Public Understanding of United States Federal Law Open Access

Abstract

Low levels of public understanding of federal law place American citizens at risk for falling victim to ignorance of the law. As the U.S. Supreme Court precedent regarding ignorance of the law is unclear, citizens must arm themselves with knowledge of federal laws. By learning about federal laws that typical citizens come in contact with regularly, Americans can protect themselves from inadvertently breaking the law and prepare themselves to join the conversation regarding the future of federal law. After all, if citizens are ignorant about the hundreds of laws Congress makes annually, how can they be sure they agree with the laws and abide by them? To increase public understanding of the law, the government must focus on improving the Office of the Law Revision Counsel website, which hosts the United States Code. The government should shift its resources from merely publications of federal law to comprehensive educational resources to help citizens understand the laws that affect them. By creating online educational tools to teach citizens about federal law, the government will transform public understanding of federal law, improve civic engagement, and protect its citizens from the danger of ignorance of the law.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface............................................................................................................................................. 1

Chapter 1: Ignorance of the Law.................................................................................................... 2

The Tolls of Ignorance of the Law and Vague Legislation................................................ 2

The Structure of Regulatory Power in the United States Government............................... 6

United States Supreme Court Precedent Regarding Ignorance of the Law........................ 9

Chapter 2: Communication of the Law through the Office of the Law Revision Counsel.......... 21

The Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives..................... 21

Defining the United States Code....................................................................................... 21

The Process of Creating a Law......................................................................................... 22

The Founding and Organization of the United States Code............................................. 23

The Digital and Pre-Digital Communication of United States Code................................ 27

Office of the Law Revision Counsel Public Service: Website Resources........................ 29

Office of the Law Revision Counsel Public Service: Digital Inquires............................. 36

Office of Law Revision Counsel Website as a Legal Communication Resource............. 38

Part I: Ease of Navigation of the Code................................................................. 39

Part II: Explanation of the Meaning and Limits of the Code................................ 43

Part III: Accessibility for User Inquiries............................................................... 47

Part IV: User Engagement.................................................................................... 50

Increasing Public Understanding of Federal Law............................................................. 54

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Interdisciplinary Studies in Society and Culture
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Education, Policy Political Science, General Law
Keyword	OLRC communication of law public knowledge website design public understanding of law mistake of law webdesign communication history of US Code ignorance of the law political science and law United States Code federal law education understanding of law office of the law revision counsel knowledge of law US Code federal law communication history of Code public knowledge of law understanding US Code education of law understanding of federal law US Code education knowledge of US law
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Shomade, Salmon, Emory University
Committee Members	Trapp, Joonna, Emory University Loudermilk, Kim, Emory University

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