1. Statutory and administrative law COMM 502, January 12, 2011

2. New office hours:M 10:30 – 12:30 pmW 2 – 4 pmor by appt

3. What is law?

4. Why do we need laws?

5. [How are laws enforced??]

6. Who makes laws?

8. Constitutional Law

9. Common Law

10. Equity Law

11. Administrative rules

13. Statutory law Statutory law (statutes) is created by elective legislative bodies at the local, state and federal levels

14. example 18 USCS § 1460 § 1460. Possession with intent to sell, and sale, of obscene matter on Federal property (a) Whoever ... knowingly sells or possesses with intent to sell an obscene visual depiction shall be punished by a fine in accordance with the provisions of this title or imprisoned for not more than 2 years, or both. (b) For the purposes of this section, the term "visual depiction" includes undeveloped film and videotape but does not include mere words.

16. Deals with problems affecting the entire society (or very large groups)

19. U.S. congress Federalism: Each state represented in the national government People represented through the states ...

20. U.S. congress House of Representatives (435) + Senate (2 per state) CA: 53

21. How does Congress know what are the important problems that need regulating?

22. Congressional committees

23. Congressional Hearinghttp://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/UniversalT

25. Senate also needs to pass the bill

27. Statutory construction:The courts interpret terms from the statute

28. E.g. what constitutes “obscenity”

29. How do the Courts know what Congress meant??

30. States and cities also make laws applicable to state or city populations, also interpreted by the courts

31. ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

32. Administrative lawRegulations made by administrative agencies

33. What is an administrative agency?

34. Body that oversees particular areas that require specialized expertise in order to be governed

35. Federal Communication Commission (1934)all non-federal government use of the radio spectrum and all interstate telecommunication

37. Appointed by President

38. Confirmed by Senate

39. 5-yr term

41. Federal Trade Commission (1914)promotes consumer protection, prevents harmful anti-competitive business practices

43. Appointed by President

44. Confirmed by Senate

45. 7-yr term

47. Administrative agencies set standards in the areas they are in charge of

48. E.g., which parts of the spectrum is available for television broadcast

49. Administrative agencies make regulations in the areas they are in charge of

50. E.g.Indecent words shall be prohibited from broadcasts

51. E.g.There shall be a do-not-call national database

52. How do the agencies know what to regulate?

53. Courts have limited power to review decisions by administrative agencies

55. Statutory law

56. The role of the courts

57. Administrative agencies

58. FCC

59. FTC

60. Role of the courts