Lawmaking

Chapter 2Street Law Text

pp. 19-28

Statutes

• Local [county/city] laws passed by county boards and city councils

Ordinances

• Federal and State laws passed by the Legislative Branch

Supremacy Clause• The Constitution and the Laws of the United States….shall be the

supreme law of the land. Article 6

Lawmaking• The Legislative Branch makes laws, but there are other groups that also make

laws• Legislatures

– This one we understand… laws created by legislatures are called Statutes– Each state has a 2 house legislature like the federal government that passes statutes

except for Nebraska– Broad powers to state legislatures because of the 10th amendment

• Local Governments– Cities, Towns, and Counties create laws called Ordinances– Many of the laws we deal with daily are local ordinances

• Agencies• Courts• The People• Laws are introduced in the form of Bills

– Ideas for bills come from legislators, the executive branch, individuals, groups, businesses, and lobbyists

• After a Law is passed the people must obey it and the courts must interpret what the law means Legislative Intent or if it is by Letter of the Law

Problem 2.1

a. No parking on the east side of Main Street between 4:00pm and 6:00am

b. All persons between the ages of 6 and 16 must attend schoolc. Whoever enters a bank for purposes of taking by force or violence the

property or money in custody of such bank shall be fined not more than $50,000 or imprisoned not more than 20 years or both

d. In order to sell any product on public streets, the seller must first apply for and receive a vendor’s permit

e. No employer of more than 15 persons may discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin

f. All persons traveling on interstate airline carriers are subject to search before entering the airplane departure area.

Decide whether each of the following is a federal, a state, and/or a local law. Then give an example, not listed here, of a federal, a state, and a local law.

Bills

• Black and White… what is written in a law with no interpretation.

Letter of the Law

• Proposed laws at the Federal and State levels.

Legislative Intent• The court interprets a law to determine what the legislature

meant when creating the law.

Problem 2.2 “The Unclear Law”

a. Tony lives on one side of the city and works on the other. He will save ten minutes if he drives through the park.

b. To keep the park clean, trash barrels are located throughout the area. The sanitation department wants to drive a truck into the park to collect the trash from the barrels.

c. Two police cars are chasing a suspected bank robber. If one police car cuts through the park, it can get in front of the suspect’s car and trap it between the patrol cars.

d. An ambulance is racing to the hospital with a dying patient. The shortest route is through the park.

e. Elena wants to take her baby to the park in a stroller.f. A monument is being erected to the city’s citizens who died in the

Vietnam War. A tank, donated by the government, is to be placed beside the monument.

g. Amul uses an electric wheelchair and wants to visit the park.

The law seems clear, but some disputes have arisen over its interpretation. Interpret the law in the following cases, keeping in mind what the law says (letter of the law) as well as the legislative intent. Examine each situation and decide whether or not the vehicle described should be allowed in the park. Write the reasons for your choices. When you finish analyzing all of the situations, rewrite the law to make it clearer.

Drafting a Bill• An “unclear” law is almost impossible to enforce• These questions should be asked an answered when creating a

statute or ordinance:• Is the law written in clear language?• Is the law understandable?• When does the law go into effect?• Does the law contradict any other laws?• Is the law enforceable? If so, by whom?• Are the penalties for breaking the law clear and understandable?

• Courts will not enforce laws that are so vague it is unclear exactly what is prohibited “good reason”

• If there is doubt about what a word means the courts will interpret it in its “ordinary” meaning. This makes legislatures write in plain English [vernacular] without using difficult legal terminology.

