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Civics in the First Circuit

General Introduction to Legal Research

Legal research materials come from different authorities, in different forms, and cover a variety of subjects.  This guide will break these materials down as follows:

  • authorities - federal, state, tribal, and local governments and their component branches and administrative agencies.
  • formats/sources - cases, statutes, constitutions, treaties, regulations, policies, etc.
  • subjects - health policy, sentencing, family law, etc.

The first step in legal research is to prioritize these components of law.  The mini-tutorials included below describe these concepts in more detail.  

Authorities

The federal government is composed of three branches: legislative, judicial, and executive.  The interplay between these branches is a classic legal research subject and the groundwork for complex subject-specific legal issues.  

 

State governments are also composed of three branches, which make law in the form of legislation, case law, and state agency regulations.  The federal Constitution leaves to states all powers not otherwise granted to the federal government.  The relative autonomy of state governments and the interplay between federal and state law is known as federalism.  

Local laws are often called ordinances.  Ordinances are passed by mini-legislatures, local authorities that govern towns, cities, and counties.  In many cases, local government agencies publish policies and procedural manuals that are similar in character and force to ordinances.  

The United States recognizes over 600 Indian tribes.  The law that governs the status of tribes, their sovereignty, and their relationship to federal government is known as federal Indian law, while tribal law comprises the self-governing laws of recognized tribes and Indian nations. 

Formats and Sources

Judges preside over civil cases between private parties and criminal cases.  The orders, memorandums, and opinions they write are the primary source of law that comes out of the court system.  Together, these rules and judicial opinions form a body of common law that is precedent, which courts are bound to follow in future cases.  Opinions are published in reporters and digests that are divided by state, region, or subject matter.  Libraries still have reporters and digests on the shelves, but online databases are now the trusted source for case law.  Compared to the free online legal resources outlined to the left, it's often easier to do your research with print publications, at least in the early stages.

A quick note on citations: most case citations refer first to the parties, then the volume of the reporter, then the name of the reporter (or other publisher of the case), and finally the page number in that volume that the opinion falls on.  You can find a case by entering, for example, 531 U.S. 98, which will take you to the 531st volume of the United States Reports, at page 98.

Case law research is complicated by subsequent, related cases with different legal issues, parties, and facts before the court. Facts are for juries and law is for judges, as you'll hear if you serve as a juror.  When there's enough overlap between the facts and law of related cases, then the legal reasoning of a prior case helps judges make decisions and helps parties compare facts and how the law was applied to those facts.  Secondary sources (not the opinion in Brown v. Board of Education but the multi-volume treatise Education Law and Policy, for example) introduce readers to a subject of law and the important lines of cases that are most often cited in memoranda and opinions. 

 

Depending on the context, the terms "law," "legislation," and "statutes" are used to refer to bills that are drafted and approved by legislative bodies and signed by an executive (a Governor or the President).  Session laws are published at the end of a legislative session (usually a calendar year) and list legislation in chronological order.  Codes contain legislation that is now in force, arranged by subject in "titles" or "parts."  Each new edition of a code includes amendments and removes repealed legislation.  Annotated codes are extremely efficient research tools because they are up-to-date and refer to other legal authorities and formats, such as the legislative history surrounding a law, prior versions of the law, state and federal cases that have interpreted the legislation, regulations that give details about the application of the legislation, and relevant secondary sources such as Restatements of Law.  Legislative bodies often publish session laws and unofficial codes on their websites.  Cornell's Legal Information Institute publishes reliable version of state and federal legislation, but it should not be cited and it does not provide annotations to case law.

Statute citations are less standardized than case citations.  Legislation can be found by using a public law number, title and section numbers, or a popular name.  Common citations to Obamacare, for example, are P.L. 111-148, which is found in the code at Title 42: [42 U.S.C. ("United States Code") 18001], under the popular name: "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act."  

Administrative agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families issue detailed regulations and make decisions in hearings.  Just as statutes are first published chronologically as session laws, administrative rules are published in order in the Federal Register, and then later arranged by subject ("codified") in the Code of Federal Regulations, available at eCFR. There are corresponding state-level codes of regulations available, as well.