Sources of Law, and Youngstown Sheet & Tubes Separation of Powers Grading This discussion is worth 40 points (30 for the original

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF LAW LIBRARIES

2011

Locating the Law A Handbook for Non-Law Librarians

• Fifth Edition, Revised

P U B L I C A C C E S S T O L E G A L I N F O R M A T I O N C O M M I T T E E

©2009, 2011 Southern California Association of Law Libraries

Locating the Law A Handbook for Non-Law Librarians

Fifth edition,

Revised

Edited by June Kim

Southern California Association of Law Libraries

2011

Public Access to Legal Information (PALI) Committee,

Southern California Association

of Law Libraries

June Kim, Chair

2010-2011 COMMITTEE MEMBERS:

Joan Allen-Hart, Judy K. Davis, Catherine Deane,

Esther Eastman, Michelle Gorospe, Curtis Jones,

Jennifer Lentz, Janine Liebert

David McFadden, Patrick Meyer, and Lisa Shultz

i

Forward

The law …should surely be accessible at all times and to everyone.

–Franz Kafka The Southern California Association of Law Libraries (SCALL) Committee on Public Access to Legal Information (PALI) is charged with providing consulting services and related educational programs to public and other non-law libraries offering open access to legal information. Public access to legal information is extremely important in today’s rapidly changing legal environment. In recognition of the public’s need to know their legal rights and how statutes, administrative regulations, and judicial cases affect their lives, SCALL is pleased to present the fifth edition of Locating the Law: A Handbook for Non-Law Librarians, 2009. This publication, as each of the earlier editions pointed out, is not intended to replace a detailed legal research guide nor is it to be a substitute for the advice of a licensed attorney. Locating the Law is intended to provide basic information about California and federal legal materials: what they are, how they are organized, and how to use them. The full text of the fifth edition of Locating the Law will be available free of charge on the SCALL Web site. For economic and environmental reasons the publication will no longer be produced in print format. Additionally, the electronic only version will make updating more effective and efficient. Web site addresses have been supplied for most of the materials discussed in each chapter. Further, when Locating the Law is viewed over the Internet, readers will be able to find sources of information almost instantly by clicking on the hyperlinked text provided throughout this publication. As used in this handbook, Internet access means electronically available. When commercially available Internet services are described within, they are identified as fee-based services. As a member of SCALL for fifteen years (1992-2007) and former PALI chair, I know that previous editions of this handbook have been used by librarians both within and outside of California and have assisted paralegals, law students, legal administrative assistants, attorneys and others. The editor and authors hope the fifth edition will continue to be an important resource for locating legal information. Readers with questions, comments and suggestions for revisions may use the Contact Us link on the Locating the Law page at http://www.aallnet.org/chapter/scall/locating.htm.

LOCATING THE LAW, FIFTH EDITION

ii

With your help, the members of the PALI Committee will strive to keep this new online edition as up-to-date as possible.

October 2009

Ruth J. Hill Director of Library Services &

Associate Professor of Law Oliver B. Spellman Law Library

Southern University Law Center 56 Roosevelt Steptoe Drive

Baton Rouge, LA 70813

iii

Preface

The Southern California Association of Law Libraries (SCALL) Committee on Public Access to Legal Information (PALI) is pleased to present the revised fifth edition of Locating of Law: A Handbook for Non-Law Librarians. The revision of the fifth edition of Locating the Law was completed in November 2011. Because most of the edits involved updating links or deleting obsolete resources, the Committee decided that this version of Locating the Law did not include enough substantive changes to qualify as a new edition. A couple of changes, however, do merit a mention here. New PALI member Janine Liebert suggested several new titles to add to Chapter 10: Bibliography of Self-Help Resources. In addition, the list of common abbreviations in law previously included at the end of Chapter 2: How to Read a Legal Citation is now Appendix B. We hope that providing this handy list in its new location as a separate appendix will make it more accessible to researchers. I would like to thank the PALI members who updated the 2009 versions of their chapters: David McFadden, Joan Allen-Hart, Patrick Meyer, Lisa Schultz, Jennifer Lentz, and Esther Eastman. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance provided by Judy K. Davis and several new members of PALI, Catherine Deane, Michelle Gorospe, Curtis Jones and Janine Liebert. Also, PALI thanks Ramon Barajas for his technical assistance. On behalf of the 2010-2011 Committee on Public Access to Legal Information, I hope that the revised fifth edition of Locating the Law will be a useful resource to public librarians in California and elsewhere.

