Law Commons^™

Preliminary Warnings On 'Constitutional' Idolatry, Brian Christopher Jones

Brian Christopher Jones

Although contemporary societies covet the notion of a written constitution, the UK still stands as one of the few jurisdictions not in possession such a single document. Yet recently there has been renewed discussion regarding whether the UK should draft its own constitution (or at least entrench some form of constitutional law). A recent House of Commons committee report thoroughly analysed this prospect, and many scholars and practitioners consider such a result inevitable. This piece argues that such a document should not be drafted, but if it is, it should surely not be called a "Constitution". Difficulties arise because over …

How Far Out Of Step Is The Supreme Court Of The United States?, Brian Christopher Jones

Brian Christopher Jones

Disparaging The Supreme Court: Is Scotus In Serious Trouble?, Brian Christopher Jones

Brian Christopher Jones

The piece argues that the Court is now subject to the widest and most sophisticated disparagement it has ever experienced, and that the tumultuous terms over the past two years have especially shown its vulnerability. Journalists and the general public are now thinking and speaking about the institution in a much different light than previously, and a deeper conversation about the proper role of the Court, especially in regard to constitutional review, has only just begun. Also, the piece argues that the justices’ disparagement of each other has contributed to this wider criticism, and that the recent health care and …

Don’T Be Silly: Lawmakers “Rarely” Read Legislation And Oftentimes Don’T Understand It . . . But That’S Okay, Brian Christopher Jones

Brian Christopher Jones

During the debate over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), the reading and understanding of legislation became one of the most controversial issues mentioned in Congress and throughout the media. This led many to state that lawmakers should “read the bill,” and led one academic to propose a read-the-bill rule for Congress, where legislators would not vote or vote “no” if they had not read the full text of the legislation. My essay argues that in contemporary legislatures such proposals are unfeasible, and would ultimately produce lower quality legislation. In doing so, the piece uses interviews with legislative …

Personalized Bills As Commemorations: A Problem For House Rules?, Brian Christopher Jones

Brian Christopher Jones

The proliferation of personalized bills in Congress has occurred despite a prohibition on commemorations in the House of Representatives. This Essay provides a close examination of the wording behind the ban, especially the definition of “commemoration.” It uses examples from the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 and other statutes to demonstrate how many contemporary personalized bills fall underneath the prohibition, and therefore should not be introduced or considered in the House.

Westminster's Impending Short Title Quandary: And How To Fix It, Brian Christopher Jones

Brian Christopher Jones

Discusses the likelihood that, in the absence of official guidelines on the choice of short title for new Bills submitted to the Westminster Parliament, increasingly the US practice of giving Bills "sloganising" or personalised short titles will be emulated. Reports on the views of parliamentarians about the use of evocative language in Bill titles. Outlines the formal and informal rules and practices followed by Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in the naming of Bills, and suggests five guidance points for the selection of a short title.

Plain Language Prospects In American Public Law: Insiders Weigh In, Brian Christopher Jones

Brian Christopher Jones

While many international lawmaking jurisdictions have incorporated plain language principles for statutory drafting, the United States remains reluctant, and subsequently has no official policy on employing such principles for the drafting of federal legislation. Though Executive Orders and congressional statutes regarding plain writing have recently been enacted, these have been aimed at Executive Agency regulations and communications, not statutes. This article explores the current prospects of plain language implementation for U.S. statutory law, relying primarily on interviews from Congressional insiders, including lawmakers, staffers and legal/political journalists. Responses demonstrated that plain language standards for statutory law in the U.S. do not …

Manipulating Public Law Favorability: Is It Really This Easy?, Brian Christopher Jones

Brian Christopher Jones

Can favorability for public laws be manipulated merely by changing the short title of the bill or act? Based on an exploratory survey of undergraduate students from the University of Stirling, the results suggest that naming may indeed play a small but significant part of the assessment. Employing five different types of short titles, it was found that “evocative” titles attracted higher favorability ratings than the “descriptive/ technical” titles. Additionally, the survey found that most participants were satisfied with a short vignette of information on the bill or law rather than further explanation, and a notable number of participants supported …

Drafting Proper Short Bill Titles: Do States Have The Answer?, Brian Christopher Jones

Brian Christopher Jones

No abstract provided.

Transatlantic Perspectives On Humanised Public Law Campaigns: Personalising And Depersonalising The Legislative Process, Brian Christopher Jones

Brian Christopher Jones

This exploratory article uses interviews from lawmakers, government officials, bill drafters and parliamentary journalists from Westminster, the Scottish Parliament and the United States Congress to determine humanised law campaigns potential impact on the legislative process. It hypothesised that emotional law is prevented through the depersonalisation of such statutory or regulatory instruments, and that more United Kingdom and Scottish interviewees would embrace this perspective than United States interviewees. Humanised campaigns and personalised statutory law in the United States Congress appears to be on the rise. In Britain such campaigns are a rarity, yet over the past few years the Sarah's Law …