Public Hearings

• Public meetings to discuss proposed regulations by an agency of government

Agencies and Lawmaking

• Federal, State, and Local agencies can also make laws through their regulations.– OSHA= Occupational Safety and Health Administration– EPA= Environmental Protection Agency– Department of Homeland Security– DOT= Department of Transportation

• TSA= Transportation Security Administration

• Local Agencies– Zoning, Health Boards, School Board

• Regulations are usually not passed until there have been Public Hearings

Problem 2.4

a. Find an article in your local paper about an administrative agency. What is the agency’s name? What does it do? Is it part of the federal, state, or local government? What does the article say about the agency?

b. Find evidence of an agency at work in your community. What agency is acting? What action is the agency taking? Is there any way for the public to have an impact on the agency? If so, how? Is the agency part of the federal, state, or local government?

c. Choose an occupation or profession (such as an electrician, physician, lawyer, schoolteacher, or hair stylist). Interview someone in that occupation to get answers to the following questions: What agency or organization regulates the profession? What are the qualifications for the profession? Are any licenses or tests required? How does the agency decide who gets a license? Is the agency part of the federal, state, or local government?

Choose one of the following:

Trials• A court proceeding.

Appeals• To take a case to a higher court for a rehearing

Appeals Courts• Courts that hear appeals or retry a case from a lower court

• Court decision on a legal question that guides future cases with similar questions

Precedent

Treaty• An agreement or contract between countries.

Extradition• Process in which one country asks another to surrender a

suspected or convicted criminal.

Advocacy

Chapter 3Street Law Text

pp. 29-39

• In our democracy, citizens are responsible for making the law, usually through elected representatives.

• Voting may be an important obligation but an individual’s lawmaking role is far reaching.

• Citizens are responsible for working to change laws that are not helping to solve problems and working for new laws and policies that help communities, cities, states, and the country.

The Art of Advocacy

• Advocacy is the active support of a cause.• Persuading others to support the same cause

is also an important part of advocacy.• Students are good advocates for not only

themselves but also for the community, state, and nation.

• Advocacy takes excellent communication skills, an effective plan, and quality research.

Lobbying• Lobbying is a way to influence the lawmaking process by

convincing lawmakers to vote as you want them to.• Lobbying though sometimes looked down upon is one of our

fundamental rights from freedom of speech.• A lobbyist is usually employed by a group trying to influence

public policy.• There are lobbyists for any and all things today.• Grassroots lobbyistsare people or groups that work to convince

a lawmaker to vote for or against a particular issue by participating in rallies or letter writing campaigns.

• Grassroots lobbyists have neither the money or prestige of many other lobbyists but they do have the VOTE usually.

• Critics claim that lobbyists “buy legislation”.

Initiative and Referendum

• Voting is a basic Constitutional right• Initiative is a law proposed directly by the people, usually

through petition, that will be voted on by the people• Referendum is a proposed law “referred” to the people for

a vote. Usually it is due to the fact that the proposed law is controversial and the legislative body does not want to take the blame for passing the law.

• Recall is an election to remove an elected official from office.

• In the United States anyone 18 years and older that is a citizen may vote. You must register and be registered in only one location.

Participating in Elections• In 2004 in the United States 72% of eligible voters were registered

to vote.• In 2004 64% of those registered voted in the Presidential election.• Think about that… only 55% of eligible voters voted which means

28% elected George W. Bush to a second term.• In 2008 68% of registered voters voted in the Presidential election

which is 57% of eligible voters so only 29% of the voting age population elected BarackObama.

• Voter turnout in the United States has been declining over the years. Middle and upper class “whites” make up the majority of voters.

• Canada and Mexico have similar turnout for elections… but some of the newest democracies in the world have much greater voter participation.

