The critical legal studies school of jurisprudence believes that

CHAPTER 1 Legal Heritage and the Digital Age

Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor

The Statue of Liberty stands majestically in New York Harbor. During the American Revolution, France gave the colonial patriots substantial support in the form of money for equipment and supplies, officers and soldiers who fought in the war, and ships and sailors who fought on the seas. Without the assistance of France, it is unlikely that the American colonists would have won their independence from Britain. In 1886, the people of France gave the Statue of Liberty to the people of the United States in recognition of friendship that was established during the American Revolution. Since then, the Statue of Liberty has become a symbol of liberty and democracy throughout the world.

Learning Objectives

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Define law.

2. Describe the functions of law.

3. Explain the development of the U.S. legal system.

4. List and describe the sources of law in the United States.

5. Discuss the importance of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education.

Chapter Outline

1. Introduction to Legal Heritage and the Digital Age

2. What Is Law?

1. Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Case • Brown v. Board of Education

3. Schools of Jurisprudential Thought

1. CASE 1.1 • U.S. Supreme Court Case • POM Wonderful LLC v. Coca-Cola Company

2. Global Law • Command School of Jurisprudence of Cuba

4. History of American Law

1. Landmark Law • Adoption of English Common Law in the United States

2. Global Law • Civil Law System of France and Germany

5. Sources of Law in the United States

1. Contemporary Environment • How a Bill Becomes Law

2. Digital Law • Law of the Digital Age

6. Critical Legal Thinking

1. CASE 1.2 • U.S. Supreme Court Case • Shelby County, Texas v. Holder

“ Where there is no law, there is no freedom.”

—John Locke Second Treatise of Government, Sec. 57

Introduction to Legal Heritage and the Digital Age

In the words of Judge Learned Hand, “Without law we cannot live; only with it can we insure the future which by right is ours. The best of men’s hopes are enmeshed in its success.” 1 Every society makes and enforces laws that govern the conduct of the individuals, businesses, and other organizations that function within it.

Although the law of the United States is based primarily on English common law, other legal systems, such as Spanish and French civil law, also influence it. The sources of law in this country are the U.S. Constitution, state constitutions, federal and state statutes, ordinances, administrative agency rules and regulations, executive orders, and judicial decisions by federal and state courts.

Human beings do not ever make laws; it is the accidents and catastrophes of all kinds happening in every conceivable way that make law for us.

Plato

Laws IV, 709

Businesses that are organized in the United States are subject to its laws. They are also subject to the laws of other countries in which they operate. Businesses organized in other countries must obey the laws of the United States when doing business here. In addition, businesspeople owe a duty to act ethically in the conduct of their affairs, and businesses owe a responsibility not to harm society.

This chapter discusses the nature and definition of law, theories about the development of law, and the history and sources of law in the United St

What Is Law?

The law consists of rules that regulate the conduct of individuals, businesses, and other organizations in society. It is intended to protect persons and their property against unwanted interference from others. In other words, the law forbids persons from engaging in certain undesirable activities. Consider the following passage:

A lawyer without history or literature is a mechanic, a mere working mason: if he possesses some knowledge of these, he may venture to call himself an architect.

Sir Walter Scott

Guy Mannering, Ch. 37 (1815)

Hardly anyone living in a civilized society has not at some time been told to do something or to refrain from doing something, because there is a law requiring it, or because it is against the law. What do we mean when we say such things?

At the end of the 18th century, Immanuel Kant wrote of the question “What is law?” that it “may be said to be about as embarrassing to the jurist as the well-known question ‘What is truth?’ is to the logician.” 2

Definition of

The concept of law is broad. Although it is difficult to state a precise definition, Black’s Law Dictionary gives one that is sufficient for this text:

law

That which must be obeyed and followed by citizens, subject to sanctions or legal consequences; a body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by controlling authority and having binding legal force.

Law, in its generic sense, is a body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by controlling authority, and having binding legal force. That which must be obeyed and followed by citizens subject to sanctions or legal consequences is a law. 3

Functions of the Law

The law is often described by the function it serves in a society. The primary functions served by the law in this country are the following:

Commercial law lies within a narrow compass, and is far purer and freer from defects than any other part of the system.