November 2011

June Kim Chair, Public Access to Legal Information Committee (2010-2011)

Southern California Association of Law Libraries

LOCATING THE LAW, FIFTH EDITION, 2011

iv

v

Acknowledgments

The 2008-2009 Public Access to Legal Information (PALI) Committee is pleased to present the fifth edition of Locating the Law: A Handbook for Non-Law Librarians. The new edition reflects the hard work, diligence and expertise of over a dozen California law librarians, all of whom volunteered their time to this project. Given that eight years have passed since the last edition, it should not surprise readers to know that the changes to this publication are extensive. The Committee had its work cut out for it and, I believe, rose to the challenge. As editor, I had the privilege of working with all of the members of the Committee. Especially during the last four months, 1

when the editing process was most intensive, I became exceedingly familiar with each person’s contributions to this publication. I hope to convey my appreciation of the Committee’s accomplishments here, as well as in the quality of the final product, which I hope meets the expectations of the Committee members. The chapters and appendices are excellent as separate work, but they are even better together, in what I hope is a cohesive whole.

The chapter and appendix authors are Joan Allen-Hart, Laura A. Cadra, Karla Castetter, Esther Eastman, June Kim, Jennifer Lentz, David McFadden, Patrick Meyer, and Lisa Shultz. A detailed list is in the table below.

SECTION/CHAPTER

AUTHOR

TITLE/AFFILIATION

PREFACE

Ruth Hill

Director of Library Services & Assoc. Professor of Law, Southern University Law Center (Baton Rouge, LA)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

June Kim

Senior Reference Librarian, UCLA School of Law

1 Mid-May 2009 through September 2009.

LOCATING THE LAW, FIFTH EDITION

vi

CHAPTER 1: Introduction

Karla Castetter

Library Director, Thomas Jefferson School of Law

CHAPTER 2: How to Read a

Legal Citation

David McFadden

Senior Reference Librarian, South- western Law School

CHAPTER 3: Basic Legal

Research Techniques

Joan Allen-Hart

Assistant Director, Retired, San Diego County Public Law Library

CHAPTER 4: Legal Reference

vs. Legal Advice

Joan Allen-Hart

Assistant Director, Retired, San Diego County Public Law Library

CHAPTER 5: California Law

Laura A. Cadra

Head of Reference/Foreign & Int’l Law Librarian, Loyola Law School Los Angeles

CHAPTER 6: Bibliography of

California Resources

Patrick Meyer

Associate Library Director, Thomas Jefferson School of Law

CHAPTER 7: Federal Law

Karla Castetter

Library Director, Thomas Jefferson School of Law

CHAPTER 8: Bibliography of

Federal Law Resources

June Kim

Senior Reference Librarian, UCLA School of Law

LOCATING THE LAW, FIFTH EDITION

vii

CHAPTER 9: Assisting Self-

Represented Litigants in California

Laura A. Cadra

and June Kim

Head of Reference/Foreign & Int’l Law Librarian, Loyola Law School Los Angeles (Laura) and Senior Reference Librarian, UCLA School of Law (June)

