THE Manual ~ Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure

Mason's Manual is published by the National Conference of State Legislatures in cooperation with the American Society of Legislative Clerks and Secretaries. 

At 707 pages, calling Mason's the "bible of legislative procedure" would not be inaccurate, or boastful. Mason's tome is THE Manual. 

An effective law writer will understand the principles advanced in Mason's Manual, for that is the context and system under which one will work. Legislative bodies adopt their own rules of procedure. It is Law Writer's understanding that Mason's Manual has become the most widely used legislative procedure guide in the United States, currently in use by 77 of the 99 state legislative bodies in the United States. Thus, when the rules of procedure of a house need to be supplemented, Mason's becomes the guiding text. 

Mason's Manual is edited by NCSL every few years to update relevant legal precedents. NCSL ~ Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure

NOTE ~ Paul Mason's (1898-1985) roles in California state government included: Chief Assistant Secretary of the California Senate (1929-1932); Chief, Division of Driver's Licenses (1937-1953); Director of Motor Vehicles (1954-1958); and Legislative Secretary to Governor Goddwin Knight (1954-1958). * Before his death, Mason assigned the copyright of his manual to NCSL.  

The two other leading manuals of legislative procedure include Thomas Jefferson's Manual of the Senate and Cushing's Legislative Assemblies.

PRIMARY RESOURCE ~ MANUAL OF PARLIAMENTARY PRACTICE: for the Use of the Senate of the United States. BY THOMAS JEFFERSON. SECOND EDITION. WITH THE LAST ADDITIONS OF THE AUTHOR. GEORGE TOWN: PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH MILLIGAN; AND BY WILLIAM COOPER, WASHINGTON. 1812. Edited with an Introduction by Wilbur Samuel Howell. (Published without copyright by Princeton University Press)  Link to TEXT.

PRIMARY RESOURCE ~ Cushing's Manual of parliamentary practice for deliberative assemblies and rules of procedure in business corporation meetings. by Luther Stearns Cushing. Published in 1914, The John C. Winston Company (Philadelphia)  ~ Link to  Cushing's TEXT on Google Books.

Bill Drafting Bibliography -- The Classics

As recommended by the master drafters of the Texas legislature:

Biskind, Elliott L. Simplify Legal Writing. 2nd ed. New York: Arco, 1975. Aimed at the general practitioner. Examines the style and ambiguities of certain examples and rewrites them in proper form. A large portion is devoted to suggestions for avoiding common errors in legal writing.

Dickerson, Reed. Legislative Drafting. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1954. The bible for legislative drafting. Primarily gives answers to everyday drafting problems. [Westport: Greenwood Press, 1977. Reprint of the 1954 edition.]

Filson, Lawrence E., and Sandra L. Strokoff. The Legislative Drafter’s Desk Reference. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2008. An overview of legislative drafting concerns and considerations with an emphasis on federal statute construction. Provides statutory examples, case studies, and court decision citations to illustrate drafting principles. Also examines the dynamics between legislative and judicial branches in interpreting legislation.


Garner, Bryan A. A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. A general reference work that provides definitions of legal terms and guidance on specific points of usage.

Goldfarb, Ronald L., and James C. Raymond. Clear Understandings. New York: Random House, 1982. Demonstrates through anecdotes and examples problems common to legal writing and how to solve them. Does not address legislative drafting but is a readable and entertaining guide to improved legal expression in general.

Haggard, Thomas R. Legal Drafting in a Nutshell. St. Paul: West Publishing Co., 1996. Addresses many facets of the legal drafting process, including style and usage, construction of definitions, contract drafting, and legislative drafting.

Mehlman, Maxwell J., and Edward G. Grossman. Yale Legislative Services Handbook of Legislative Drafting. New Haven: Yale Legislative Services, 1977. Designed to provide instruction in the basic techniques of legislative drafting for nonprofessional drafters. Divided into two main sections—one section concerns word choice and sentence structure and the other concerns the parts of a bill.

