WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT IV(OPTIONAL)

THE NORMAN CONQUEST: STATUTORY DRAFTING EXERCISE

Due: WednesdayApril 9 (11:00 a.m.)

For this assignment, you will be drafting a statutory provision for a state legislator. You may work alone or in teams of two or three students, but you may not work with any student who worked with you on a prior assignment. General instructions for all assignments are fouind in Info Memo #1. Directions specific to this assignment are provided below. Before starting to draft the amendment described below, you should review the materials on statutory drafting on pp.215-29 of the course materials and the existing Wisconsin statute on SS38-42. There is no suggested page length; the amendment can be as long or as short as you find necessary to complete your tasks.

Assume you are on the staff of Wisconsin State Senator Proxmire LaFollette. The Senator, who co-sponsored the state housing discrimination statute, disagrees with the decision in County of Dane v. Norman. Specifically, unlike the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Senator LaFollette believes that the legislature intended that the statute protect unmarried cohabiting couples under the category “marital status.” He would like to amend the statute to make clear that landlords cannot discriminate against unmarried cohabitants. He believes that to get any amendment through the state legislature, he will have to make clear that landlords can refuse to rent to groups of three or more because they are unmarried/unrelated students. He also suspects that he will have to include an exemption from the new provision for some landlords with sincere religious beliefs against unmarried cohabitation. However, he is uncomfortable with creating exceptions to anti-discrimination laws, even for sincere religious beliefs.

He would like you to draft the amendment for him to introduce. Your amendment should clarify that discrimination against cohabiting couples generally is prohibited, clarify that discrimination against groups of three or more unrelated individuals is not marital status discrimination, and set out some form of exception for at least some religious landlords. You should not draft either a preamble or a statement of purpose. Just draft the operative portions of the amendments. Do not try to figure out what the numbering would be in the statute if the amendment was adopted. If your amendment has multiple parts, you can just number them consecutively: (1), (2), (3), etc. If you wish to partially or completely replace an existing provision, clearly indicate that in your submission.

I will reward submissions:

(1) that meet Sen. LaFollette’s requirements;

(2) that mesh appropriately with the existing statutory provisions;

(3) that seem clear and easy to apply; and

(4) that display familiarity with the principles outlined in the statutory drafting readings.

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