Federal Statutory Research

I. Introduction

A. Bills are introduced into Congress, then sent to committee, and if eventually passed and signed by the President, become law and are then codified.

B. Codification is the process of taking enacted legislation, breaking it up into parts and arranging the parts by subject.

C. Statutes are important because, like case law, they are primary authority. Courts are bound to follow a statute unless it is found to be unconstitutional.

II. Statutory Publication Patterns Generally

A. After a bill is introduced, it is assigned a bill number (usually designating whether it is a House or Senate Bill). Bills are available from the government, often in microfiche, and can be obtained from the legislators who sponsored the bill.

B. Laws first appear separately as slip laws put out by the government (usually in pamphlet format). Each law is consecutively numbered as it is passed.

C. Separate slip laws are gathered together in the order in which they were issued for each legislative session and published as session laws. Session laws are usually several volumes with subject indexes and tables.

D. Session laws are also codified, revised or compiled (edited and rearranged topically) for easier access and published in sets called revised (or recompiled) statutes or codes. These sets use numbering schemes (different from the session laws) which reflect their subject arrangement. They also present notes on the historical development of each law. Codes are indexed and kept up to date by supplements. They also provide tables that indicate how to get from a session law to a code cite.

E. Statutes and codes are usually republished by commercial publishers in annotated form. These annotated codes are very valuable because, in addition to the text of the laws and history notes, they provide abstracts of judicial opinions construing and applying the statutes and references to law review articles and other sources commenting on the statutes. Also, because they are updated frequently and usually provide the text of recently enacted slip laws, researchers rely heavily on them.

III. Federal Statutory Publications

A. Bills. Current Bills are published in microfiche. Bills are assigned either an H.R. or H.J. Res. number or an S. or S.J. Res. number. This number stays with the bill until it is passed or until the end of the Congress in which it was enacted. Be certain to pinpoint the Congress and session along with the bill number. A finding index (Cumulative Finding Aid) is provided along with the microfiche. Example: S. 2830, 96th Cong., 2d Sess. (1980). The full-text of bills are also available online on LEXIS, and on the Internet in various places.

B. Slip Laws. Slip laws are officially published by the Government Printing Office (GPO). Each law is assigned a law number reflecting the Congress and the sequential order in which it was passed. Example: Pub. L. 103 - 233, is the 233rd law passed in the 103rd Congress. Each is published initially as a pamphlet. However, unless one can procure a copy through representatives in Congress, these publications are distributed too late to be very useful. Most researchers rely instead on commercial looseleaf services, online services, or the update services provided with the annotated codes for the text of very recent federal legislation.

C. Session Laws

1. Statutes at Large. Also published by the government (usually well after the session covered), these volumes contain the official text of public and private laws passed by each session of Congress. Laws appear in chronological order by the law number they were assigned by Congress. There may be several volumes for each session with the same volume number and consecutive pagination. Tables to earlier laws and to the U.S. Code as well as topical indexes, are provided for each session. Citation example: National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, Pub. L. No. 91-190, 83 Stat. 852 (1970).

2. U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News. This commercially published service reprints the text of new laws in monthly pamphlets which are reissued in bound form at the close of each session of Congress. The laws appear in chronological order according to law number and are accompanied by selected legislative history as well as indexes and tables.

3. Advance Services. Both U.S.C.A. and U.S.C.S. publish monthly supplements which include the new public laws.

D. Statutes and Codes

1. Revised Statutes. These sets were published in 1875 and 1878 and represent the first cumulative codification of federal law (cumulative from 1789). No other codifications were published until the U.S. Code appeared.

2. United States Code (U.S.C.). Since 1926, this has been the official codification of federal law. Currently, it appears every six years, with annual cumulative supplements in the intervening years. The most current code is the 1994 version, with annual supplements. Laws are arranged in 50 broad subject categories called "titles." Each edition includes indexes and tables. Although it is the authoritative code, its supplementation appears too slowly to make it a useful research tool. Citation example: 42 U.S.C. § 1311 (1994).

E. Annotated codes

1. United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) (West Publishing). This unofficial work reprints the text of the U.S.C. and follows its numbering scheme, but it offers additional features which make it superior to the U.S.C. as a research tool. It provides exhaustive summaries of court decisions construing the law, and references to texts and law review articles commenting and explaining the law. In addition, it is supplemented on a monthly (new legislation) and quarterly (new court annotations) basis and provides annual cumulative supplements. The indexing and statutory tables are also excellent. Citation example: 42 U.S.C.A. § 1311 (West 1991).

2. United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.) (Lawyers Co-op). This unofficial work also uses the same topical numbering scheme as the U.S.C. (although it follows the text of the Statutes at Large). Just as the preceding work, it provides excellent research aids such as abstracts of significant cases construing the law and references to other research sources, monthly session law updates, quarterly court updates, and annual cumulative supplements. A very helpful volume includes annotations to Uncodified Laws and Treaties. Indexing and statutory cross referencing are also superior to the U.S.C. Citation example: 42 U.S.C.S. § 1311 (Law. Co-op. 1986).

IV. How to Find Statutory Law

A. Popular Name Approach

The codes all provide access through popular name. Shepard's Acts and Cases by Popular Names cites both to session laws and codified laws. U.S.C., U.S.C.A., U.S.C.S. all have separate popular name indexes.

B. Bill Number Approach

Use when only the bill number is known (generally for very recent legislation). Tables in the session law sources generally provide the official law number for bills that become law. For federal law, check in the CCH Congressional Index. Online services also provide references from bill numbers to the law numbers.

C. Session Law Approach

When the session law citation (either the Pub. Law #, or the Stat. cite) is known, it is possible to find the subsequent codified citation using statutory tables in the annotated codes. Also, the text of the session law itself refers to the sections of the code which will be affected (i.e., where the text of the law eventually will appear), usually noted along the margins. The text of the session law also provides the bill number at the beginning of the law. It is possible for the session law to remain uncodified. Check in U.S.C.S.'s volume Notes to Uncodified Laws and Treaties.

D. Subject Approach

This approach is the most time-consuming and should be used when none of the methods above can be used. Use the indexes found in each of the sources described earlier in this outline. The most comprehensive and detailed indexes are found in the commercially published annotated codes. Frequently, citations are given in secondary sources (e.g., treatises, law review articles, etc.)

E. Code Section Approach

When the citation to a code section is known, it is possible to find the citation to the original session law (and any subsequent amendments) in the history note to that code section. This is useful when trying to locate the positive law source.

V. How to Update Statutory Law

A. Use the annotated codes if possible (they have the most up to date supplementation).

1. First check the bound volume and any supplementation to it (pocket part or separate pamphlet).

2. Check the supplements to the U.S.C.S. and U.S.C.A., usually found at the very end of each set.

3. If the latest supplement is more than a month old, be sure to check:

a. USCCAN. This will give all recent legislation up to the present date. Includes a Table of code sections affected. References will be given to the session law and pamphlet containing the change.

b. Online. Both WESTLAW and LEXIS contain the text of new Public Laws. On WESTLAW you can update a code cite by typing update while viewing a particular code section.

B. Shepardizing. Shepard's will lead you to cases interpreting your code section, as well as list any amendments. Since the text of a law stays in the U.S.C. until it is repealed, the most important reason to Shepardize a code cite will be to find out if the law has been declared unconstitutional by a court.

VI. Pending Legislation

A. CCH Congressional Index

B. WESTLAW -- Bills

C. LEXIS -- Bills

D. Web -- http://thomas.loc.gov