The Plain Language Act of 2010 was intended to make laws and regulations more reader friendly. I can’t tell you whether those intentions have been realized. I can say the work isn’t nearly complete.

About a year ago I set out to answer a question that mixed Medicaid and immigration laws. Within minutes I began diagramming sentences like many of us did in high school. To identify the subject of the sentence, I had to read another section, which referred me to another statute altogether. Returning to the first law with my subject dutifully captured, I repeated for all parts of the sentence, going to many different laws to chase down the words.

Laws are complex. Sometimes laws are needlessly complicated. It isn’t wise to repeat the same information in multiple laws because we run the risk of missing one when we amend the words. Even so, archaic language and sloppy writing conspire with the politics of lawmaking and the passing of time to create a muddled mess.

I can’t fix the law. I cannot make the law say whatever I want, and I cannot read it however I want.

What I can do is interpret for others. I can chase down all the words and interpret them into the plain language so that someone else can better understand important factors in their decision making.

Besparc’s law-related services are tailored to interpreting and synthesizing the language of U.S. law into usable everyday English.