Voter Turnout 1960-20082008* 231,229,580 NA 132,618,580* 56.8% Obama D2006 220,600,000 135,889,600 80,588,000 37.12004 221,256,931 174,800,000 122,294,978 55.3 GW Bush R2002 215,473,000 150,990,598 79,830,11937.02000 205,815,000 156,421,311 105,586,274 51.3 GW Bush R1998 200,929,000 141,850,558 73,117,022 36.41996 196,511,000 146,211,960 96,456,345 49.1 Clinton D1994 193,650,000 130,292,822 75,105,860 38.81992 189,529,000 133,821,178 104,405,155 55.1 Clinton D1990 185,812,000 121,105,630 67,859,18936.51988 182,778,000 126,379,628 91,594,693 50.1 GHW Bush R1986 178,566,000 118,399,984 64,991,12836.41984 174,466,000 124,150,614 92,652,680 53.1 Reagan R1982 169,938,000 110,671,225 67,615,57639.81980 164,597,000 113,043,734 86,515,221 52.6 Reagan R1978 158,373,000 103,291,265 58,917,93837.21976 152,309,190 105,037,986 81,555,789 53.6 Carter D1974 146,336,000 96,199,0201 55,943,834 38.21972 140,776,000 97,328,541 77,718,554 55.2 Nixon R1970 124,498,000 82,496,7472 58,014,33846.61968 120,328,186 81,658,180 73,211,875 60.8 Nixon R1966 116,132,000 76,288,2833 56,188,046 48.41964 114,090,000 73,715,818 70,644,592 61.9 Johnson D1962 112,423,000 65,393,7514 53,141,22747.31960 109,159,000 64,833,0965 68,838,204 63.1 Kennedy D

Problem 3.3a. Make two lists: one of all the reasons for voting

and another of all the reasons for not voting.b. The following proposals have been made to

encourage more people to vote. Do you favor or oppose each proposal? Explain your answers.

a. Allow people to register and vote on the same day.b. Lower the voting age to 16 so some high school students

could votec. Keep the polls open for a week instead of a day.d. Automatically register everyone who has a driver’s license.

Problem 3.4a. Each of the following persons served in the previous government (the

dictatorship) and now seeks a senior position in the new government. Apply the proposed law to determine which, if any, of these people should be allowed to serve. Explain the reasons for your answers.

a. A well-trained scientist provided chemicals that the dictator used to kill thousands of people of a particular ethnic group.

b. A university professor was required to join the dictator’s party in order to continue her teaching.

c. The head of the housing department had given better housing to ruling party officials.

d. A senior police official was generally known to be fair to citizens but had enforced the dictator’s laws banning demonstrations. This person was also active in the revolution that overthrew the dictatorship.

e. A theater director, jailed for antigovernment actions and regularly tortured in prison, agreed to spy on others as a condition of his release from prison.

b. What are the reasons for and against having such a screening law? If you were in the legislature of the new government, would you support or oppose the law? Would you propose a change in the law? Explain your reasons.

Campaign Finance Reform

• Campaigns for office are expensive at almost every level. [unless you happen to run unopposed]

• Critics of the current system argue that:– People of low or middle income cannot run for office successfully

because they cannot raise huge sums of money– Special interest receive favors in exchange for substantial campaign

contributions– Elected officials spend too much time raising money and not enough

time doing their jobs• Campaign law is enforced by the Federal Election Commission

and the state Election Commissions• Today each individual can donate $2400.00 to any candidate for

office.

Problem 3.5a. Which of the following proposals is closest to your view of

campaign finance reform? Explain your answer. The only way to take money out of politics is to have full federal funding of

presidential and congressional elections. In a free country with democratic elections, it makes no sense to try to limit how

much money voters and candidates can contribute to campaigns. If people have the money and want to spend it on campaigns, then they should be able to.

We have to balance the rights of those who want to contribute money to campaigns against the need to fight corruption and undue influence in politics. The best way to do this is through disclosure laws: let everyone see who is giving money to candidates. If elected officials favor the special interests that funded their campaigns. The voters can vote them out of office in the next election.

b. Which of the following is closest to your view of judicial election? Explain your answer.

Money and judicial elections do don't mix. Independent commissions should appoint judges. Politics should be taken out of choosing judges.

The chief executive-the governor- should nominate judges, and the state legislatures should confirm them.

In a democracy we have to trust the people. Judges should be elected just like other officials