PLECK lesson 4 · suggested week 1, day
Primary and secondary authority
Objective. Explain and apply primary and secondary authority to a fictional original and changed record.
This is class practice, not legal advice. Do not file a real form, contact a court, or enter a real person’s legal information. A typed answer or paper is enough. Optional audio or video is a private file up to 4 MB.
About undefined minutes. The due date is chosen by a parent.
Materials: Paper or a text editor, Pencil or pen, Optional printer, Optional private recorder;equivalent text/in-person alternative always available, Supplied source cards;internet optional.
Law is a system of public rules, institutions and procedures, not simply whatever seems fair to one person. Ethics asks how people ought to act; law asks what an identified authority requires or permits in a particular jurisdiction. A legal conclusion needs a source, relevant facts and reasoning connecting the two. Allegations are claims, evidence may support them, and a finding is a decision made through an authorized process. Throughout this course distinguish established facts, disputed facts and missing information. Classroom policies are labeled models, not invented Texas statutes. Today’s focus — Primary and secondary authority Primary sources contain law made by authorized institutions. Secondary sources explain or analyze law and can help locate primary material. A summary’s confidence or popularity does not make it binding, and an introduced bill is not necessarily enacted law. Reasoning practice: Write the legal condition on one line and the supplied fact on the next. Explain the link instead of merely copying both. A different result requires a changed fact, rule or justified interpretation—not a stronger opinion. Assignment record: A blog summarizes a proposed bicycle bill as if it were already a Texas statute. The bill page says introduced. Method: First identify the actor and issue. Read the supplied principle as a limited model or overview, not a universal rule. Mark agreed facts, allegations and unknowns. Link a fact to each relevant condition. Consider a different interpretation and state a conditional conclusion when authority or facts are incomplete. Your reasons matter more than choosing a side. Use only the fictional record; no real case, private document or external contact is needed. Safety: Legal education only, not individualized legal advice. All disputes and records are fictional classroom simulations. Do not file, pay, contact police/courts/parties, visit a courthouse, investigate a real person, or disclose private family/case information. Use supplied facts; personal disclosure is never required. Written or private in-person alternatives replace every recording activity.
US foundations with Texas examples;federal procedure/evidence illustrations are not instructions for Texas filings. Supplied classroom rules are not invented statutes. Educational exercise only. This is not legal advice, a filing, or a result for a real person.
Worked example
A government’s published enacted rule and a magazine explanation discuss the same topic. The rule is primary material; the magazine is secondary analysis. A careful reader uses the explanation to understand questions, but checks the actual rule’s jurisdiction, text and date before treating the summary as a statement of operative law.
Primary and secondary authority — reasoning record
- 1. Fact discipline — Primary and secondary authority: From this record, quote or accurately paraphrase two legally significant details. Label each as a supplied/stipulated fact, an allegation or a missing fact as appropriate; explain why the distinction matters. Record: A blog summarizes a proposed bicycle bill as if it were already a Texas statute. The bill page says introduced.
- 2. Principle check: Restate the distinction taught in Primary and secondary authority in your own words. Identify one limit that prevents treating it as a universal rule. Use the principle printed above, not an unsupported internet summary.
- 3. Apply the original record: A blog summarizes a proposed bicycle bill as if it were already a Texas statute. The bill page says introduced. Question: Can the blog establish an effective legal requirement? Give a reasoned answer with a specific fact-to-rule link.
- 4. Counterfactual: Begin with the original record above, then change only this fact: The blog links to an enacted version with a future effective date. Explain how the analysis changes and what remains unresolved.
- 5. Source card exercise: For Primary and secondary authority, use the complete supplied offline card below. Record its jurisdiction/type and exact URL. Explain what it can contribute, and one reason it cannot by itself guarantee a real person’s outcome. No browsing or separate registry lookup is required. Supplied offline source card Title: Texas State Law Library: Legal Research for Beginners Exact URL: https://guides.sll.texas.gov/legal-research-for-beginners Jurisdiction/scope: Texas official public-library guidance Source type: official-government-explanatory-overview Verified: 2026-11-07 (America/Chicago CST; dated reading, not an ongoing guarantee) Reading purpose and limits: Distinguishes primary law from explanatory secondary sources. Free public guide; account-only databases/books not required. Outside browsing is supplemental. Use this printed metadata and the lesson’s original principle to complete the exercise offline.
