RESEARCHING THE LAW
Chapter 4
Why is it important to know how to research the law? Criminal justice professionals are
expected to know the law and when it changes
There are many resources you can use to stay current with the law
Researching the law enables you to find answers to legal questions and to understand the judicial system
Keeping current with the law makes you a more credible professional
Popular Literature
Information about the law is written for the layperson in popular literature
It does not go in depth that professional or scholarly literature does Time, Newsweek, Readers Digest
Most of these sources are sociological and do not report the actual law
Professional Literature
Written for the practitioner in a given field
For Criminal Justice, would include: The Police Chief FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Corrections Today UCLA Law Review The Journal of Municipal Government and NCJA Justice Bulletin
Professional Literature
These periodicals are to keep readers current on the ever changing constitutional law
Contain articles on newly enacted laws and their effect on the CJ System
Scholarly Journals
Written for people interested in theory, research and statistical analysis Justice Quarterly-the official publication of
the Academy of Criminal Justice
All of these sources are considered secondary sources Actual cases and the opinions handed down
are primary sources
Primary Sources
Presents the raw data or the original information Include the U.S. Constitution Constitutions of the 50 states Statutes of the U.S. Congress Statutes of the 50 state legislatures Appellate court decisions of the federal and
state courts
Secondary Sources
Involves selecting, evaluating, analyzing and synthesizing data or information
It is usually easier to understand than primary information Legal periodicals- record and critique the
activities of legislators and judges and discuss current case law Law school publications, bar associations
publications and special subject and interest publications
Secondary Sources
Treatises/ Texts- is a comprehensive document on a legal subject. Go into specific subject depth
Legal Encyclopedias- narratives arranged alphabetically by subject with supporting footnotes General law, local or state law, and special subject Corpus Juris Secondum American Jurisprudence Guide to American Law
Legal Dictionaries- define words in their legal sense Ballentine’s Law Dictionary, Black’s Law Dictionary
Other Sources of Information
Reading Legal Citations
A legal citation is a standardized way of referring to a specific element in the law
There are three basic parts A volume number An abbreviation for the title A page or section number Usually followed by the date
Reading Legal Citations
U.S. Supreme Court case: Horton v California, 496 U.S. 128 (1990) Volume 496 of the United States Reports,
page 128, decided in 1990 Miranda v Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966)
Volume 384 of the United States Reports, page 436, decided in 1966
Reading Legal Citations
Case citation is important because it shows the student exactly where to find an important point
Lets the reader know if the case is relevant to the problem they are researching
The citation will also point out if it is an appellate case
Sometimes there are additional citations that show where a case may be found in commercial reporting services String cites
Case Law
Court decisions are recorded as opinions Describe what the dispute was about States what the court decided and why The opinion may be written by one member of the
court or many Concurring opinions – an opinion written by a Justice
who agrees with the holding, gives additional or different reasons for voting with the majority
Dissenting opinions – written by a Justice who disagrees with the holding and voted against the majority
Some landmark cases have eight or nine opinions National Reporter System - Publishes regional sets of
cases as well as sets for specific states
Reading Case Law
A legal opinion usually contains A description of the facts A statement of the legal issues presented The relevant rules of law The holding The policies and reasons that support the
holdin
Reading Case Law
Caption- title of the case (U.S. v Smith), (Land v Smith)
Holding- the rule of law applied to the particular facts of the case and the actual decision
Affirm- Agree with a lower court’s decision Reverse- Overturn the decision of the lower
court Remand- return the case to the lower court
for further action
How to read Case Law
1. Must be able to think in reverse Opinion provides the end result of the deliberations,
isolate what the dispute involved, what the trial court decided, how it proceeded and what happened on appeal
2. Untangle the interplay of the basic components of a judicial decision
Each affects the others in a process that goes back and forth and around in what may appear to be circles
3. Drawing inferences - Not all elements of the judicial opinion may be included
Infer them from the decisions made
Briefing a Case
To outline the case in a summary (brief) Contain:
Case name and citation Summary of key facts Legal issues involved Court’s decision Reason for that decision and Any separate opinions or dissents
Briefing a Case
Opinions also provide judges with an opportunity to express thoughts on issues that are not essential to the court’s decision
Dicta Statements by a court that do not deal with
the main issue of the case Additional discussion Not binding on future courts
Shepardizing
Shepardizing a case involves using Shepard’s Citations reference that tracks cases so legal
researchers can easily determine whether the original holding has been changed through any appeals
Criminal justice practitioners will not have to do this
Example of Shepard’s Citing List
Computerized Legal Research Thanks to the Internet, researching the law is
accessible to everyone Findlaw, LexisNexis, American Bar Association, U.S.
Supreme Court, etc. Information Literacy
The ability to effectively identify an issue, narrow that issue, access appropriate online sites, separate fact from fiction and present the findings professionally
To evaluate the reliability of information on the Internet, consider the credibility of the source and the currency of the information
What’s Next?
The online discussion group is a new development
There are electronic bulletin boards and virtual discussion groups covering law and criminal justice issues
Blogs are a way to get a variety of perspectives on an issue
Researching a Law of Interest Step 1 – Identify the issue you want to research Step 2 – Identify some research terms or phrases
that might be used to reference your topic Step 3 – Choose the resources to conduct the
research Step 4 – Decide how to access the resources Step 5 – Access your sources and search using the
terms you have identified Step 6 – Interpret the results Step 7 – See how other courts are interpreting the
law