Chapter Two Notes:
Lawmaking
Pages 19-28
Key Terms:
Statutes
Supremacy Clause
Legislative Intent
Public Hearings
Trials
Appeals
Appellate Courts
More Key Terms
Precedent
Unicameral
Bicameral
Bills
Treaty
Statutes
Laws enacted by legislatures
Supremacy Clause
The provision in Article VI of Constitution
stating that U.S. laws and treaties must be
followed even if state and local laws
disagree with the Constitution.
Legislative Intent
What the lawmakers who passed the law
wanted the law to mean. If the language of a
statute is unclear, judges will often look at
the legislative intent to help them interpret
the law.
Public Hearings
Proceedings that are open to the public.
During these proceedings, evidence is
considered and then a decision is reached
based on the evidence.
Trials
Court proceedings
Appeal
To take the case to a higher court for a
rehearing.
Appellate Court
A court in which trial court decisions are
heard.
Precedent
Court decisions on legal questions that
guide future cases with similar questions
Unicameral
Having only one body of
legislature.
Nebraska is the only state
to have a unicameral
Bicameral
Having two bodies of legislature, the State
of Representatives and the State Senate.
Kansas has a bicameral legislature.
Bill
A draft of a proposed law being considered
by a legislature
Treaty
A pact between nations; if entered into by the US
through its executive branch, the pact must be
approved by “two thirds of the senators present” to
become effective.
Silly Laws
In McLough, Kansas, it's illegal
to wash your false teeth in a
public drinking fountain.
Georgia has a law prohibiting
people from saying "Oh boy" in
public.
The Georgia town of Conyers
ventures to curb speech by
prohibiting utterances of the
phrase "Two fried eggs and a
fritter for a quarter."
In Atlanta it's against the law to
tie a giraffe to a telephone pole or
a street lamp.
In Hawaii it is against the law for
you to insert pennies in your ear.
It is illegal in Idaho for a man to
give his sweetheart a box of
chocolates weighing less than 50
pounds.
In Illinois, animals can be sent to jail. A
monkey served five days in a Chicago
jail for shoplifting. Similarly, in South
Bend, Indiana, a monkey was convicted
of the crime of smoking a cigarette and
sentenced to pay a fine of $25 plus the
cost of the trial.
Women in Joliet, Illinois, can be
arrested for trying on more than
six dresses in one store.
In fire-sensitive Chicago, it is
against the law to eat in an
establishment that is on fire.
Winnetka, Illinois theater
managers can kick out any patron
who has "odoriferous feet."
An ordinance in Lawrence,
Kansas, forbids anyone to carry
bees in his hat while on the city
streets.
In Natoma, Kansas, it's against
the law to practice knife throwing
at men wearing striped suits.
Kansas state law requires
pedestrians crossing the
highways at night to wear tail
lights.
In Russell, Kansas, it is against
the law to have a musical car
horn.
No one may catch fish with his
bare hands in Kansas.
It's against the law to carry an ice
cream cone in your pocket in
Lexington, Kentucky.
In Owensboro, Kentucky, it is
illegal for a woman to buy a new
hat without her husband trying it
on first.
In Hazelhurst Mississippi, you'll
get in trouble if you carry fish
down the street..
You can't kill a squirrel with a
gun in a courtroom in Canton,
Mississippi
In Meridian Mississippi, the law
forbids you to roll a safe down
the street on its wheels.
Any city in Missouri can levy a
tax to support a band, as long as
the mayor plays piccolo and each
band member can eat peas with a
knife.
In Quemado, New Mexico, a
newspaper can be fined if it
misspells a person's name in
print.
It's against the law to walk down
the street while reading in New
York City.
In Greene, New York, it's illegal
to eat peanuts and walk backward
down the street while a concert is
on.
You can't use elephants to plow
cotton fields in North Carolina.
It's against the law in Oklahoma
to get a fish drunk.
In Seattle, goldfish can ride the
city buses in bowls only if they
keep still
End of Chapter
Two !