Like other forms of drafting legislation, in preparing to amend or repeal existing statutes, there are several steps for the bill drafter to take. In this regard, helpful guidance is provided by the Graduate Degree in Legislative Drafting from Athabasca...
It was recently reported that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan ordered California Gov. Gavin Newsom to respond to an emergency petition filed by Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministry, which requests an injunction pending appeal in their federal...
With the legislative drafter, compiling sentences for a complete legislative measure takes a good amount of work. Putting these sentences together will give effort to the proposed statute. What form can these sentences take? Well, there are many according to...
Definitions can play an important role in legislation. Defining words or phrases is done to provide the reader of the legislative text with clear guidance regarding how those words or phrases are to be understood. Where there are multiple definitions,...
For legislative drafters, there are important standards to follow when putting together legislative sentences that will make up bills, resolutions, or constitutional amendments. Some of these guidelines are obvious as they are used to compose any sentences in writing. Nonetheless,...
California, like most other states, uses sunset dates in legislation, which has the effect of making the law, once enacted, expire on a specified date. Unless the Legislature enacts another bill to either extend or eliminate the sunset date, the...
Like many of the states, California has adopted and therefore requires the Office of the Legislative Counsel to draft measures (bills, resolutions, and constitutional amendments) in a gender-neutral manner. What does that mean? How does it work? Specific to California...