Drafting Legislation

This semester, we are going to try something new: drafting proposed legislation. We just read a series of articles about library privacy laws. These laws were passed in the 1970's, long before online search engines existed.

We are going to re-imagine these laws for the systems described by Roxanne Shirazi. Whether in libraries or outside of them, we are always searching. Whether it's looking up a good restaurant nearby, figuring out who that one actress is, or Shazam-ing a song we hear in a store, research has become a primary online activity.

If we were to update a state's library privacy laws, what provisions would we add to protect our intellectual freedom (or intellectual privacy, as Neil Richards says) in the year 2023? How would we draft a model provision to suggest to state legislators?

Luckily, there are plenty of guides online to help us with the basics of legislative drafting. Peruse a few of these to get a sense of what this project will entail:

• House Legislative Counsel's Manual on Drafting Style

• Uniform Law Commission Drafting Rules and Style Manual

• Deborah Beth Medows, A Beginner's Guide to Legislative Drafting

• Bill Drafting Guidance (LibGuide from ASU)