Henry Peter Brougham

House of Commons, February 7, 1828

1. Keeping the peace

Example

Some laws make certain activities crimes.

2. Shaping moral standards

Example

Some laws discourage drug and alcohol abuse.

3. Promoting social justice

Example

Some laws prohibit discrimination in employment.

4. Maintaining the status quo

Example

Some laws prevent the forceful overthrow of the government.

5. Facilitating orderly change

Example

Laws are enacted only after considerable study, debate, and public input.

6. Facilitating planning

Example

Well-designed commercial laws allow businesses to plan their activities, allocate their productive resources, and assess the risks they take.

7. Providing a basis for compromise

Example

Laws allow for the settlement of cases prior to trial. Approximately 95 percent of all lawsuits are settled in this manner.

8. Maximizing individual freedom

Example

The rights of freedom of speech, religion, and association are granted by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

CONCEPT SUMMARY Functions of the Law

1. Keep the peace

1. 5. Facilitate orderly change

1. 2. Shape moral standards

1. 6. Facilitate planning

1. 3. Promote social justice

1. 7. Provide a basis for compromise

1. 4. Maintain the status quo

1. 8. Maximize individual freedom

Fairness of the Law

On the whole, the U.S. legal system is one of the most comprehensive, fair, and democratic systems of law ever developed and enforced. Nevertheless, some misuses and oversights of our legal system—including abuses of discretion and mistakes by judges and juries, unequal applications of the law, and procedural mishaps—allow some guilty parties to go unpunished.

The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges.

Anatole France

Example

In Standefer v. United States, 4 Chief Justice Warren Burger of the U.S. Supreme Court stated, “This case does no more than manifest the simple, if discomforting, reality that different juries may reach different results under any criminal statute. That is one of the consequences we accept under our jury system.”

Flexibility of the Law

U.S. law evolves and changes along with the norms of society, technology, and the growth and expansion of commerce in the United States and the world. The following quote by Judge Jerome Frank discusses the value of the adaptability of law:

Law must be stable and yet it cannot stand still.

Roscoe Pound

Interpretations of Legal History (1923)

The law always has been, is now, and will ever continue to be, largely vague and variable. And how could this be otherwise? The law deals with human relations in their most complicated aspects. The whole confused, shifting helter-skelter of life parades before it—more confused than ever, in our kaleidoscopic age.

Critical Legal Thinking

1. Are there any benefits for the law being “vague and variable”? Are bright-line tests possible for the law? Explain the statement, “Much of the uncertainty of law is not an unfortunate accident; it is of immense social value.”

The constant development of unprecedented problems requires a legal system capable of fluidity and pliancy. Our society would be straightjacketed were not the courts, with the able assistance of the lawyers, constantly overhauling the law and adapting it to the realities of ever-changing social, industrial, and political conditions; although changes cannot be made lightly, yet rules of law must be more or less impermanent, experimental and therefore not nicely calculable.

Much of the uncertainty of law is not an unfortunate accident; it is of immense social value. 5

A landmark U.S. Supreme Court case—Brown v. Board of Education—is discussed in the following feature. This case shows the flexibility of the law because the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a past decision of the U.S. Supreme Court.

LANDMARK U.S. SUPREME COURT CASE Equal Protection Brown v. Board of Education

“We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place.”

—Warren, Justice

Slavery was abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1865. The Fourteenth Amendment, added to the Constitution in 1868, contains the Equal Protection Clause, which provides that no state shall “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” The original intent of this amendment was to guarantee equality to freed African Americans. But equality was denied to African Americans for years. This included discrimination in housing, transportation, education, jobs, service at restaurants, and other activities.

In 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the case Plessy v. Ferguson. 6 In that case, the state of Louisiana had a law that provided for separate but equal accommodations for African American and white railway passengers. The Supreme Court held that the “separate but equal” state law did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The “separate but equal” doctrine was then applied to all areas of life, including public education. Thus, African American and white children attended separate schools, often with unequal facilities.