- 6. Neutral explanation: In 80–120 words, or a 60–90 second private explanation with an equivalent script/in-person option, answer the original Primary and secondary authority issue for a new reader. Include the governing distinction, two supplied details, and the most important uncertainty or limit. Do not add an accusation or recommend real action.
Acceptance checks
- Respond to each numbered task with the required chart,calculation,explanation or script.
- For case-application tasks,connect the supplied principle to specific fictional facts and mark unknowns. For principle-only or source-card tasks,follow their stated scope;no extra case application is required.
- Keep personal information out of submissions and never send,file,pay or contact anyone for the exercise.
- Text,paper and private oral alternatives are evaluated for the same reasoning;no automatic passing policy is assigned.
A student may explain aloud to a parent. Submit typed numbered responses; or handwritten photo; or a printed page scanned as image/PDF; or a parent-paper completion log with the actual paper retained. Optional private audio/video may replace written explanation if each numbered task is identified. Each image/PDF/audio/video file must be at most 4 MiB and pass the app’s type/signature checks; use short clips or an equally detailed written script instead of a large file. An HTTPS reference may be stored as text only: it is not opened or evaluated automatically. Do not submit ZIP/code files or private records.
If this is still shaky. Read aloud or break the principle into conditions. A parent may scribe the learner’s reasoning. Retry the guided task before revising the original. Optional guided retry for Primary and secondary authority: A blog summarizes a proposed bicycle bill as if it were already a Texas statute. The bill page says introduced. Read this principle: Primary sources contain law made by authorized institutions. Secondary sources explain or analyze law and can help locate primary material. A summary’s confidence or popularity does not make it binding, and an introduced bill is not necessarily enacted law. Make two boxes:one supplied fact and one legal condition. Draw an arrow explaining their connection. State one thing the record does not establish.
Optional extra. Extend the reasoning,not the real-world risk;all added records remain clearly fictional. Optional transfer challenge for Primary and secondary authority: Original: A blog summarizes a proposed bicycle bill as if it were already a Texas statute. The bill page says introduced. Changed fact: The blog links to an enacted version with a future effective date. Write a two-column before/after analysis. Identify exactly what changed and what legal question remains. Suggest one fictional additional record that could clarify a genuinely missing fact,or explain why no additional fact is needed under a stipulated model. Do not create a real record,contact anyone or invent authority.
Turn in a typed answer, a JPEG, PNG, or WebP photo, a PDF scan, or an MP3, WAV, M4A, MP4, or WebM file up to 4 MB. A parent can log paper. One https address is stored as text and is not opened or run. Zip and code files are refused.
- Texas State Law Library: Legal Research for Beginners
Jurisdiction/scope: Texas official public-library guidance Source type: official-government-explanatory-overview Verified: 2026-11-07 Reading purpose: Distinguishes primary law from explanatory secondary sources. Free public guide; account-only databases/books not required. Supplied offline source card Title: Texas State Law Library: Legal Research for Beginners Exact URL: https://guides.sll.texas.gov/legal-research-for-beginners Jurisdiction/scope: Texas official public-library guidance Source type: official-government-explanatory-overview Verified: 2026-11-07 (America/Chicago CST; dated reading, not an ongoing guarantee) Reading purpose and limits: Distinguishes primary law from explanatory secondary sources. Free public guide; account-only databases/books not required. Outside browsing is supplemental. Use this printed metadata and the lesson’s original principle to complete the exercise offline. The complete card metadata,purpose and limits are printed here and in every workbook. No external page is needed to complete a source-card exercise.
· Opening this link does not submit the lesson. - Texas Attorney General: Consumer Protection
Jurisdiction/scope: Texas official agency overview Source type: official-government-explanatory-overview Verified: 2026-11-07 Reading purpose: Education, complaints and public-interest civil enforcement; agency information is not private representation. Supplied offline source card Title: Texas Attorney General: Consumer Protection Exact URL: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection Jurisdiction/scope: Texas official agency overview Source type: official-government-explanatory-overview Verified: 2026-11-07 (America/Chicago CST; dated reading, not an ongoing guarantee) Reading purpose and limits: Education, complaints and public-interest civil enforcement; agency information is not private representation. Outside browsing is supplemental. Use this printed metadata and the lesson’s original principle to complete the exercise offline. The complete card metadata,purpose and limits are printed here and in every workbook. No external page is needed to complete a source-card exercise.
· Opening this link does not submit the lesson.
This is a preview. A parent assigns the lesson and chooses the due date after the student is enrolled. The answer key is not on this page.