March 3, 2010
TO: Senior Paralegal
FROM: Shaimah Hoosein
RE: Memorandum of Sources of Law

You requested an explanation and example of how the law is derived from the four main sources of law namely statutory, administrative, constitutional and case law. Please take a moment to review my research. I hope this has met your expectations.

Statutory Laws:
Statutory laws are a set of written rules set down by the legislature. They are published in several forms by different publishers. Both the U.S Congress and the State legislatures enact these statutes either by bill or by joint resolution. Federal statutes take precedence over state statutes and state statutes over the common law. Statutory laws are inferior to constitutional laws and courts have to power to declare them unconstitutional. These laws are codified under titles describing areas of action to which they pertain to. If a statutory law needs to be cited in court, the official edition published by the Government Printing Office is used. A statutory citation has a volume number, the abbreviation “stat.” for Statutes at Large, and the page number where the law begins.

For Example:

Fla. Stat. § 776.013 (2009)

§ 776.013. Home protection; use of deadly force; presumption of fear of death or great bodily harm

This statute was used in the case:

State v. Smiley, 944 So. 2d 1027, 1028 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). Case No. SC06-1237

Overview:

In 2004, Mr. Smiley was charged with first-degree premeditated murder of Jimmie Morningstar, an occupant of his cab. He argued self-defense under the Florida statute § 776.013(3), Fla. Stat. (2005).

Outcome:

The outcome of the case was that the decision in the Fourth District was approved and the case was remanded with instructions to return the matter to the trial court.

Administrative Laws:

Administrative laws are a body of rules,