Internet In Bloom For The Layperson
Our media is teaming with news of the Trump Administration members and associates being tried and convicted by our courts while our national presidential impeachment inquiry continues. Therefore, it is appropriate to continue discussing how we may use the Internet to help us perform legal research, pro per: short for “propria persona,” which is Latin “for oneself,” usually applied to folks in court who choose to represent themselves instead of having an attorney do so. Please see: legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/pro+per for details. Please note: I am a law librarian, not a lawyer.
However, I strongly recommend you have an attorney represent you in court. Remember, when you use an attorney’s services, you get the benefit of their knowledge, experience and their relationship with the courts. The later most of us do not have. (I have written previous Internet in Bloom columns on how to find affordable legal services.)
Moreover, not all state websites offer the same legal information. In fact, some court websites will allow you to search and locate legal cases for free and many will require registration and payment online before you may do anything. Consider researching bills online in New York and California. Both are historically large blue states on the US coast. If you search for both assembly and senate bill using the appropriate search field at nyassembly.gov you should have no problem locating the New York bill you seek. However, if you use the California Legislative website at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov you may also locate any California state bill plus a variety of other legal documents, such as: The California Constitution, Business and Professions Code, Civil Code, Commercial Code, Corporations Code, Education Code, Elections Code, Evidence Code, Family Code, Financial Code, Fish and Game Code, Food and Agriculture Code, Government Code, Harbors and Navigation Code, Health and Safety Code, Insurance Code, Labor Code, Military and Veterans Code, Penal Code, Probate Code, Public Contract Code, Public Resources Code, Public Utilities Code, Revenue and Taxation Code, Streets and Highways Code, Unemployment Insurance Code, Vehicle Code, Water Code, Welfare and Institutions Code. The user must select the proper abbreviation from a drop down menu to do so. For example, Penal Code = PEN. Plus, by clicking the buttons on the top of the page one may access a variety of related governmental articles. A code is merely a collection of laws on a topic. Vigilance!
Bloom! 