Basic Law Reference

Tips from the Maryland State Law Library

for Maryland AskUsNow!

March 2008

What do we mean by “the law”?

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Types of Law

Cases

(Decisions from the courts)

Regulations

(Issued by executive agencies)

Statutes

(Passed by the legislature)

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Levels of Law

Federal

Legislative: U.S. Congress

State (Maryland)

Legislative: General Assembly Regulatory: Federal Agencies Judicial (Case): Federal Courts Regulatory: State Agencies Judicial (Case): Court of Appeals Court of Special Appeals

Local

Legislative: County Council Regulatory: Rare Judicial (Case): none

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Terminology

• Glossary at: www.lawlib.state.md.us/glossary.htm

• Black’s Law Dictionary or other legal dictionary

COMMON TERMS:

Judicial (case) law: case, docket, decision, opinion, reported, unreported Statutory law: legislation, bill, act, statute, code Regulatory law: regulation, rule, agency, register Don’t get thrown off by the vocabulary – look it up!

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The Maryland Court System

•District Court •Circuit Court •Court of Special Appeals •Court of Appeals •Other courts

http://www.mdcourts.gov/courts-organization.pdf

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District Court

•Created in 1970 to replace municipal and people’s courts •Administered on a State level (Chief Judge) •Criminal jurisdiction: all misdemeanors and some felonies •Civil jurisdiction:  landlord-tenant cases  small claims ($5000 and below)   some domestic violence some civil claims between $5000 and $25,000 •Arguments are before a judge only; no juries •Issues a DECISION, but not a written OPINION

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Circuit Court

•One in each county; administered on a county basis •Civil jurisdiction:  amounts over $25,000  jury trials  divorce •Criminal jurisdiction: serious felony cases such as murder •Appeals: from District Court, Orphans’ Court and certain administrative agencies

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Court of Special Appeals

•Appeals from the Circuit Court, and others •Hears ALL appeals presented to it •There are thirteen (13) judges; cases are heard before a panel of three (3) •Oral arguments are presented by each side; no witnesses; no facts argued •Issues a written OPINION, but not all opinions are REPORTED

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Court of Appeals

•Highest (“supreme”) court in Maryland •Selective about the cases it hears – writ of certiorari (“cert”) or by choice, except death penalty cases which they must hear •There are seven (7) judges; every case is heard by all seven •No facts are argued •Adopts rules of procedure for all Maryland courts

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The Legal Reference Question

• Interpretation vs. Information • Process vs. Theory • Identifying the level and type of law required • Primary vs. Secondary Sources

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Forms

A note on forms: though there are official forms from the Maryland District Courts for many issues (garnishment, peace orders, etc.), there are very few actual forms for the Circuit Courts (with the exception of family law matters). Filings submitted to the Circuit Courts follow format rules provided in the Maryland Rules. Some of the Rules have nice specific formats, some just inform the filer of the content necessary. There are many, many commercially-published forms books with samples for litigants to follow. These are available in law libraries, and probably a few public libraries. There is also an online database, available from Gale, of suggested forms. The State Law Library is currently evaluating this product with the idea of purchasing a subscription for patron use.

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Primary vs. Secondary Sources

• Primary: official by the actual body creating the law:  comes from or is designated as Legislative – codes, statutes, legislation   Executive – regulations, orders Judiciary – cases, court rules • Secondary:  provided or generated by a non primary-creating source, such as a commercial publisher or non-profit legal agency: Legal encyclopedias (AmJur, CJS, MLE)     American Law Reports (ALR) Treatises (textbooks) Law reviews and journals Locating tools: digests and citators (Shepard’s, KeyCite)

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Annotated Code of Maryland

 Annotated simply means added notes that are a secondary source  Code means that the statutory language has been organized (codifed) by topic  Black volumes vs. Red volumes  The 1957 Code  Replacement volumes  Pocket parts

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A word on Code organization…

“Annotated” means containing research and case notes to aid in further research. These notes are added by the publishers and are therefore copyrighted, and only available in the print version of the Code or the fee databases “Article” refers to the breakdown by topic within the Code. An older edition of the Code (1957 ed.) used number designations to break up topics. Beginning in the 1970s these numbered breakdowns have been “recodified” – rewritten for clarity, reorganized and renamed by topic rather than number.

“Title” refers to the breakdown within each Article. “Subtitle” further breaks down the topics

See citation slides for breakdowns…

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Law Citations: Codes & Statutes

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Law Citations: Court Rules

Md. Rule 6-301 Md. Rule 6 301 Title Chapter Maryland Rules of Procedure

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Law Citations: Regulations

COMAR 10.07.03.24

COMAR 10 07 03 24 Regulation Chapter Subtitle Title Code of Maryland Regulations

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Law Citations: Cases

Batson v. Shiflett, 325 Md. 684, 602 A. 2d 1191 (1992) Batson v. Shiflett 325 Md. 684 Reporter 602 A. 2d 1191 (1992) Parallel citation Volume Page Date Parties to the case

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Print Resources: Best Bets

• Annotated Code of Maryland • Maryland Rules (accompany the Code set) • Maryland Law Encyclopedia • Nolo / Sphinx publications • Other key Maryland titles: Maryland Recommended Titles list for Maryland Circuit Court Libraries available at:

www.lawlib.state.md.us/Countylibrarymaterials.htm

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Law on the Internet: Website Reliability

• What does the domain name indicate?

(.edu, .gov, .us, .com, .net, .org) • Are references cited and documented?

• Is the content updated and up-to-date?

• Is there contact information for owner(s), editors and/or authors?

• Has the site been recommended by a reliable source?

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Web Resources (Maryland)

• Maryland Judiciary www.mdcourts.gov

• Maryland State Law Library www.mdcourts.gov/lawlib • Maryland People’s Law Library www.peoples-law.info

• Maryland General Assembly www.mlis.state.md.us

• University of Maryland Thurgood Marshall Law Library web site has very good in depth material on doing legal research

www.law.umaryland.edu/marshall/researchguides

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Web Resources (Federal)

• U.S. Government Printing Office GPO Access www.gpoaccess.gov

• Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute www.law.cornell.edu

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Referrals: Where and How?

• Maryland State Law Library (410) 260-1430 [email protected]

• County Law Libraries www.lawlib.state.md.us/CLLD/Directory_CCLL.html

• State Judiciary • Government Agencies • Non-profit Organizations

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MSLL Favorite Referrals

• GENERAL AND PROCEDURAL Clerk’s Offices: www.mdcourts.gov

• LANDLORD / TENANT Baltimore Neighborhoods

www.bni-maryland.org

• FAMILY LAW Women’s Law Center: www.wlcmd.org Circuit Court Family Law Clinics

www.courts.state.md.us/family

• CONSUMER ORIENTED Attorney General’s Consumer Protection

www.oag.state.md.us/Consumer/

• LAND DEEDS AND RECORDS Registers of Wills: www.registers.state.md.us

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