Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-20
Clarifying District Laws.

Clarifying District Laws.
There is now being compiled a new
Code of Laws for the District of CO.
lumbia. Leaders of the bench and
bar and the chief of the United
States Bureau of Efficiency have com
planned to committees of Congress that
it requires extensive research in many
cases to determine just what the law
is. and there has never been judicial
determination on many questions that
might be raised as to whether old Brit
ish and Maryland statutes are still in
force here.
We have had repeated attempts,
both private and by direction of Con-
gress. to set up codification that would
meet the requirements of the legal
profession, since the enactment of
laws specifically for the District of
Columbia as the seat of Government
began here in 1901. One of the most
valuable of these was under the aus
pices of the Washington Board of
Trade with the cooperation of a COM
mittee representing the District Bar
Association. which was published in
1901, and a subsequent compilation
under the Senate committee on print.
ing, which brought the current laws
up to date in 1924.
But the real trouble has been that
all codes heretofore have under blan-
ket provisions covered into the code
old British and Maryland statutes that
were in force prior to 1901 and that
may or may not still be in force, on
some of which there has been no ju.
dicial determination. One section
covers in practically all the funda-
mental law for the District govern
ment. for regulation of professional
practice, and for commitments to the
Government Hospital for the Insane,
as is explained in detail in a news
article in other columns of this paper.
Another difficulty has been that as
the court system here was changed
there was no distinct statement of
the jurisdiction to be exercised, but a
clause comforting the same Jurisdiction
that he'd been exercised by the super
seeded agency of justice.
So, for the first time in the 125
years that the District of Column,
bia has been occupied as the seat of
Government with exclusive jurisdic-
ton over It vested in Congress by the
Constitution, we are now going to
have a complete code which will con.
tain all the old British and Maryland
statutes that may or may not be still
in force here. This reprint of statutes
will be only prima facie evidence of
the law with the judicial determine
ton left to the courts.
But the new volume, which is ex-
pected to be ready for publication
next January win make II possible
for any member of the bench or bar
to take two volumes-one, the new
United States Code, just out; the
other, this new District code, which
is in the works-and know that he has
before him, easily found under stand.
ard titles, all the statutory laws on
the subject that he may have under
consideration.
This work, which entails extensive
and laborious research through vol.
umes in old English script and un-
numbered laws and pages, is being
done under the direction of the House
committee on revision of the laws. by
two practicing Washington lawyers,
who prepared the code Of 1924, who
are law lecturers and who for many
years have been professionally inter
ested in searching out the old sta.
tutes and endeavoring to have a ju-
dicial determination as to which are
still in force. The District judges and
special committee of able lawyers
appointed by the District Bar Associa-
ton are cooperating with constructive
criticism in the compilation of this
code.
II is work that should prove of I'm
estimable value to the legal profess
sion and should make possible more
expeditions court procedure with
greater certainty in protecting the
rights Of individuals and with a very
considerable saving in both time and
money.