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Free
legal research links to the four main sources of U.S. & California law EZ Legal Research Constitutions Case Law Statutes Administrative Regulations Constitutions Constitutions provide for a government’s authority to
exist. In addition, constitutions often
enumerate the rights and duties of the government and its citizens. The U.S. Constitution does the foregoing in addition to
establishing the organization of the three branches of the federal
government: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch.
In almost all systems of government, the constitutional rules
carry the most weight and will prevail when they conflict with other rules
promulgated within that system. Each This is an official website. It
contains a hyperlinked
table of contents to the California Constitution. Search the
California Constitution by keyword. Federal Constitutional Links This copy of
the U.S. Constitution is organized by Preamble, Articles, Signers and
Amendments ( Searchable by keyword,
includes annotations (Findlaw.com) |
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Foundational Documents Related to the U.S. Constitution are those documents that
preceded the U.S. Constitution, such as the Articles of Confederation, and other
writings and documents that were generated while the Constitution was being
formulated. The Articles of
Confederation are the documents that were the basis for the United States
Government prior to the adoption of the Constitution. From the Indiana University School of Law website. First published in 1788, this collection of 85 essays by
Founding Fathers Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, was aimed at
garnering public support for the proposed Constitution. The |
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Statutes are legislative enactments or laws passed by
legislative bodies at the federal or state level. At the local level, such enactments are called
ordinances. Statutes do not carry as much weight
as constitutional provisions. Statutes must not conflict with
constitutional provisions. Full text of all 29 California Codes organized in a table of
contents-style This is an official website where users can search |
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This is a searchable list of all Senate and Assembly bills
introduced since 1993 Get full text of bills, resolutions & constitutional
amendments. Also check status, history, votes, analyses, and veto messages The LRC reviews This is an agency of the legislature that analyzes policy and
budget. California
Legislative History (A How-To Guide) This handy guide from Legislative History Clearinghouse This webpage contains a complete range of
Legislative History, Legislative Intent, and other Legislative Research
Services and Information compiled by Jan Raymond, an attorney whose company
provides legislative histories for a fee. Check status, history,
votes, analyses, and governor's veto messages. Also, get
full text of bills, resolutions & constitutional amendments |
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Federal Statute Links Full text access the U.S. Code via This is a searchable, official
U.S. Code This official U.S. Code is organized by title From the Legal
Information Institute at |
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Federal Legislative History Federal legislative history refers to any of the materials
generated in the course of creating federal statutes. Federal legislative history can include such things as House of
Representatives and Senate committee reports, floor debates and histories of
actions taken. Federal legislative history is used for
discovering sources of information about the legislative intent. THOMAS is your link to official federal legislative information. Get full text of bills, bill history, and Congressional debates. Federal
Legislative History (A How-To Guide) This link explains how to conduct a legislative history for a
federal statute (from The History of
Bills lists legislative actions on bills that are reported in the
Congressional Record. |
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Case law, also known as common law, is the body of law developed
through the years from court decisions.
Courts are required to follow these prior
decisions, called precedents, if the prior case was decided by a higher court
within the jurisdiction, and the case under review has similar legal issues and facts to that of
the prior case. This is known as stare decisis, which is Latin for let
stand that which has been decided. Courts are often called upon to explain and
clarify the meaning of statutes. California Supreme Court & California District Courts of
Appeal opinions from 1934 to present. Lexis-Nexis is now the publisher of California Official Reports. Their website provides free access to official Federal Case
Law Links Free access to U.S. Supreme Court opinions from FindLaw.com. Search
by citation, party name, or search the full text of opinions by key word. Or, browse
U.S. Supreme Court Decisions: by
volume, by
year U.S.
Circuit Courts of Appeals Opinions Free access to U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals opinions from FindLaw.com.
Searchable by circuit, date, docket number, party name, or full text. |
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State and federal administrative agencies have a dual role
in that they can act quasi-legislatively by enacting rules and regulations
which have the force of law, and quasi-judicially by
hearing certain types of disputes and issuing binding legal opinions. Examples of federal administrative agencies include the
Internal Revenue Service and the Environmental Protection Agency. California
Code of Regulations The California Code of Regulations contains the text of the
regulations that have been formally adopted by state agencies. California Office of Administrative Law The Office of Administrative Law reviews administrative
regulations proposed by state agencies for compliance with the California
Administrative Manual The State Administrative Manual is a reference source for
statewide policies, procedures, regulations and information developed and
issued by authoring agencies such as the Governor's Office, Department of
General Services (DGS), Department of Finance (DOF), and Department of
Personnel Administration. Federal Administrative Regulations Links The Code of Federal Regulations contains the text of rules that
have been adopted by various federal agencies. Most CFR
provisions are contained in the United States Code. Electronic Code of Federal
Regulations Not an official legal edition of the CFR, but is easy to use. You can locate the text of all regulations by topic. Executive
Orders of the President Executive orders are official documents used by the President of the Codification of Presidential Proclamations
and Executive Orders From the Office of the Federal Register. (April 13, 1945, through January 20, 1989.) Weekly Compilation of
Presidential Documents Published each Monday, the compilation contains statements,
messages, and other executive branch materials released the preceding week. |
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Disclaimer This website was developed for educational and informational purposes only. The creators of the site are not
attorneys. None of the information on
the site is intended to be legal advice.
You should consult with an attorney prior to acting on any information
found here. This site contains links to sites on the Internet owned and operated by third parties. We are not responsible for the availability of, or the content
located on or through, any such third-party site. Use the information found
on this site, and on the external sites, at your own risk. Any similarity to other
legal research websites is unintentional, and given the nature of such sites,
may be unavoidable. |