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Abstract:
Justice Antonin Scalia's well-known preference for using dictionaries rather than legislative history to interpret statutes is the jumping off point for an examination of the tools of textual analysis. The brief article offers common-sense rules for scientifically selecting dictionaries to interpret statutory language. First, the author describes the most respected unabridged dictionaries and their history. Next, there is a discussion of the principle that the dictionary selected should be relatively contemporaneous with the text interpreted. Finally, the use of specialized dictionaries to interpret the unique terminology of a trade or profession is detailed.

legal research, textualism, statutory interpretation, legislative history, dictionaries

Abstract:
The article discusses using U.S. Congressional resources on the Internet, in particular the Library of Congress' Thomas website. The paper focuses on how to use these tools to determine the legislative intent behind a statute.

legal research, federal statutes, legislative research

Abstract:
The text and cases associated with superseded statutes are valuable documents to used in interpreting new statutes. However, the basic annotated codes and databases do not reflect this history. This article briefly describes the research tools and strategies for finding these documents in the context of Kentucky statute law.

Abstract:
A survey of the history of Kentucky courts from the foundation of the commowealth in 1792 to the ratification in 1891 of the state's fourth constitution. Chapter 1 of United At Last: The Judicial Article and the Struggle to Reform Kentucky's Courts. (Frankfort, Ky.: Kentucky Court of Justice, 2006).

courts, judiciary, Kentucky, legal history

Abstract:
In the last decade, the legal publishing industry has undergone a historic consolidation that has eliminated the regional law publisher and reduced the industry to less than a half-dozen multinationals. This article discusses the impact on state-specific legal research.

legal research, legal publishing

Abstract:
The standard law books and databases typically employed in legal research record the foibles and follies of humankind. This article discusses how these resources can be used to research local and family history.

legal research, history

Abstract:
The unique nature of Kentucky's expansive constitution makes consulting it an essential part of researching state law on almost any topic. The article outlines methods for researching the state charter, including a discussion of the published debates of the state's four constitutions and on major recent amendments to the judicial, executive and legislative branches.

legal research, Kentucky, state constitutions

Abstract:
Over the years, the Supreme Court has engendered its own cohort of "Court-watchers" - a group of journalists, lawyers and academics who document the High Court's activities and predict its course. At one time, this activity was closed to all but the Washington insiders who could pick up slip opinions, follow the Court's docket in expensive services like the Bureau of National Affairs' U.S. Law Week, and hear rumors and predictions from members of the federal appellate bar. However, with the advent of the Internet and the blog, Court-watching is something anyone can do. This article discusses the websites and blogs where researchers can follow the Supreme Court's activities in real-time.

Supreme Court, federal appellate courts, legal research

Abstract:
The article discusses federal administrative materials available through GPO Access and agency web sites and offers research strategies for finding current rules.

federal regulations, research

Abstract:
For much of the nineteenth century, the circuit court judge was the law in the counties and small towns of Kentucky. Felonies and the most important civil matters all awaited his twice annual sessions at the county court house. With no criminal appeal allowed until just before the Civil War, the rulings of the circuit judge in matters of life and liberty were final. Despite the importance of these officials to the life of Kentucky, researchers seeking to find information about the men who held this office have had few readily accessible guides. This paper uses old almanacs and statute books to reconstruct a listing of the names of these jurists and the geographic boundaries of the circuits they rode.

legal history, judges, Kentucky

Abstract:
Under Kentucky law, the written opinion of the attorney general concerning certain matters is considered to be a legal precedent that can be relied on in good faith until that opinion is overturned by a court. This article outlines the scope of attorney general's opinion writing power and describes how to research this unusual area of law.

legal research, Kentucky

Abstract:
Probate records show that James Harlan, the father of Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan, assembled during his lifetime a law library impressive in its breadth and balance. This paper discusses how Harlan might have acquired the collection, analyzes its content, and attempts to identify titles listed in the executor's inventory.

legal history bibliography

Abstract:
It is not possible to do the same sort of legislative history of a Kentucky law that one does for a federal statute because the Kentucky legislature does not publish legislative debates or committee reports - the basic materials of a true legislative history.

Nonetheless, there are a few measures that a researcher can take to better understand a legislative enactment. This article provides a simple step-by-step method for researching the limited legislative history of Kentucky statutes.

kentucky legislative history process

Abstract:
No lawyer's knowledge of Kentucky law is safe while the state legislature is in session. Everything from the rules for the taxation of small businesses to the procedures of juvenile courts is subject to change in this period and it is often important to monitor these developments on behalf of current and future clients. To do so, it is necessary to understand something of Kentucky legislative procedure. This article looks at the Kentucky legislative process, noting the myriad limits on lawmaking imposed by the state constitution. These include rules restricting the length of sessions, mandates setting super-majorities for bills raising or spending state funds, and the requirement that all provisions of a bill be on the same topic. Tools for tracking legislation are also discussed.

Kentucky legislative process

Abstract:
This short piece discusses one of the finest early legal books in Kentucky, Hughes Reports. The pioneer state's first reports were edited and published by James Hughes, one of the commonwealth's leading appellate lawyers. Dealing exclusively with decisions involving land disputes, the volume is known for both the high quality of Hughes' reporting, but also the dozens of excellent engraved maps that illustrate the cases.

legal history, case reporting, legal publishing, history, Kentucky

Abstract:
The legal publishing industry faces a challenge from legally oriented blogs, which offer opinions on new legal developments in case law and statutes, discuss the practice of law, and engage in theoretical debate. This article briefly advises researchers on how to best use blogs as an information sources, while giving proper attention to the inherent flaws in these free services.

blogs, research

Abstract:
New lawyers and attorneys transplanted to Kentucky are often unprepared for the way that the commonwealth's political history has shaped, framed and explained the law. This short piece attempts to guide the perplexed with a highly selective annotated bibliography. The article lists books in three areas. First, books that illustrate the history and politics that lies just under the surface of Kentucky jurisprudence are discussed. Then, works on Kentucky's legal culture are surveyed. Finally, the short list of commentaries on the state's constitution are described.

Kentucky legal constitutional history bibliography

Abstract:
United at Last gives a general history of Kentucky's courts from the commonwealth's foundation in 1792, then describes, in more detail, the movement by a coalition of lawyers, judges and citizens to draft and pass the 1975 constitutional amendment that radically overhauled the state court system by simplifying the trial court system, adding a new intermediate appellate court, and unifying the court system into an independent and fully responsible third branch of government. The effort to implement the new reforms is then discussed, followed by a survey of the measures the unified court undertook over the following decades to fulfill the promise of reform. Additional chapters outline the major legal decisions of the Supreme Court over the last thirty years and provide brief biographies of all justices and judges of the new Supreme Court and reconstituted Court of Appeals since 1975.

kentucky, courts, judiciary, legal history

Abstract:
A guide to the foundations of law in Kentucky contained in fundamental documents created during its early years as a Virginia territory up to its emergence as a state. Includes an extensive index to Virginia statutes regarding prestatehood Kentucky, including the charter documents of many existing counties, cities, and institutions of the state. Chapter 18 of Michael Chiorazzi and Marguerite Most, eds., Prestatehood Legal Materials: A Fifty-State Research Guide, Including New York City and the District of Columbia (Binghamton, New York Haworth Press, 2006).

Kentucky, Virginia, legal history