Private laws still let Congress legislate for single named individuals

Evidence

But even the statement that statutes set out general directives is only partly right. Not all statutes lay down rules that apply to whole classes of cases. Congress, for example, still passes a few so-​called private laws, many of which apply to a single person. In 2006, Congress passed Private Law 109-​1, the Betty Dick Residence Protection Act, which allowed Mrs. Dick, an eighty-​three-​year-​old widow, to remain in her summer cabin within the boundaries of Rocky Mountain National Park “for the remainder of her nat­ ural life.” Private laws have been used to make an end run around strict immigration laws, for favored individuals. — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law, 467

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes ‘private law’ (a statute aimed at one person or case) from the usual generalization that statutes lay down rules for whole classes — a useful vocabulary distinction for a first exposure to legislation.
• XREF: connects to: American lawmaking is fragmented across thousands of local special-purpose bodies, not just legislatures — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 440; Courts cannot preserve congressional power that Congress fails to use — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 2870

Broader Connections

• Courts cannot preserve congressional power that Congress fails to use #complicates (0.75) — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 2870