It was not until 1954 that the U.S. Supreme Court decided a case that challenged the “separate but equal” doctrine as it applied to public elementary and high schools. In Brown v. Board of Education , a consolidated case that challenged the separate school systems of four states—Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware—the Supreme Court decided to revisit the “separate but equal” doctrine announced by its forbearers in another century. This time, a unanimous Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Chief Justice Earl Warren, reversed prior precedent and held that the separate but equal doctrine violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. In its opinion, the Court stated,

Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of “separate but equal” has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.

After Brown v. Board of Education was decided, it took court orders as well as U.S. army enforcement to integrate many of the public schools in this country. Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483, 74 S.Ct. 686, 1954 U.S. Lexis 2094 (Supreme Court of the United States, 1954).

WEB EXERCISE

To view court documents related to Brown v. Board of Education, go to www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-brown.html .

Critical Legal Thinking Questions

1. It has been said that the U.S. Constitution is a “living document”—that is, one that can adapt to changing times. Do you think this is a good policy? Or should the U.S. Constitution be interpreted narrowly and literally, as originally written?

Schools of Jurisprudential Thought

The philosophy or science of the law is referred to as jurisprudence . There are several different philosophies about how the law developed, ranging from the classical natural theory to modern theories of law and economics and critical legal studies. Classical legal philosophies are discussed in the following paragraphs.

jurisprudence

The philosophy or science of law.

Natural Law School

The Natural Law School of jurisprudence postulates that the law is based on what is “correct.” Natural law philosophers emphasize a moral theory of law —that is, law should be based on morality and ethics. Natural law is “discovered” by humans through the use of reason and choosing between good and evil.

The law is not a series of calculating machines where definitions and answers come tumbling out when the right levers are pushed.

William O. Douglas

Dissent, A Safeguard of Democracy (1948)

Examples

Documents such as the U.S. Constitution, the Magna Carta, and the United Nations Charter reflect this theory.

The following U.S. Supreme Court case involves the moral theory of law and the issue of ethics.

CASE 1.1 U.S. SUPREME COURT CASE Moral Theory of Law and Ethics POM Wonderful LLC v. Coca-Cola Company

134 S.Ct. 2228, 2014 U.S. Lexis 4165 (2014) Supreme Court of the United States

“Lanham Act suits provide incentives for manufacturers to behave well.”

—Kennedy, Justice

Facts

POM Wonderful, LLC (POM) is a grower of pomegranates, a fruit, and a maker and distributor of pomegranate juice and juice blends. POM produces and sells a pomegranate-blueberry juice blend that consists of 85% pomegranate and 15% blueberry juices.

The Coca-Cola Company’s Minute Maid Division makes a juice blend sold with a label that, in describing the contents, displays the words “pomegranate blueberry” with far more prominence than other words on the label. In truth, Coca-Cola’s pomegranate blueberry juice is made of five different juices, and contains but 0.3% pomegranate, 0.2% blueberry juice, and 0.1% raspberry juice. The Coca-Cola pomegranate blueberry juice is actually made with 99.4% apple and grape juices.

Despite the minuscule amount of pomegranate and blueberry juices in the blend, the front label of the Coca-Cola product displays the words “POMEGRANATE” and “BLUEBERRY” in all capital letters on two separate lines. Below those words, Coca-Cola placed the phrase “flavored blend of 5 juices” in much smaller type. And below that phrase, in still smaller type, were the words “from concentrate with added ingredients”—and, with a line break before the final phrase—“and other natural flavors.” Coca-Cola’s front label also displays a vignette of blueberries, grapes, and raspberries in front of a halved pomegranate and a halved apple.

POM sued Coca-Cola under Section 43 of the federal Lanham Act, which allows one competitor to sue another to recover damages for unfair competition arising from false and misleading product descriptions. Coca-Cola tried to avoid POM’s lawsuit by asserting that the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), a federal statute that protects the safety of food products, did not require any different labeling. The U.S. district court and the U.S. court of appeals held in favor of Coca-Cola. POM appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Issue

Can a private party bring an unfair competition lawsuit under the Lanham Act against a competitor that challenges the truthfulness of a food label?

Language of the U.S. Supreme Court

The Lanham Act creates a cause of action for unfair competition through misleading advertising and labeling. Coca-Cola is incorrect that the best way to harmonize the statutes is to bar POM’s Lanham Act claim. By serving a distinct compensatory function that may motivate injured persons to come forward, Lanham Act suits provide incentives for manufacturers to behave well.

