Recognizing Leaders … with a Day Off! This Monday marks Presidents’ Day (or President’s Day … or Presidents Day, depending on who you talk to), which is held annually on the third Monday in February. The federal government still refers to the holiday as George Washington’s Birthday, but several of the states have chosen to recognize Abraham Lincoln, as well as other presidents, and refer to the holiday as “Presidents’ Day. In California, government agencies call the holiday Presidents’ Day, however Education Code § 37220 still refers to the third Monday in February as “Washington Day,” and dictates that “[o]n the Friday preceding, all ... Read More >
Jan 19
Three of the Oddest Medical Laws From Across the Country
There are three reasons why many attorneys often use legislative intent services. First, it's because legislative history research can often be an exhaustive, laborious process. Second, many legal statutes use Legal English, which is tough to understand, and just about impossible for the everyday citizen to comprehend, because of its unusual phrasing and lack of punctuation. Thirdly, it's because many of those hard-to-understand legal statutes seem to lack any semblance of legislative intent. To get a better idea of just how strange U.S. law books can be, take a look at some of the medical laws doctors have to follow. Here are a just a few ... Read More >
Dec 17
Lawmakers eye University of California fees
Late last month, news that the University of California planned to increase tuition by up to 28 percent over the next five years sparked waves of walkouts and protests throughout the UC system. At the time, the California Legislature was in recess. However, when lawmakers returned on December 1 to start the 2015-2016 session, they wasted no time penning legislation addressing the issue. As of this writing, there are at least four proposals aimed at curbing the fee hikes. All four of them attack the issue from different angles. Senate Bill 15 takes one approach by taking money from the middle class scholarship program and using ... Read More >
Dec 11
Three Unconventional Laws That Allow People to Make Liberal, Wardrobe Choices
Most people in the United States don't need to dig in and do a whole ton of law research to know that they're supposed to wear pants and other clothes in public. What might surprise you, though, is that there are tons of legal statutes out there whose legislative intent is to let you roam the Earth in your birthday suit (or to ensure you're not, either). Here are a few surprising nudity legal statutes our legislative history research was able to turn up! You Can Hike in Los Angeles Naked. Yep. Los Angeles, the City of Angels, has a legal statute allowing anyone to go hiking totally in the buff if they want to. If you do decide to check ... Read More >
Nov 14
Three Seemingly Pointless Laws Still on the Books Today
Any legal professional who's ever done even the smallest amount of law research has more than likely encountered a legal statute or two that seems devoid of any legislative intent at all. Unbelievably, the U.S. legal system is rife with laws that seem to lack any purpose, and perhaps most baffling of all, these laws are still on the books today. To help give you a better idea of just how many of these weird laws there are and how silly they can be, here are a few examples. Felons Cannot Conduct Games of Bingo. Bensalem, Pennsylvania takes its Bingo so seriously that it has a law whose legislative intent is to ban people convicted of a ... Read More >