It can be pretty difficult to understand the legislative intent of any particular legal statute for a variety of reasons. First of all, many legal statutes are written in Legal English, a dialect of lawyers in English-speaking countries that's loaded with obtuse jargon, syntax, and odd punctuation choices. Secondly, some legal statutes are so old that they've lost their context. This means that the issues they were meant to rectify have since been resolved, rendering the legal statutes obsolete despite the fact that they remain on the books. For these two reasons, you may come across certain legal statutes in your legislative history ... Read More >
Jul 29
Dividing the state: An old idea is new again
You may have heard about it: Silicon Valley billionaire Tim Draper wants to divide California into six separate states, and he wants Californians to vote on the issue. Earlier this year, supporters of the proposed ballot measure got the go-ahead to collect signatures for a new initiative, one Draper calls “Six Californias.” Supporters say they submitted 1.3 million signatures to the California Secretary of State on July 15. The measure qualifies for the November 2016 ballot if 807,615 of those signatures are deemed valid. Prior attempts to split California are nothing new because as it turns out, even a few of those ... Read More >
Jul 24
Frequently asked question: Can Legislative Intent Service, Inc. locate California Legislative Counsel Opinions?
FAQ: Can Legislative Intent Service, Inc. locate California Legislative Counsel Opinions? Answer: Yes, when the Opinion is part of the legislative history of a proposed, failed or chaptered bill. Our expertise at Legislative Intent Service, Inc. includes: • Determining the legislative history of state and federal statutes; • Identifying the bills most likely to be of interest to your issue; • Locating and analyzing the materials related to these bills; • Providing the materials in pdf form. This process can lead to locating Legislative Counsel Opinions. First, some background on the California Office of the Legislative ... Read More >
Jul 10
Retroactive v. Prospective Application of New Laws
Our California clients ask us about retroactive application of enactments or amendments in bills that affect their statutes of interest and which could adversely affect their claims or litigation strategy. We understand their concerns and as we review the legislative history materials or the bill itself, we look for any indication that there was legislative intent for retroactive application of the proposals in the bill. When there is no express statement or declaration concerning retroactivity in any bill, this can make it difficult to make any absolute determination as to the retroactivity of the provisions of that bill. The general ... Read More >
Jul 10
States’ criminal justice systems embrace DNA testing
Multi-State DNA Laws: The use of DNA [“deoxyribonucleic acid”] as evidence in criminal trials was brought to the public’s intense and graphic attention 20 years ago during the O.J. Simpson trial. Over the next two decades, its prominence as an evidentiary tool has gained a strong and broad foothold in states’ criminal justice systems because DNA testing in today's forensic genetics laboratories is highly automated, highly reproducible, and the variation detected is capable of potentially matching the DNA profile at a crime scene to one individual in the world with significant statistical probability. DNA is also very tough stuff – it ... Read More >