Baby Food Example
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21 USCA 350a Infant formulas
Notes:
Code of Federal Regulations:
Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services--Infant formula
quality control procedures, 21 CFR Part 106.
Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services--Infant formula, 21
CFR Part 107.
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eCRF, browse to Title 21; search “infant
formula”
Updating the CFR
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Search the Federal Register; restricting to
last several days (based on CFR currency)
KeyCite your reg (not Shepard’s)
Lexis Regulatory Impact
Print: List of Sections Affected (LSA) at end
of CFR books lists page references in
Federal Register
Beyond Regs: Other Types of
Agency Materials
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Federal Agency Decisions, e.g. EEOC
decisions
Compliance Manuals, e.g. FDA
Enforcement Guidelines, e.g. USDA
Official Interpretations, IRS private letter
rulings
Ohio Administrative
Law
A Quick Comparison
Federal
Ohio
Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR)
Ohio Administrative Code
(OAC)
Federal Register
Register of Ohio (online)
or
Ohio Monthly Record
(print)
Ohio Administrative Code
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Arranged by agency and subject matter
Annotated version on Westlaw / Lexis
Unannotated version online at
http://codes.ohio.gov
Ohio Monthly Record
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Print only
Publishes new rules, proposed rules, notices
of repealed rules
Comes out …. monthly
Register of Ohio
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Online only
Publishes new rules, proposed rules, notices
of repealed rules
Great source for news rules or recent
changes – updates the OAC
Purges old records – not good for older
changes
Updating the OAC
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Register of Ohio
Regulation tracking databases in Lexis &
Westlaw
KeyCite the reg (not Shepard’s)
Federal Legislative
History
What is Legislative History?
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Figuring out what a statute “really means” by
determining the “intent” of the law makers.
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A collection of all of the documents
associated with the passage of a statute.
Top Docs
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Congressional bills
Hearings
Committee reports
Congressional debates
Presidential approval or veto
Where to Find the Docs
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CIS/LexisNexis Congressional - #1 Source
USCCAN (U.S. Code Congressional and
Administrative News)
Compiled legislative histories (e.g. USA
Patriot Act)
CIS/LexisNexis Congressional
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CIS (Congressional Information Service)
started indexing Congressional publications
in 1970.
Online, the CIS Indexes are available on
LexisNexis Congressional.
Much of LexisNexis Congressional is full-text
now, but not all.
USCCAN
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“Quick & dirty” precompiled legis history of
every enacted federal law since 1947.
Use to find especially reports – key docs.
It is not a comprehensive legislative history.
Good for the major documents.
Compiled Legislative Histories
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Let someone else do the work for you!
If you’re researching a major act, check for
these first.
e.g. USA Patriot Act: A Legislative History
Sources of Compiled Legislative Histories
Union List of Legislative Histories
Your library catalog.
Get Me More: Research Guides
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Administrative
Law
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Research Guide
Ohio Legislative
History
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Legislative
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