Decision

The U.S. Supreme Court held that the POM may proceed with its Lanham Act unfair competition lawsuit against Coca-Cola and remanded the case for further proceedings.

Ethics Questions

1. Do you think that Coca-Cola was trying to trick consumers into buying cheap apple-grape juice by labeling it pomegranate blueberry juice? Do you think Coca-Cola acted ethically in this case?

Historical School

The Historical School of jurisprudence believes that the law is an aggregate of social traditions and customs that have developed over the centuries. It believes that changes in the norms of society will gradually be reflected in the law. To these legal philosophers, the law is an evolutionary process.

Example

Historical legal scholars look to past legal decisions (precedent) to solve contemporary problems.

Analytical School

The Analytical School of jurisprudence maintains that the law is shaped by logic. Analytical philosophers believe that results are reached by applying principles of logic to the specific facts of a case. The emphasis is on the logic of the result rather than on how the result is reached.

Even when laws have been written down, they ought not always to remain unaltered.

Aristotle

Example

If the U.S. Constitution would have freed the slaves or granted females the right to vote, it would not have been ratified by the states in 1788.

Sociological School

The Sociological School of jurisprudence asserts that the law is a means of achieving and advancing certain sociological goals. The followers of this philosophy, known as realists, believe that the purpose of law is to shape social behavior. Sociological philosophers are unlikely to adhere to past law as precedent.

Examples

Laws that make discrimination in employment illegal and laws that impose penalties for drunk driving reflect this theory.

Command School

The philosophers of the Command School of jurisprudence believe that the law is a set of rules developed, communicated, and enforced by the ruling party rather than a reflection of the society’s morality, history, logic, or sociology. This school maintains that law changes when the ruling class changes.

Example

During certain military conflicts, such as World War II and the Vietnam War, the federal government has enacted draft laws that require men of a certain age to serve in the military if they meet certain physical and other requirements.

Critical Legal Studies School

The Critical Legal Studies School proposes that legal rules are unnecessary and are used as an obstacle by the powerful to maintain the status quo. Critical legal theorists argue that legal disputes should be solved by applying arbitrary rules that are based on broad notions of what is “fair” in each circumstance. Under this theory, subjective decision making by judges would be permitted.

Example

This school postulates that rape laws often make it difficult for women to prove legally that they have been raped because these laws have mostly been drafted from a male’s perspective. Therefore, says this school, these laws should be ignored and the judge should be free to decide whether rape has occurred in his or her subjective decision making.

Law and Economics School

The Law and Economics School believes that promoting market efficiency should be the central goal of legal decision making. This school is also called the Chicago School, named after the University of Chicago, where it was first developed.

Example

Proponents of the law and economics theory suggest that the federal government’s policy of subsidizing housing—by a law that permits a portion of interest paid on mortgage loans to be deducted from an individual borrower’s federal income taxes and laws that created government-sponsored enterprises (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) that purchase low-rate interest mortgages made by banks and other lending institutions—provide incentives so that too many homes are built. If these laws did not exist, then the free market would determine the exact number of homes that should be built.

CONCEPT SUMMARY Schools of Jurisprudential Thought

School

Philosophy

Natural Law

Postulates that law is based on what is “correct.” It emphasizes a moral theory of law—that is, law should be based on morality and ethics.

Historical

Believes that law is an aggregate of social traditions and customs.

Analytical

Maintains that law is shaped by logic.

Sociological

Asserts that the law is a means of achieving and advancing certain sociological goals.

Command

Believes that the law is a set of rules developed, communicated, and enforced by the ruling party.

Critical Legal Studies

Maintains that legal rules are unnecessary and that legal disputes should be solved by applying arbitrary rules based on fairness.

Law and Economics

Believes that promoting market efficiency should be the central concern of legal decision making.

The following feature discusses the Command School of jurisprudence of Cuba.

