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Hello,
These are probably dumb questions, so forgive me. The US Code
comprises the laws passed by Congress. But where does the Terry
Schiavo bill (as an example) fit into the US Code? Is it in there at
all? If not, what's the difference between say, the Terry Schiavo bill
and the laws that compose the US Code? I'm sure there is no difference
in _effect_. A law is a law-- I think. I guess I'm asking three
questions:
(1) Are _all_ acts of Congress somehow incorporated into the US Code?
And if not, are the ones not in the US Code afforded a lesser status by
the courts?
(2) In what official record are the acts such as the Terry Schiavo bill
recorded, if they are not part of the US Code?
(3) How are Federal judges made aware of new acts of Congress,
including alterations to the US Code? Not every act gets the attention
given to the Schiavo bill. Does someone send them an e-mail?
Seriously. Who lets them know?
Thanks.
--
Rodney Dunning
Assistant Professor of Physics
Birmingham-Southern College
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"Rodney" <rodney.dunning@gmail.com> wrote:
These are probably dumb questions, so forgive me. The US Code
comprises the laws passed by Congress. But where does the Terry
Schiavo bill (as an example) fit into the US Code? Is it in
there at all?
The US Code is not the full body of laws created by Congress.
Usually what is created as a Public Law, which generally specifies
that the Code say certain things. But there are public laws that do
not necessarily change the Code, but are nonetheless the law of the
land.
I have not looked into the Schaivo law, but it is my guess that is
what happened.
(2) In what official record are the acts such as the Terry
Schiavo bill recorded, if they are not part of the US Code?
Look here: http://thomas.loc.gov/
This appears to be the final text of the Schiavo bill:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c109:7:./temp/~c109GysdLw::
(3) How are Federal judges made aware of new acts of Congress,
including alterations to the US Code?
It's up to the lawyers handling the cases before them to educate the
judges on each point of law. If the lawyers don't find it, it will
likely never be considered.
Stu
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In article <is0bc11qhm3qu29h9umkhp7uu58fhdmj3o@4ax.com>,
Rodney <rodney.dunning@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello,
These are probably dumb questions, so forgive me. The US Code
comprises the laws passed by Congress. But where does the Terry
Schiavo bill (as an example) fit into the US Code? Is it in there at
all? If not, what's the difference between say, the Terry Schiavo bill
and the laws that compose the US Code? I'm sure there is no difference
in _effect_. A law is a law-- I think. I guess I'm asking three
questions:
(1) Are _all_ acts of Congress somehow incorporated into the US Code?
No. only the "codified" statutes.
And if not, are the ones not in the US Code afforded a lesser status by
the courts?
No.
There are, basically, _two_ kinds of "official things" that congress enacts.
(not counting the 'non-binding' things like "Resolutions", that are an
expression of opinion, but not 'law'.)
One is 'general' acts -- things that effect 'everybody', 'from now on'. These
acts are "codified" as part of the body of statutory law..
The other is 'private relief acts' -- which affect a *single* group, with
regard to a *single* event. These acts affect *ONLY* the parties expressly
and specifically named in the act, they have no effect on anybody else.
(Note: acts such as these are *much* more common than the average person is
aware of - many such acts every year. At both the federal and state level. )
(2) In what official record are the acts such as the Terry Schiavo bill
recorded, if they are not part of the US Code?
The "Congressional Record".
(3) How are Federal judges made aware of new acts of Congress,
including alterations to the US Code? Not every act gets the attention
given to the Schiavo bill. Does someone send them an e-mail?
Seriously. Who lets them know?
At a minimum, the attorneys filing a case before the court will cite the
relevant statutes.
There are multiple sources available, were they can look up the relevant
material, when they need it.
There are various kinds of commercial 'notification'/'update' services that
one can subscribe to,
There are probably "summaries" of legislative actions created and circulated
within the court system.
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In article <is0bc11qhm3qu29h9umkhp7uu58fhdmj3o@4ax.com>,
"Rodney" <rodney.dunning@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello,
These are probably dumb questions, so forgive me. The US Code
comprises the laws passed by Congress. But where does the Terry
Schiavo bill (as an example) fit into the US Code? Is it in there at
all? If not, what's the difference between say, the Terry Schiavo bill
and the laws that compose the US Code? I'm sure there is no difference
in _effect_. A law is a law-- I think. I guess I'm asking three
questions:
(1) Are _all_ acts of Congress somehow incorporated into the US Code?
And if not, are the ones not in the US Code afforded a lesser status by
the courts?
The US Code is the compilation of laws of the United States. Every law
passed by Congress and signed by the president becomes a part of the US
Code, or amends an existing portion of the US Code. There are no
"major" laws or "less important" laws.
(2) In what official record are the acts such as the Terry Schiavo bill
recorded, if they are not part of the US Code?
The US Code.
(3) How are Federal judges made aware of new acts of Congress,
including alterations to the US Code? Not every act gets the attention
given to the Schiavo bill. Does someone send them an e-mail?
Seriously. Who lets them know?
The parties to the lawsuit or case cite the laws (either statutes or
case law) to the judge and argue why a certain law should or should not
apply to their particular case.
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Larry <larry@x.com> writes:
The US Code is the compilation of laws of the United States.
Sort of.
Every law passed by Congress and signed by the president becomes a
part of the US Code, or amends an existing portion of the US Code.
That's not true, for multiple reasons:
(1) Not all of the USC is positive law. In other words,
some titles of the USC *are* the law (because Congress
passed a law that said something like "notwithstanding
any existing law to the contrary, Title NN of the USC
is now the law"). But other titles are only (prima facie)
evidence of what the law is. For those titles, if you want
the actual law rather than prima facie evidence of the law,
you need to go to the statute books (i.e. find the Public Law
number and go look it up in the collection of Public Laws -- which
is NOT the USC) to find the actual law.
(2) Not all laws are general laws, and as such wouldn't
go into or effect the USC in the first place.
(2) In what official record are the acts such as the Terry Schiavo bill
recorded, if they are not part of the US Code?
The US Code.
No.
--
Rich Carreiro rlcarr@animato.arlington.ma.us
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"Rodney" wrote:
(2) In what official record are the acts such as
the Terry Schiavo bill recorded . . .
United States Statutes at Large (abbreviated as "Stat.").
The Schiavo bill (S. 686), once passed and signed into law, became
Public Law 109-3 and can be found in volume 119, page 15 of United
States Statutes at Large (119 Stat. 15).
. . . if they are not part of the US Code?
Note that =all= federal statutes are recorded in Stat., regardless
of whether they amend the US Code or not.
Rich Wales richw@richw.org http://www.richw.org
*DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer. My comments are for discussion
purposes only and are not intended to be relied upon as legal or
professional advice.
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