No one ever said that the United States law was easy or straightforward. That’s particularly true when it comes to federal and state statutes and regulations that have in been in place for many years. Luckily there are services where you can go to get all the information that might be needed about federal statutes in any given situation.

Many of the legal documents and rules have been around since the 1700’s, so it’s no surprise that they can be hard to contact or understand. Occasionally old laws stop being relevant and have to be written, but understandably there can also be a middle period where learning how to navigate those laws is crucial. Attorneys and court personnel frequently require the help of outside sources to make sure that they’re interpreting the law in the right way or to find loopholes for a law that no longer serves their client.

One aspect of this is legislative intent. Legislative intent refers to the intention that was in place when a law was first enacted, which might be slightly different than how it would be read if the law was drafted today. Legislative intent has been considered when understanding a law for the past 100 years, and it is unlikely to end anytime soon. Occasional this ends up leading to a constitutional amendment, of which there have been 27. Although amending a law is not as simple as making it through congress. A rewrite also requires that three-quarters of the states agree to the law change as well. When that happens then a new amendment can be drawn up and basically rewrites the constitution.

If a statute is very clear or straightforward than legislative intent is not necessarily considered. But when the state rules are unclear or leave out key details for it to make sense then judicial interpretation is often utilized to come to the proper outcome. The United States code legislative history might be complex, but it also aims to be fair. The federal statutes should be looked at carefully with the help of additional professionals when there are any questions about what the law might mean.