4 ms·

There's actually a group working on this exact thing at the federal level -- https://congressionaldata.org/bulk-data-task-force-reports-major-strides-at-october

There's actually a group working on this exact thing at the federal level -- https://congressionaldata.org/bulk-data-task-force-reports-major-strides-at-october-2019-meeting/ https://congressionaldata.org/bulk-data-task-force-reports-m... It's a pretty complex task, especially at the state level where there often aren't consistent plaintext publishings, or in some cases even digital versions of the effected code/regulations.

xg15 7y ago
I wonder, how are all the "change this text in this other paragraph" laws carried out then? Wouldn't at least the courts need a "current" version of all laws with all modifications applied?
- showerst 7y ago
  (IANAL but I do work with digital legal data) — depends on the jurisdiction. Generally the bills that change legal codes are timed to take effect all in the same near-future date, and so a new “printing” is issued. How often this happens varies, but can be as little as once a year. In the cases where a law is immediately effected, judges and lawyers are smart and read the news, and services like lexis have alerting. The main legal providers will also “patch” things in themselves in advance of printings, and do change sets and redlines by hand. Oftentimes bills instruct regulatory agencies to do things, which is a process that includes lots of published notice.
dragonwriter 7y ago
> It's a pretty complex task, especially at the state level where there often aren't consistent plaintext publishings, or in some cases even digital versions of the effected code/regulations. There are pretty much always digital versions, though they may not be freely available to the public or licenses in a way which would permit using them as a basis. (Lexis/Nexis has them, with change history, links to relevant case law, etc., etc., etc.)

4 ms·

There's actually a group working on this exact thing at the federal level -- https://congressionaldata.org/bulk-data-task-force-reports-major-strides-at-october

by showerst 7y ago

xg15 7y ago
I wonder, how are all the "change this text in this other paragraph" laws carried out then? Wouldn't at least the courts need a "current" version of all laws with all modifications applied?
- showerst 7y ago
  (IANAL but I do work with digital legal data) — depends on the jurisdiction. Generally the bills that change legal codes are timed to take effect all in the same near-future date, and so a new “printing” is issued. How often this happens varies, but can be as little as once a year. In the cases where a law is immediately effected, judges and lawyers are smart and read the news, and services like lexis have alerting. The main legal providers will also “patch” things in themselves in advance of printings, and do change sets and redlines by hand. Oftentimes bills instruct regulatory agencies to do things, which is a process that includes lots of published notice.
dragonwriter 7y ago
> It's a pretty complex task, especially at the state level where there often aren't consistent plaintext publishings, or in some cases even digital versions of the effected code/regulations. There are pretty much always digital versions, though they may not be freely available to the public or licenses in a way which would permit using them as a basis. (Lexis/Nexis has them, with change history, links to relevant case law, etc., etc., etc.)