Global Law Command School of Jurisprudence of

Havana, Cuba

Cuba is an island nation located in the Caribbean Sea less than 100 miles south of Key West, Florida. In 1959, Fidel Castro led a revolution that displaced the existing dictatorial government. Castro installed a communist government that expropriated and nationalized much private property. The communist government installed a one-party rule over the country and installed a command economy and system of jurisprudence. More than One million Cubans fled the island to the United States, where many created a thriving community and economy in Miami, Florida. Under a state-controlled planned economy based on socialist principles, the production of goods and food items in Cuba fell substantially, and major shortages of houses, medical supplies, and other goods and services occurred. After more than five decades of a command economy, Cuba is permitting limited free-market measures, but 90 percent of workers are still employed by the government.

History of American Law
When the American colonies were first settled, the English system of law was generally adopted as the system of jurisprudence. This was the foundation from which American judges developed a common law in America.

English Common Law
English common law was law developed by judges who issued their opinions when deciding cases. The principles announced in these cases became precedent for later judges deciding similar cases. The English common law can be divided into cases decided by the law courts, equity courts, and merchant courts.

English common law

Law developed by judges who issue their opinions when deciding a case. The principles announced in these cases became precedent for later judges deciding similar cases.

Law Courts
Prior to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, each locality in England was subject to local laws, as established by the lord or chieftain in control of a local area. There was no countrywide system of law. After 1066, William the Conqueror and his successors to the throne of England began to replace the various local laws with one uniform system of law. To accomplish this, the king or queen appointed loyal followers as judges in all local areas. These judges were charged with administering the law in a uniform manner, in courts that were called law courts. Law at that time tended to emphasize the form (legal procedure) over the substance (merit) of a case. The only relief available at law courts was a monetary award for damages.

Chancery (Equity) Courts
Because of some unfair results and limited remedies available in the law courts, a second set of courts—the Court of Chancery (or equity court)—was established. These courts were under the authority of the Lord Chancellor. Persons who believed that the decision of a law court was unfair or believed that the law court could not grant an appropriate remedy could seek relief in the Court of Chancery. Rather than emphasize legal procedure, the chancery court inquired into the merits of the case. The chancellor’s remedies were called equitable remedies because they were shaped to fit each situation. Equitable orders and remedies of the Court of Chancery took precedence over the legal decisions and remedies of the law courts.

Two things most people should never see made: sausages and laws.

An old saying

Merchant Courts
As trade developed during the Middle Ages, merchants who traveled about England and Europe developed certain rules to solve their commercial disputes. These rules, known as the “law of merchants,” or the Law Merchant , were based on common trade practices and usage. Eventually, a separate set of courts was established to administer these rules. This court was called the Merchant Court . In the early 1900s, the Merchant Court was absorbed into the regular law court system of England.

The following feature discusses the adoption of English common law in the United States.

Landmark Law Adoption of English Common Law in the United States
All the states—except Louisiana—of the United States of America base their legal systems primarily on the English common law. In the United States, the law, equity, and merchant courts have been merged. Thus, most U.S. courts permit the aggrieved party to seek both legal and equitable orders and remedies.

The importance of common law to the American legal system is described in the following excerpt from Justice Douglas’s opinion in the 1841 case Penny v. Little:

The common law is a beautiful system, containing the wisdom and experiences of ages. Like the people it ruled and protected, it was simple and crude in its infancy and became enlarged, improved, and polished as the nation advanced in civilization, virtue, and intelligence. Adapting itself to the conditions and circumstances of the people and relying upon them for its administration, it necessarily improved as the condition of the people was elevated. The inhabitants of this country always claimed the common law as their birthright, and at an early period established it as the basis of their jurisprudence. 7

Currently, the law of the United States is a combination of law created by the judicial system and by congressional legislation.

The following feature discusses the development of the civil law system in Europe.

Global Law Civil Law System of France and Germany
One of the major legal systems that developed in the world in addition to the Anglo-American common law system is the Romano-Germanic civil law system . This legal system, which is commonly called the civil law , dates to 450 BCE, when Rome adopted the Twelve Tables, a code of laws applicable to the Romans. A compilation of Roman law, called the Corpus Juris Civilis (“Body of Civil Law”), was completed in CE 534. Later, two national codes—the French Civil Code of 1804 (the Napoleonic Code) and the German Civil Code of 1896 —became models for countries that adopted civil codes.