CHAPTER 10: Bibliography of

Self-Help Resources

Lisa Schultz

Faculty Services/Reference Librarian, Loyola Law School Los Angeles

CHAPTER 11: Availability,

Accessibility and Maintenance of Legal

Collections

Joan Allen-Hart

Assistant Director, Retired, San Diego County Public Law Library

CHAPTER 12: Major Law

Publishers

Jennifer Lentz

Head of Collection Development & Reference Librarian, UCLA School of Law

APPENDIX A: Glossary of

Legal Terms

June Kim

Senior Reference Librarian, UCLA School of Law

APPENDIX B: California County Law Libraries

Esther Eastman

Reference Librarian, LA Law Library

APPENDIX C: California

Law Schools

Karla Castetter

Library Director, Thomas Jefferson School of Law

LOCATING THE LAW, FIFTH EDITION

viii

PALI Committee members, not included in the above list of authors, and who assisted in the editing process are Judy K. Davis, Head of Access Services, USC Law Library, and Tammy Pettinato, former reference librarian at UCLA Law Library. They acted as two extra pair of eyes, for which I am grateful. Special thanks also to David McFadden, a chapter author, who volunteered to assist in the editing process. I also want to thank Ruth Hill, former PALI chair, who graciously agreed to write the preface to the fifth edition. Ruth was a long-time member of SCALL before she moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to become library director of Southern University Law Center. Moreover, two people deserve special mention: Jessica Wimer, 2008-2009 President of SCALL, for her encouragement and support and Ramon Barajas, the SCALL Webmaster, for his technical skills and expertise. Last but not least, many, many thanks to Laura Cadra, who provided invaluable assistance to me during the past four months. I consulted with Laura on all issues for which I needed a second opinion—from structure and organization of the chapters, formatting, whether to include or exclude information, and much more. She also helped in the editing process by reviewing several of the chapters. In addition, she graciously agreed to co-author the new chapter, Assisting Self-Represented Litigants in California (Chapter 9). On behalf of the chapter authors, the PALI Committee members, Ruth Hill, Jessica Wimer, and Ramon Barajas, I hope that the fifth edition of Locating the Law: A Handbook for Non-Law Librarians will be a useful resource to public librarians in California and elsewhere.

June Kim, Chair SCALL Public Access to Legal Information Committee 2007-2009

vii

Table of Contents

FORWARD (2009) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. i

PREFACE ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (2009) ………………………………………………………………………………………………. v

CHAPTER 1: Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………… 1

CHAPTER 2: How to Read a Legal Citation ……………………………………………………………….. 13

CHAPTER 3: Basic Legal Research Techniques …………………………………………………………… 21

CHAPTER 4: Legal Reference vs. Legal Advice ……………………………………………………………. 46

CHAPTER 5: California Law ……………………………………………………………………………………… 54

CHAPTER 6: Bibliography of California Resources ……………………………………………………. 69

CHAPTER 7: Federal Law ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 97

CHAPTER 8: Bibliography of Federal Law Resources ……………………………………………….. 115

CHAPTER 9: Assisting Self-Represented Litigants in California ……………………………….. 145

CHAPTER 10: Bibliography of Self-Help Resources ………………………………………………….. 157

CHAPTER 11: Availability, Accessibility and Maintenance

of Legal Collections …………………………………………………………………………………….. 198

CHAPTER 12: Major Law Publishers ……………………………………………………………………….. 208

APPENDICES:

APPENDIX A: Glossary of Legal Terms ………………………………………………………….. 214

APPENDIX B: Common Abbreviations in the Law ………………………………………….. 222

APPENDIX C: California County Law Libraries …………………………………………….. 225

APPENDIX D: California Law Schools…………………………………………………………… 255

LOCATING THE LAW, FIFTH EDITION, 2011

viii

1

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

This introductory chapter gives an overview of legal research and provides general descriptions of the sources one should consult. Detailed descriptions of California and federal law may be found in Chapters 5 and 7, respectively. In addition, see Chapters 6 and 8 for detailed bibliographies of California and federal legal materials. Contents:

• Categories of Legal Research Sources • Constitutional Law • Statutory Law • Case Law • Administrative Law • How It All Fits Together • Basic Tips for Locating the Law • Selected Bibliography

Categories of Legal Research Sources The goal of most legal research is to identify the answer to one’s legal question. Were my rights violated? How do I probate a will? Can I adopt my stepchild? Finding the answer or solution requires research into the applicable legal basis or authority. In other words, which laws apply to my legal issue? In order to identify applicable laws, one must first have a basic understanding of the U.S. legal system. In the United States, there is a federal government as well as fifty state governments. Each of these 51 governments has executive, legislative and judicial branches, all of which have the power to promulgate laws. These state and federal governments share authority over some legal matters but have distinct authority over others. Hence, one of the first questions a legal researcher must address is whether state law or federal law applies to his or her legal problem. Second, one must distinguish between three different types of sources—primary,

LOCATING THE LAW, FIFTH EDITION, 2011

2

secondary, and finding tools (or aids). Primary sources of law are the official pronouncements of the government’s lawmakers: court decisions, statutes, and regulations. They are the legal rules that govern our society. Secondary sources of law describe the law, discuss a legal problem or set out a model piece of legislation. Secondary sources of law include law review articles, treatises, 1 restatements,2 hornbooks,3 and practice manuals. Finding tools facilitate access to primary and secondary sources of law and include indexes, digests,4 and citators.5

