Ordinances are written enactments or laws passed by a municipal legislative body, such as a city council. Ordinances are essentially the local-government equivalent of a statute. An ordinance is only effective within the territorial limits of the municipality that enacts it.
Example: An ordinance establishing a civil service board and testing procedures for hiring police officers in a town or city.
You can find city ordinances by contacting municipal government officials in your community or the community in question.
Case law consists of written opinion of federal and state courts resolving specific legal disputes between or among individuals, organizations, and government bodies. First, courts must determine the facts of the case. If the facts are disputed by the parties, the judge or the jury must consider the testimony of witnesses and review documents and other evidence presented by the parties to the case, weigh credibility, and decide which alleged facts are correct. Once the facts have been determined, the judge interprets the “law” in relation to the facts, and makes a decision on the claims made by the parties.
What is the “law” that the judge apply to the facts in deciding the case? At the highest levels, the law may be the Constitution of the United States or a state’s constitution. Federal and state statutes, local government ordinances, executive orders, and federal- and state-agency regulations provide other sources of law interpreted and applied by the courts to particular factual situations.
A final source of law by which court cases are determined is the common law. The common law is not based on constitutions, written enactments of any legislative bodies, or any forms of regulations or orders. Rather it based on customs and modes of dealing that are recognized by the courts themselves and determined to be legally enforceable.
Example: “Wrongful discharge.” Courts in many states have determined that it is illegal for an employer to discharge an employee–and thus a “wrongful discharge”–when that discharge would “violate public policy,” even though the discharge would not be barred by the express or even implied terms of any statute. An example of this would be where an employer discharges an employee for refusing demands made by the supervisor to provide false information in a report required by a government body.
Often, the language of statutes is inadequate to provide practical guidance to employers and employees who are attempting to resolve employment issues.
Example: The American with Disabilities Act’s requirement that disabled employees be provided with “reasonable accommodations” to enable them to perform a job which, without such accommodations, they would be incapable of performing. This has created much confusion from the employer and employee about “reasonable accommodations.” The answer would most likely be found by researching decisions in court cases where judges have had to interpret constitutional, statutory or common law concepts and apply them to a set of facts.