Mellinkoff, David. The Language of the Law. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1963. Explores the history and usage of legal language. Well researched, understandable, and humorous. Not a guide for legal drafting but useful to improve writing and drafting skills.

Mellinkoff, David. Legal Writing: Sense and Nonsense. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1982. Provides lively instruction in ways to make legal documents more precise and readable. Does not deal specifically with legislative drafting.

Sutherland, Jabez G. Statutes and Statutory Construction. 6th ed. edited by Norman J. Singer. St. Paul: West Group, 2000. Discussion of legislative powers, constitutional regulations relative to the forms of legislation and to legislative procedure, together with an exposition at length of the principles of statutory interpretation and construction.

The HAUNTED State Library of North Carolina?

The State Library of North Carolina opened in 1812. Its Government and Heritage Library provides direct services to state government employees and to anyone with a research interest in the history, culture, geography, economy and people of North Carolina. The genealogy services are enjoyed by family researchers from all over the country and other parts of the world. The State Library serves as the repository of state government publications and is the coordinating agency of the State Data Center.

But, it it haunted????????   Haunted Carolina Website

The African-American Political Phoenix in North Carolina

This, Mr. Chairman, is perhaps the negroes’ temporary

farewell to the American Congress,

but let me say, Phoenix-like he will rise up someday and come again.

George H. White (1852-1918) --

The only African American in the 55th Congress.

George Henry White was born in Rosindale, Bladen County, North Carolina, on December 18, 1852. His mother was a slave, his father a free farmer. White had one sister. He went on to marry three times, and have four children. With African, Native-American and Irish ancestors, White's life was one true to the ideal of the American melting pot.

Mr. White graduated from Howard University in 1877 and joined the North Carolina Bar in 1879. He began law practice in New Bern. His political career began in 1880 with his election to the North Carolina House of Representatives. He went to the State Senate in 1885. Mr. White championed legislation pertaining to education, particularly laws securing funding and authorization to open black schools and provide training for black teachers. White served as solicitor and prosecuting attorney in North Carolina's second judicial district from 1886-1894.

In 1896, Mr. White was elected to Congress from what was known as the "Black Second" district, a boot-shaped area in eastern North Carolina with a large black majority that stretched from the southern coastal region to the Virginia border (see illustration). The only African American in the 55th Congress (1897–1899), George White was part of a large Republican majority swept into office riding the coattails of presidential winner William McKinley. [The North Carolina History Project website provides an excellent overview of fusion politics in North Carolina: Fusion Politics/George White]

Upon election to the 56th Congress (1899–1901), Congressman White’s second term focused on anti-lynching legislation. He introduced a bill to make lynching a federal crime, subjecting those who participated in lynch mob violence with possible capital punishment. Some saw the measure as radical. The bill died in committee. Nearing the turn of the century, many parts of the American South began to pass Jim Crow legislation designed to disenfranchise black voters and eliminate black government officials. White became the primary target of white supremacist politicians who feared African-American political influence.

In 1898, white supremacists in the City of Wilmington in New Hanover County (then the largest city in the state) incited race riots and seized power from an integrated fusion city government [See: 1898 Wilmington Riot Timeline].   The rioting resulted in the numerous deaths and extensive property damage. The black owned Wilmington Journal newspaper was burned to the ground (see above).

Congressman White would return to Washington and vent his frustration with racists elements in government in his first substantive floor speech. On January 26, 1899, during a debate to extend the standing army after victory against Spain, White abruptly changed the subject to disfranchisement, arguing in favor of the bold proposal that states with discriminatory laws should have decreased representation in the U.S. House proportionate to the number of eligible voters they prevented from going to the polls. "If we are unworthy of suffrage, if it is necessary to maintain white supremacy," White chastised his colleagues, "then you ought to have the benefit only of those who are allowed to vote, and the poor men, whether they be black or white, who are disfranchised ought not go into representation of the district of the state."