Each type of source described above has a distinctive place in the hierarchy of legal authority. Authority may be (1) primary or secondary and (2) mandatory or persuasive. Indeed, while courts and other decision makers are often open to guidance from a wide range of sources, only primary authority can be mandatory in application (which means that the court decision, statute, or regulation must be followed). For example, a decision from a state’s highest court is mandatory authority in its jurisdiction and must be followed by the lower state courts. Similarly, a state statute must be followed within the state. However, some primary authority is only persuasive. Persuasive authority is that which the court or other decision maker may consider it but is not obligated to follow. For example, California state courts may find other state court cases persuasive, but are not bound to follow court opinions from any of the other 49 states. Moreover, there are varying degrees of persuasiveness. A well-respected treatise, albeit a secondary source of law, may have more persuasive force than decisions from courts in other states.6

Primary Sources of Law The primary sources of federal law are the U.S. Constitution, the enactments of the U.S. Congress, the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court and of the lower federal courts (i.e., Courts of Appeals and District Courts), the regulations and rulings of the federal administrative agencies, and the executive orders and proclamations of the President of the United States. The primary sources of law for each state are the state constitution, the enactments of the state legislature, the decisions of the state courts, the regulations

1 Treatises are books on legal topics. A treatise can be one volume or many volumes. 2 Restatements are prepared by the American Law Institute and literally “restate” (or summarize) general case law principles in specific areas of law. 3 Hornbooks are one-volume books on a legal topic often used by law students. 4 Subject indexes to case law. 5 Citators serve two functions: updating a source of law and leading the researcher to additional sources of law. 6 See Amy E. Sloan, “Types and Weight of Authority,” in Basic Legal Research, 4th ed. (Aspen Publishers, 2009) at 4-9; Richard K. Neumann, “The Hierarchy of Authority,” in Legal Reasoning and Legal Writing: Structure, Strategy, and Style, 5th ed. (Aspen Publishers, 2005) at 148-151.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

3

and rulings of the state administrative agencies, and the orders of the states’ governors. Within each state, municipalities may have their own charter, ordinances and administrative regulations.

Other sources of primary law include tribal laws passed by Indian sovereign nations and international laws (usually expressed in the form of treaties between two or more nations). Hence, it is important for researchers to determine at the beginning of their research whether federal or state law is implicated and which type of primary law applies to their legal problem. Secondary Sources Most law librarians will suggest starting legal research with a secondary source. This advice is especially relevant to those who are new to legal research or new to a specific subject area of legal research. Secondary sources, such as practice guides or handbooks,

Primary Sources of Law U.S. Constitution

Legislative

State Constitutions

Statutes

Codes

Bills

Judiciary

Cases

Rules of Court

Executive

Regulations

Regulatory Decisions

Executive Orders

Proclamations

LOCATING THE LAW, FIFTH EDITION, 2011

4

will summarize a subject area of law, describing (and providing the citations to) the applicable statutes, court opinions and regulations. Not only does this save the researcher time in identifying the relevant primary law, but it also provides the background information needed to frame intelligent questions, determine the best research paths, and learn the key terms used in the area of law. Moreover, scholarly commentaries (in law reviews or legal treatises) can have persuasive influence on the law-making process by drawing attention to the flaws in current legal doctrine and suggesting alternative methods. Although many public libraries will not add legal treatises, hornbooks, practice guides, and law reviews to their physical collections, they will likely have legal self-help books,7

which will provide an excellent starting point for most researchers. It is worth noting here that legal secondary sources are generally not available for free on the Internet. In any case, for those unfamiliar with these sources, it is recommended that they use secondary sources in print, in order to take advantages of the indexes, tables and other finding aids included therein. Secondary sources are referenced throughout these chapters, with the idea that librarians will be able to locate the best area library to serve the needs of their users.

Finding Tools The third and final type of legal research material is the finding tool. These research aids would never be cited in a court brief, law review article or legal memorandum, but are, nonetheless, critical to anyone updating or searching for primary and secondary sources. West’s California Digest is an example of a finding and indexing tool for California case law. Shepard’s citation titles such as Shepard’s United States Citations or Shepard’s California Citations are examples of updating tools. The process of updating cases and other legal materials is colloquially called Shepardizing, whether or not one is using a Shepard’s tool. Online updating is widely available in public law libraries— either through LexisNexis, which owns Shepard’s, or through Westlaw, which has its own updating service called KeyCite.

