Working with Statutes

Question 1

bill

Answer 1

A proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become a law until
it is passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate and either approved by
the President or a Presidential veto is overcome.

Question 2

joint resolution

Answer 2

A legislative measure that requires approval by the Senate and House of
Representatives and is presented to the President for approval. It is like a Bill except it cannot be used to propose a constitutional amendment.

Question 3

concurrent resolution

Answer 3

A legislative measure adopted by the Senate and House of Representatives that does not require the approval of the President. A concurrent resolution does not have the force of law

Question 4

simple resolution

Answer 4

A legislative measure passed by either the Senate or the House of
Representatives (but not the other body) and does not require the approval of the President. A simple resolution does not have the force of law.

Question 5

tabling

Answer 5

To postpone or suspend consideration of a pending motion or piece of legislation.

Question 6

conference committee

Answer 6

A committee made up of members from both the Senate and House of Representatives that meets, negotiates, and agrees to a new, compromised
version of a particular bill when each house passes a different version

Question 7

pocket veto

Answer 7

A legislative maneuver that allows a president to exercise veto power. When
Congress is no longer in session, the president can perform a pocket veto by taking no action on a bill for ten days.

Question 8

US Code

Answer 8

A compendium of federal laws.

Question 9

Title

Answer 9

Each large part of the U.S. Code, divided by subject matter

Question 10

slip law

Answer 10

The statute by itself on a single sheet or in pamphlet form before it is included into session laws.

Question 11

public law number

Answer 11

The number assigned to a published slip law; the first number represents the number of the Congress that passed the law and the second represents the
chronological order in which the law was passed.

Question 12

session laws

Answer 12

The booklet containing published statutes, bound chronologically by
Congressional session.

Question 13

Statutes at large

Answer 13

The official U.S. government compilation of federal session laws; the official record of Acts of Congress and concurrent resolutions passed by the United States
Congress.

Question 14

“Stat” citation

Answer 14

Citation for the Statutes at Large.

Question 15

cross-references

Answer 15

When statutes reference one another.

Question 16

statutory interpretation

Answer 16

The principles courts use in reading a statute and relating it to a
particular issue or question.

Question 17

legislative supremacy

Answer 17

The doctrine that when Congress passes a statute, a judge in the
U.S. constitutional system has a duty to try to figure out Congress’s policy instructions for it

Question 18

legislative intent

Answer 18

Congress’s policy instructions that the judiciary tries to ascertain.

Question 19

ordinary meaning

Answer 19

The first step in statutory interpretation which involves giving the words
in a statute their ordinary sense; dictionaries are useful starting points.

Question 20

purpose of policy of the statute

Answer 20

What Congress is trying to get at in a statute. Since
Congress uses words to express a policy decision or set of policy instructions, this method of statutory interpretation involves looking at which interpretation better serves the policy of
the statute.

Question 21

the canons (maxims) of construction

Answer 21

The legal system’s set of rules that judges use to
help sort out what a statute means or what to do when a statute is ambiguous or doesn’t
make sense.

Question 22

linguistic canons

Answer 22

Common-sense presumptions about the way people use language used to help find the meaning of words and phrases in statutes.

Question 23

expressio unius est exclusio alterius

Answer 23

A linguistic canon of construction that means that if you specify one thing, you impliedly exclude the things you don’t specify.

Question 24

substantive canons

Answer 24

Canons of construction that put a thumb on the scale of one interpretation or another in order to serve some broad, general policy that the legal system
wants to promote.

Question 25

rule of lenity

Answer 25

A substantive canon that tells us that if a criminal statute is ambiguous – if
there are two possible meanings – the judge should pick the one that favors the criminal
defendant, that is, the more lenient one

Question 26

legislative history

Answer 26

Congressional recordings of its proceedings, such as committee reports
and statements on the floor by legislative sponsors. Legislative history can serve as a tool for
statutory interpretation

Question 27

textualism

Answer 27

One of the two main schools of thought on how to use the canons of
construction. Textualists emphasize that Congress picks its words carefully to express its policies and that those words presumptively express what Congress meant to express.

Question 28

purposivism

Answer 28

The other main school of thought on how to use the canons of construction.
Purposivists believe statutory interpretation should seek to achieve the broader purposes of
a statute. Purposivists believe the words chosen by Congress are imperfect, and if the
precise words chosen don’t align well with the policies, then the words should bend to the
policies, not vice versa.