In contrast to the Anglo-American law, in which laws are created by the judicial system as well as by congressional legislation, the civil code and parliamentary statutes are the sole sources of the law in most civil law countries. Thus, the adjudication of a case is simply the application of the code or the statutes to a particular set of facts. In some civil law countries, court decisions do not have the force of law.

Many countries in Europe still follow the civil law system.

Sources of Law in the United States

In the more than 200 years since the founding of the United States and adoption of the English common law, the lawmakers of this country have developed a substantial body of law. The sources of modern law in the United States are discussed in the paragraphs that follow.

Constitutions

The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the land. This means that any law—whether federal, state, or local—that conflicts with the U.S. Constitution is unconstitutional and therefore unenforceable.

Constitution of the United States of America

The supreme law of the United States.

The principles enumerated in the U.S. Constitution are extremely broad because the founding fathers intended them to be applied to evolving social, technological, and economic conditions. The U.S. Constitution is often referred to as a “living document” because it is so adaptable.

The U.S. Constitution established the structure of the federal government. It created three branches of government and gave them the following powers:

The Constitution of the United States is not a mere lawyers’ document: it is a vehicle of life, and its spirit is always the spirit of age.

Woodrow Wilson

Constitutional Government in the United States (1927)

· The legislative branch (Congress) has the power to make (enact) the law.

· The executive branch (president) has the power to enforce the law.

· The judicial branch (courts) has the power to interpret and determine the validity of the law.

Powers not given to the federal government by the Constitution are reserved for the states. States also have their own constitutions. State constitutions are often patterned after the U.S. Constitution, although many are more detailed. State constitutions establish the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of state government and establish the powers of each branch. Provisions of state constitutions are valid unless they conflict with the U.S. Constitution or any valid federal law.

Treaties

The U.S. Constitution provides that the president, with the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate, may enter into treaties with foreign governments. Treaties become part of the supreme law of the land. With increasing international economic relations among nations, treaties will become an even more important source of law that will affect business in the future.

treaty

A compact made between two or more nations.

Federal Statutes

Statutes are written laws that establish certain courses of conduct that covered parties must adhere to. The U.S. Congress is empowered by the Commerce Clause and other provisions of the U.S. Constitution to enact federal statutes to regulate foreign and interstate commerce.

U.S. Congress, Washington DC

The U.S. Congress, which is a bicameral system made up of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, creates federal law by enacting statutes. Each state has two senators and is allocated a certain number of representatives based on population.

statute

Written law enacted by the legislative branch of the federal and state governments that establishes certain courses of conduct that covered parties must adhere to.

Examples

The federal Clean Water Act regulates the quality of water and restricts water pollution. The federal Securities Act of 1933 regulates the issuance of securities. The federal National Labor Relations Act establishes the right of employees to form and join labor organizations.

Federal statutes are organized by topic into code books . This is often referred to as codified law . Federal statutes can be found in these hardcopy books and online.

The following feature describes how a bill becomes law.

Contemporary Environment How a Bill Becomes Law

The U.S. Congress is composed of two chambers, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate . Thousands of bills are introduced in the U.S. Congress each year, but only a small percentage of them become law. The process of legislation at the federal level is as follows:

1. A member of the U.S. House of Representatives or U.S. Senate introduces a bill in his or her chamber . The bill is assigned a number: “H.R. [number]” for House bills and “S [number]” for Senate bills. The bill is printed in the public Congressional Record. The bill is available in hardcopy and on the Internet. All bills for raising revenue must originate in the U.S. House of Representatives.

2. The bill is referred to the appropriate committee for review and study. The committee can do the following: (1) reject the bill; (2) report it to the full chamber for vote; (3) simply not act on it, in which case the bill is said to have died in committee—many bills meet this fate; or (4) send the bill to a subcommittee for further study. A subcommittee can let the bill die or report it back to the full committee.

3. Bills that receive the vote of a committee are reported to the full chamber, where they are debated and voted on. If the bill receives a majority vote of the chamber, it is sent to the other chamber, where the previously outlined process is followed. Bills originated in one chamber often die in the other chamber. If the second chamber makes no changes in the original bill, the bill is reported for vote by that chamber. If the second chamber makes significant changes to the bill, a conference committee that is made up of members of both chambers try to reconcile the differences. If a compromised version is agreed to by the conference committee, the bill is reported for vote.