CITIZEN ADVOCACY CENTER

BASIC LEGAL RESEARCH

LESSON PLAN AND ACTIVITY

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Grade Level: 9, 10, 11, 12

Subjects:

Social Studies: U.S., State, and Local Government
Language Arts: Reading, Writing

Duration: 1 class session

Description: This lesson should be taught after the lesson “How a Bill Becomes a Law”. Now that the students know how bills are passed, they are ready to learn how to get information on specific bills and how they can impact the legislative process.

Goals:

ISBE Standards:

1. Social Science

· 14A: Understand and explain basic principles of the United States government.

· 14B: Understand the structures and functions of the political systems of Illinois, the United States and other nations.

· 14D: Understand the roles and influences of individuals and interest groups in the political systems of Illinois, the United States and other nations.

2. Language Arts

· 1B: Apply reading strategies to improve understanding and fluency.

· 1C: Comprehend a broad range of reading materials.

· 3A: Use correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization and structure.

· 3B: Compose well-organized and coherent writing for specific purposes and audiences.

· 3C: Communicate ideas in writing to accomplish a variety of purposes.

· 4A: Listen effectively in formal and informal situations.

· 4B: Speak effectively using language appropriate to the situation and audiences

· 5A: Locate, organize, and use information from various sources to answer questions, solve problems and communicate ideas.

Objectives:

A. Understand how to track a bill through Congress and the Illinois General Assembly.

B. Understand how a local ordinance is passed.

C. Be able to research an existing statute or ordinance.

Materials:

1. Paper

2. Pens

3. Legal Research Handout

Instruction:

LECTURE

A. Do a quick review of how a bill becomes a law in Congress and the state legislature. What are the basic steps? (1^st reading, committee/public hearings, 2^nd reading, amendments, 3^rd reading, vote in first house and repeat in second house, then to the executive).

B. Why would it be helpful for citizens to know what a law says?

C. Why would it be helpful for citizens to know what a proposed amendment to a law says?

D. Have students complete the worksheet for legal research. Most of the information may be found online, with the exception of some local laws. For official versions of the Illinois Code, look to the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) bound volumes.

LEGAL RESEARCH WORKSHEET

A. Researching proposed bills/ordinances:

1. Researching a Federal Bill

Go to http://thomas.loc.gov and find a bill related to gun control by typing in a word or phrase in the “Word/Phrase” box and clicking on “Search”. You will see a list of various bills and resolutions related to guns. Choose one to research and answer the following questions about the proposed legislation by navigating through the website.

Title of bill:

Type of bill:

How many representatives are sponsoring the bill?

Where was the bill introduced?

What is the main purpose of the bill?

What is the bill’s current status? What actions have been taken on the bill thus far?

Have amendments been added to the bill? If yes, what are they?

How many times has the bill been referenced in the Congressional Record?

2. Researching a State Bill

Go to http://www.legis.state.il.us, and enter in a bill number or keyword in the search fields in the left column on the screen to find a bill related to education. Answer the following questions:

Title of bill/bill number:

Where did the bill originate?

What type of bill is it? (revisory, appropriations, or substantive)

What is the main purpose of the bill?

What is the bill’s status? (To find this out, go back to the homepage and click on “Legislative Reports”, then click on “View Standing Reports Updated Periodically Throughout the Day”, then click on “Status of Bills (cumulative). Bills are listed by reference number.)

Have amendments been made to the bill? If yes, what are they?

3. Researching a proposed ordinance for your municipality:

These city council meeting minutes may or may not be available online. You can obtain proposed ordinances by contacting your city clerk’s office, contacting your local council member, or by checking the local paper.

B. Researching Existing Law

General Information:

To start researching you need to identify the issue you want to learn about. Think of all the words and/or phrases that describe what you want to research. For example, if you want to find laws (called statutes or codes) on air pollution, you might think of words like “air”, “environment”, “transportation”, “chemicals” or “emissions”.
Once you have brainstormed some good words, look up those words in the index of the statutes or code and see if there are any laws dealing with your topic.
The index will provide a statute number. Statutes are found in the Illinois Compiled Statutes either online or in book form. The number will look something like 65 ILCS 1234.5(a). The 65 is the volume number of the book. The actual statutes are in numerical order. You will find 1234.5(a) by flipping through volume 65 in numerical order.
You can also look at the history of a statute and related caselaw by looking at an annotated version of the Compiled Statutes (ICLS). At the end of each statute you will find the history (any amendments, changes, etc.) and related caselaw.
If you are looking at the books, be sure to also search the pocket part in the back of the book. The books are only printed every few years, so the publisher puts out a “pocket part” to update the books annually with any new caselaw or amendments to the statutes.

1. Federal Law

www.findlaw.com

2. State

Illinois Law is also available on www.findlaw.com.

There is an “unofficial” version of the state’s statutes on the Illinois General Assembly webpage at http://www.legis.state.il.us/legislation/ilcs/chapterlist.html.

©Copyright 2005 Citizen Advocacy Center. All rights reserved. No part of this lesson plan may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior, written permission of the Citizen Advocacy Center. The Citizen Advocacy Center is a 501(c)(3) non-pofit, non-partisan community based legal organization. For information about the Center, or to make a tax deductible contribution, visit www.citizenadvocacycenter.org, call 630.833.4080. The Center is located at 238 N. York Rd., Elmhurst IL 60126