Civics 101 Overview of Making

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Civics 101Overview of Making Administering a
LawOctober 2006
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Overview of Adopting and Administering a Law
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(No Transcript)
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Other Considerations in Passing Laws Adopting
Regulations

• The public and interest groups play very
  important roles
• Difficult to adopt a law or regulation with
  little or no public support
• For technical issues, interest groups can
  engineer the passage of a law even with little
  public support
• Lobbyists very influential in both legislative
  and rule making processes
• Where interest groups disagree, difficult to pass
  a law or regulation

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Regulations

• Regulations play an important role in
  environmental regulation, especially at the
  federal level because the issues are so complex
• Law sets out general standards
• Agencies, through notice and comment rulemaking
  adopt binding rules
• Courts review of regulations
• Generally defer to agencies because of their
  expertise.
• But hard look doctrine still exists

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Notice and Comment Rulemaking

• Governed by the United States or Washington
  Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C.
  551 559 or Chapter 34.05 RCW)
• Process
• Notice of intent to undertake rulemaking in
  register
• Notice of proposed rule
• Public comment period
• Usually includes public hearings
• Notice of adoption
• Includes summary of comments and responses
• Text of adopted rule
• Codified in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
  Washington Administrative Code (WAC)

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Federal Courts

• U.S. District Courts
• Federal trial courts
• Federal question and other jurisdiction
• Opinions published in the Federal Supplement, the
  Fed Supp
• U.S. Circuit Courts
• Federal appellate courts
• Opinions published in the Federal reporter
• U.S. Supreme Court
• Appeals are discretionary, but also some original
  jurisdiction
• Final word on federal questions
• Published in the U.S. Reporter

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Washington State Courts

• Superior Court
• State trial court of general jurisdiction
• Real property, felonies, major civil lawsuits
• Have district courts, which deal with minor
  crimes
• Opinions not published, but binding on the
  parties
• Court of Appeals
• State appellate court
• Three districts, but officially one court
• Opinions published in the Washington Appellate
  reporter
• Supreme Court
• Appeals are discretionary, but also some original
  jurisdiction
• Final word on state questions including state
  laws and the state constitution
• Published in Washington Reporter

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Reading Legal Decisions

• The resolution of arguments is typically
  organized using the memory aid IRAC
• Issue What is the issue or question
• Rule What is the existing rule of law that
  applies to this issue. There may be several
• Application How the rule applies to the relevant
  facts of the case
• Conclusion What is the result or decision on the
  issue. Will sometimes include new rules

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Sources of Legal Authority(That is What Does the
Law Say)

• Primary authority (in priority order)
• Constitutions, state and federal
• Laws
• Court decisions, but courts have the authority to
  decide what the law and constitution say
• Regulations
• Adjudicative body decisions
• Secondary authority
• Learned treatises
• Law review articles
• Legal encyclopedias
• Other legal articles

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Reading Legal Decisions

• Holding, the ultimate resolution of the argument
  or case
• Often a new legal rule
• Look for
• We hold or
• We decide
• Concurrence the opinion of one or more judge or
  decision maker that agrees with the result, but
  for a different reason at least in part
• A dissent is an opinion of one or more judge or
  decision maker that disagrees with the result

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Statutory Construction in Washington State
(Reading Laws)

• The meaning of a statute is inherently a question
  of law and the courts review is de novo
• De novo means that the court is not bound by an
  agency or lower court, but rather decides what
  the law means on its own
• However, courts give substantial weight to
  state agency interpretation of laws and
  regulations within their expertise
• The primary goal of statutory interpretation is
  to ascertain and give effect to the legislature's
  intent and purpose

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Statutory Construction (Continued)

• This is done by considering the statute as a
  whole, giving effect to all that the legislature
  has said, and by using related statutes to help
  identify the legislative intent embodied in the
  provision in question. Campbell Gwinn, 146
  Wn.2d at 11, 43 P.3d 4. Dep't of Ecology v.
  Campbell Gwinn, L.L.C., 146 Wn.2d 1, 9 11, 43
  P.3d 4 (2002)
• Of course, if, after this inquiry, the statute
  remains susceptible to more than one reasonable
  meaning, the statute is ambiguous and it is
  appropriate to resort to aids to construction,
  including legislative history. State Dept. of
  Ecology v. Campbell Gwinn, L.L.C., 146 Wn.2d 1,
  12, 43 P.3d 4, 10 (2002)

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Lots Now on the Internet

• GPO Access. United States Code
  http//www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/
• Code of Federal Regulations http//www.gpoaccess.
  gov/cfr/index.html
• Federal Register http//www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/inde
  x.html
• Washington State Office of the Code Reviser
  http//www1.leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/ RCW
  http//apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/
• WAC http//apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/ State
  Legislature, Washington Register
  http//www1.leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/WashingtonStat
  eRegister/

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Even More

• Federal Court Decisions Slip Opinions published
  by each court. Can find links from
  http//www.uscourts.gov/
• U.S. Supreme Court decisions on the Supreme Court
  website http//www.supremecourtus.gov/
• Washington Appellate Court Slip Opinions
  available at http//www.legalwa.org/