Model legislation

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'''Model legislation''' is the practice of legislation being drafted by outside advocacy and pressure groups, who then [[Lobbying|lobby]] U.S. [[state]] and federal legislators, or sometimes local jurisdictions, to sponsor and pass the bills. Many pressure groups approach state governments with model legislation seeking to pass it in all 50 states, rather than trying to pass it at the federal level. There is some truth to the old adage that legislation is "written by lawyers" and not written, nor read, by the legislators who pass it.

==Some examples==
*The most common sources of model legislation are the Uniform Law Commission (ULC), a panel of legal eggheads sponsored by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL, created by the agreement of the country's state legislatures), or from the American Law Institute (ALI), a group of legal eggheads who mostly try to influence the judiciary but occasionally get into the statute-writing game. Their products tend to be attempts to make highly consequential but rather pedestrian areas of law (sales law, commercial paper, secured transactions, partnerships, corporate law, run-of-the-mill criminal law, that sort of thing) that can get quite heated but don't actually make sense to anyone without at least a year of law school under their belts. Contrary to what you might have heard, the American Bar Association doesn't actually get that involved in model legislation (although it does advocate for many uniform state laws, since it makes lawyers' work less of a pain to do), except for promulgating the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, the standard rules for legal ethics. 
*The [[American Legislative Exchange Council]] (ALEC) has come under fire for its prolific use of this practice to pass anti-[[trade union]], [[prison]] [[privatization]], "[[crime woo|tough on crime]]" laws, [[voter ID]] laws, and [[Arizona]]'s anti-immigration law.<ref>http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/6084/corporate_con_game/</ref><ref>http://www.thenation.com/article/161978/alec-exposed</ref>
*The [[Anti-Defamation League]]'s model legislation for enhanced sentencing for bias-motivated crimes (or so-called "[[hate crimes]]").<ref>http://www.adl.org/99hatecrime/text_legis.asp</ref>
*The Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes' model legislation mandating "fire-safe" [[cigarette smoking|cigarettes]].<ref>http://www.firesafecigarettes.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=55&URL=Model%20legislation</ref>
*The Innocence Project has drafted model legislation<ref>http://www.innocenceproject.org/fix/Model-Legislation.php</ref> seeking to use [[DNA]] testing and other methods to free those who have been wrongly convicted, such as prisoners on [[capital punishment|death row]].
*[[PETA]] has drafted model legislation for local spay and neuter ordinances.<ref>http://www.peta.org/issues/companion-animals/model-spay-and-neuter-ordinances.aspx</ref> Other [[animal rights]] groups have proposed model legislation to create state registries of "animal abusers," ban puppy mills, and make [[bestiality]] a crime.<ref>http://www.aldf.org/article.php?id=262</ref>
*[[National Rifle Association]] has used [[Florida]] as a testing ground for model legislation, e.g., the "stand your ground law", including through ALEC.<ref>[https://everytownresearch.org/fact-sheet-stand-your-ground/ Stand Your Ground] Every Town For Gun Safety Support Fund</ref>

==Intelligent design and other creationist nuttery==
The [[Discovery Institute]] has a "model academic freedom bill" it is pushing in state legislatures to promote discussion of [[intelligent design]] in public schools.<ref>http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90024822</ref>

{{wpl|Intelligent design in politics|Wikipedia has an extensive list}} of similar bills mandating the teaching of ID and/or [[creationism]] that have been considered in state legislatures.  The Discovery Institute's current model legislation was drafted in 2007<ref>[http://www.academicfreedompetition.com/freedom.php Read the complete text of the model legislation here.]</ref> and the push to get it before state legislatures began in earnest after the 2008 release of the film ''[[Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed]]''.<ref>http://www.discovery.org/a/5621</ref>  Walt Ruloff, one of the film's producers, appeared together with [[Ben Stein]]<ref>http://blog.heritage.org/2008/04/15/win-ben-steins-popcorn/</ref> at a press conference on April 15, 2008 at the [[Heritage Foundation]], stating that the intention was to piggyback on the publicity from the film to promote passage of their 
"academic freedom"
 IDiocy bill.<ref>[http://reason.com/archives/2008/04/16/flunk-this-movie Ronald Bailey, "Flunk This Movie", ''Reason'' April 16, 2008]</ref>

==References==
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