Introduction to Special Issue: Determining Legislative Intent in State Courts, Selected Methods and Sources

摘要

First, a confession: I love everything about legislative histories-the mechanistic process of identifying and compiling legislative documents generated by a bill making its way through the maze of Congressional activity; the jurisprudential theories on whether, and to what extent, courts should use those documents to interpret statutes and ascertain legislative intent; and the idea that legislative history documents represent the collective effort of our legislators working together for the societal good to find solutions to problems that affect the lives of millions of people.