Legislation

3 units

In most law school courses, judge-made law is the center of attention. In real-world settings, however, lawyers frequently find themselves spending more time working with statutes than with case law. In order to equip students to survive in our so-called age of statutes, this course attempts to shed light on legislation and the processes that give rise to it. The first half of the course will examine legal rules that govern the legislature, including such topics as lobbying regulation, bribery statutes, ethics rules, open meetings laws, the line-item veto, the filibuster, and judicial review of legislative decision making procedure. The second half of the semester will be a more straightforward doctrinal unit, examining the ways in which legislation is implemented in the courts. The primary focus will be on principles of statutory construction. Students will acquire a working knowledge of the uses and abuses of canons of construction, legislative history materials, and other tools that lawyers and judges employ as they try to make sense of legislation. Regular attendance and preparation will be expected, and sanctions may be imposed on egregious offenders. The course grade will be based on a timed exam. 3 units.