Understanding the structure of our government is a key to
being able to find the law. The United States Constitution sets out how the
three branches of government are organized and work together at the federal
level. The Massachusetts Constitution delineates the workings of three branches
at the state level.
At the Federal
level, the U.S. Congress (the legislative branch) passes Public Laws in
numerical order in two year sessions. These session laws are then organized by
subject and codified into the U.S. Code, available from www.thomas.gov. The many agencies of the
executive branch promulgate regulations that are published in the Code of Federal Regulations. The United States district courts (the judicial branch)
are the trial courts of the federal court system. The 94 U.S. judicial
districts are organized into 12 regional circuits, each of which has a United
States Court of Appeals. Massachusetts is in the First Circuit. The U.S.Supreme Court is the highest tribunal for all cases and controversies arising
under the Constitution or the laws of the United States, and as such is the
final arbiter of the law.
On the state level,
Massachusetts legislative branch’s session laws are known as the Acts and
Resolves. Our current codification is called the Massachusetts General Laws.
Both are available at the General Court’s (a.k.a. Legislature’s) website. As
with the federal material, the Commonwealth’s executive branch agencies
promulgate regulations collectively known as the Code of Massachusetts Regulations. The Massachusetts Court System consists of seven Trial Courts and two appellate courts (the
Massachusetts Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court). Appellate court decisions are considered precedential and they are published and available on
the web.
At the local level,
municipal bylaws and ordinances have the force of law, with their authority
derived from the statutes (Mass. General Laws). They are indexed by city and
town when available at http://www.lawlib.state.ma.us/source/mass/bylaws.html.
Knowing whether the
law that you are looking for comes from the legislative, executive or judicial
branch is a great help in being able to find it.
