To prepare for this Assignment:

Reflect on the challenges of interpreting laws and the role of courts in interpreting regulations.

Find one regulation from your state, city, or county’s body of regulatory or executive orders to use.

Consider what is explicit and what is vague or ambiguous about the regulation as written. Think about how you might argue that this policy should be reformed.

Two Parts:

1. (2 pages)

Briefly describe the state regulation you chose in the first paragraph.

Explain how you would interpret the regulation. Here is where you might address ambiguities (if any). Be specific.

Explain how the regulation should be reformed. Be specific.

2. (1-2 pages) Open Letter to Town Hall.

Justify your reasons for reform and how that reform will change the community in an open letter that will be read at the Town Hall.

Support your response using the Learning Resources and other scholarly resources.

Articles

Stack, K. M. (2012). Interpreting regulations. Michigan Law Review, 111(3), 355–422.

Article: Nou, J. (2015). Regulatory textualism. Duke Law Journal, 65, 81–150. Retrieved from http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cg…

Healy, M. (2014). The past, present and future of Auer deference: Mead, form and function in judicial review of agency interpretations of regulations. Kansas Law Review, 62, 633. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2298806.

Websites

Cornell University Law School: Listing by Jurisdiction

http://www.law.cornell.edu/states/listing.html

WashLaw: Legal Research on the Web

http://www.washlaw.edu/

Optional Resources

Articles

Freilich, R. H., & Popowitz, N. M. (2012). Oil and gas fracking: State and federal regulation does not preempt needed local government regulation. Urban Lawyer, 44(3), 533–575. Retrieved from http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://sea…

Aspen Publishers. (2008). EPA’s questions and answers provide regulatory insight. Hazardous Waste Consultant, 26(5), 2.19–2.29.