LAW 729SEM - Legislation & Statutory Interpretation

We live in an age of statutes. Legislative enactments have largely replaced common-law principles. Even litigating about Constitutional rights usually requires a statutory basis. An effective attorney needs to understand how statutes take effect and how their meanings get determined. This course covers how statutes get produced and interpreted. We first learn about the procedures, structures, and practices through which legislatures write, consider, and enact laws. We contrast the ¿School House Rock!¿ version of how a bill becomes a law with our much messier realities. And we consider how attorneys¿as legislative staff, industry representatives, or public interest activists¿can affect laws as they develop. We then learn how courts interpret (and change) statutes during litigation. We cover major theories and debates in statutory interpretation, rules of thumb courts cite to justify their conclusions, and empirical findings about interpretive practices. Again, we consider how attorneys can influence judicial interpretations, practicing a range of argumentative moves that characterize contemporary litigation about statutory meaning. We also compare court approaches to how administrative agencies¿the institutions that actually implement most statutory commands¿interpret the law. Here, again, attorneys can powerfully influence the implementation of laws by commenting on their interpretation. Our primary focus will be on the federal system, but we will consider states, and especially New York State, as well. Grades will be based on class participation and several in-depth research assignments.

Credits: 3