Also in 1899, the North Carolina General Assembly followed the trend among neighboring states and enacted new registration laws to restrict black voters. On June 30, 1900, Congressman White announced his intention not to seek reelection to the 57th Congress (1901–1903). On January 29, 1901, Congressman White delivered his famous valedictory address to the 56th Congress, predicting the return of blacks to Congress. The speech, which spanned over four pages of the Congressional Record, championed respect and equality for African-Americans.

In 1901, Mr. White began a second successful career in Washington, DC, and then later in Philadelphia, PA, engaging in banking and practicing law. He organized a town for African Americans in southern New Jersey along with Paul Lawrence Dunbar and Booker T. Washington. The Town of Whitesboro was erected on 1,700 acres of land near Cape May. By 1906, its population had grown to over 800 inhabitants.

George H. White, Sr., died in Philadelphia on December 28, 1918. Twenty eight years would pass before the next black Representative was seated at the U.S. Capitol.

Personal Note -- Some of Law Writer's relatives departed from North Carolina following George Henry White by migrating from the Wilmington area to Whitesboro, New Jersey.  Growing up decades later, Law Writer spent many a summer day in Cape May, Wildwood and the surrounding quaint towns visiting with relatives who continue to live in and near Whitesboro. Law Writer can attest personally to the natural beauty of coastal southern New Jersey and the Cape May area (maps shown at left), the many similarities to North Carolina's Cape Fear Coast, and the independence and strong sense of heritage embraced by the people of both scenic and historically significant areas.

JAMES EDWARD O'HARA -- In 1868, James Edward O'Hara became the first African American to be admitted to the North Carolina Bar. In 1882, Mr. O'Hara was elected to represent the Second Congressional District. He served two terms.

Sources:

Black Americans in Congress, by the Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representative. Black Americans In Congress

Irving Joyner, The African American Lawyer in North Carolina,  The North Carolina State Bar Quarterly, Spring 1992.

The Legislative Process: Second & Third Reading

NC House of Representatives Chamber

Once a bill passes third reading in the chamber in which it was introduced, the bill is sent to the other house, where it goes through the same process as in the first house. Thus, the bill will be referred to committee, and if approved, debated and voted on at the second and third readings on the floor. If the second house makes changes to the bill, the bill must return to the house of origin with a request that that body concur in the changes made by the second house. The bill is ready to be enrolled and signed into law if the original house concurs in the changes made by the second house. If the original house objects to the amendments adopted in the second house, the two presiding officers may appoint members to a conference committee which seeks to reconcile the differences between the two chambers. If the conference committee reaches an agreement on the disputed subject, the committee reports to each house and the two houses vote on the recommended text. If either house rejects the conference committee's recommendation, new members to the conference committee may be appointed to try again, otherwise the bill is defeated.

The Legislative Process: Enrollment, Ratification, and Publication

NC Senate Chamber

A bill is enrolled after is passes both houses. In North Carolina, a clean, engrossed copy is prepared, including all amendments, with space for the signatures of the two presiding officers, and the governor, if necessary. (The enrolled copy is taken to each presiding officer during the daily session.) Each officer signs the enrolled copyand when the second signature is affixed, the bill is said to have been ratified. If the bill is a local law, it becomes law at that point. All public bills other than bills making appointments, proposing constitutional amendments, or revising districts are presented to the Governor on the day following ratification for the Governor's approval or veto. If the Governor signs the bill or takes no action on the bill within ten days after presentation, the bill becomes law. After adjournment of the General Assembly, the Governor has 30 days to act on a bill. The Governor is required to reconvene the General Assembly if a bill is vetoed after adjournment, unless a written request is received and signed by a majority of the Members of both houses that it is not necessary to reconvene. If the Governor vetoes a bill, the bill is returned to the original house where 3/5 of present and voting members can vote to override the veto. If the original house votes to override the veto, the bill is sent to the second house where 3/5 of present and voting members must also vote to override the veto before the bill can become law. After it becomes law, the term "bill" is no longer used. The enrolled act or law is given a chapter number and is published under that number in a volume called "Session Laws of North Carolina."