Constitutional Law The highest law of the land is the U.S. Constitution. As a grant of power to the federal government to rule in the name of the people, the Constitution defines the basic rights

7 See Chapter 9: Assisting the Self-Represented Litigant in California and Chapter 10: Bibliography of California Self-Help Resources.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

5

of U.S. citizens. It cannot be changed except by amendments proposed by two-thirds of both houses of Congress and ratified by three-fourths of the states, or by a constitutional convention. The U.S. Supreme Court is the final authority on interpreting the U.S. Constitution. No law, whether state or federal, is valid unless made in accordance with the U.S. Constitution and with the interpretations of the U.S. Supreme Court. All state constitutions, state statutes, and county and municipal charters and ordinances are subordinate to the U.S. Constitution. A state’s constitution is analogous to the U.S. Constitution in that it is the supreme law within the boundaries of that state, and all state statutes must be in accordance with it. However, a state constitution is inferior to the U.S. Constitution, as well as to all valid federal statutes. In California, the state constitution can be amended by the legislature and by the voters. Amendment by voters is accomplished by the initiative and referendum processes. Initiatives and referendum appear on the ballot as propositions. If passed, they are incorporated into the Constitution.

Statutory Law In basic terms, a statute is an enactment by a legislative body. Statutes are the acts, or bills, written and passed by the United States Congress or by the state legislatures (and signed (or not vetoed) by the chief executive). Statutes are published in chronological order (i.e., in the order in which they are signed into law). To provide a more logical (and accessible) arrangement of these laws, most statutes are collected and systematically arranged, usually by subject, into a separately published set called a code. The federal laws are codified into the United States Code, which is subdivided into 50 titles. Each title covers a certain subject. For example, Title 15 deals with commerce and trade. California’s codes are identified by name instead of numbered titles. For example, the laws dealing with taxes are in the Revenue and Taxation Code. In addition to federal and state statutes, there are municipal and county ordinances, which are enactments of bodies such as county boards and city councils. Statutes and codes are published in both official and unofficial versions. Official versions are published by the government itself or by a commercial publisher under contract with the government while unofficial versions can be offered by several commercial publishers. The text of the law is identical in both official and unofficial

LOCATING THE LAW, FIFTH EDITION, 2011

6

publications. The difference is that the official versions are usually not annotated, while unofficial publications generally are annotated. The annotations in the unofficial publications include such helpful information such as references to court opinions interpreting the code sections, citations to law review articles, summaries of legislative histories, and a list of related administrative regulations, if there are any. Another difference between official and unofficial versions is that the commercial publisher may be able to publish and update the unofficial version more frequently.

TYPES

DEFINITION

NOTES

Bill

A proposed law, introduced before the legislature

Current bills may be viewed on the legislature’s official Web site. For older bills, especially those that did not become law, users may have to refer to print or microform sources.

Statute

A bill that is passed by the legislature (and usually signed by the executive). A statute may add, revise, or repeal an existing law.

Numbered chronologically as they are approved by the legislature. Refer to subject indexes and cross-reference tables.

Code

A subject arrangement of statutes

Commercially published codes tend to be updated much more frequently than official publications. In either case, one must always consult the cumulative supplements (pocket parts), which show any changes that have been made to the law since the print volume was published.

Case Law The United States is a common law country. This means that, in addition to statutes passed by legislative bodies, the collected history of cases decided by judges in various courts is also part of our law. The underlying principle of such a system is that similar cases should be treated in a similar way. This principle is referred to as precedent, or, in

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

7

Latin, stare decisis. The written opinion of a judge or of a panel of judges is also referred to as a case. A case usually includes a brief description of the factual background of the situation and a short history of the legal procedures that brought the dispute before the present court followed by the court’s reasoning in reaching its decision. Judicial decisions are published, or reported, only if they change or clarify a rule of law. Generally, trial level state court decisions are not published. Only some appellate decisions are reported. All cases from the U.S. Supreme Court and from state supreme courts are published. Like statutory law, judicial law or cases are published in both official and unofficial versions. The difference between the official and unofficial version lies in the publisher and in the editorial enhancements. The text of an opinion is the same in both versions. Editors for the unofficial publishers often add a summary of the case and identify individual points of law discussed in the case with special topic headings and numbers called headnotes. These headings can then be used to find similar cases in the case finding tools called digests.

COURT

NAME

PUBLISHED?

PRINT PUBLICATION

INTERNET ACCESS

Supreme Court

U.S. Supreme Court

Yes, all cases

are published.

United St

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