CHAPTER 4 FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH

• Jurisdiction: United States

Chapter 4 FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH

A. FEDERAL LAW ORGANIZATION

Federal legislative materials are another source of primary authority. Because the common law emphasis has always centered on judicial opinions, the researcher has to fight the tendency to overlook legislation. This is especially true because a growing number of cases involve the interpretation of statutes. In fact, the careful researcher should always ask the following question before beginning any research assignment: Is there a relevant statute?

Researching federal statutes is a complex process because it involves finding and updating the statute. That process, however, is not enough by itself. A statute does not exist in a vacuum. Its validity depends in large part upon the way it is enforced or interpreted by the courts. Any research, then, that involves federal statutes necessarily includes the extra steps of finding interpretive cases. To understand this entire process, it is best to begin with the methods by which statutes are published officially and unofficially.

When the United States Congress passes legislation, it is published officially in three phases, as illustrated by the diagram below:

OFFICIAL STAGES OF FEDERAL STATUTE PUBLICATION

Slip Laws

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Session Laws

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Code

[1] Official Sources

The first official stage of publication is a "slip law," an individual pamphlet that contains the text of a single act, similar to a slip opinion. Each slip law is paginated separately and contains a brief summary of its legislative history after the text. Slip laws are issued by their public law number, for example, P.L. 98-128. The first part of the number tells the reader that the law was enacted during the 98th Congress, while the second part of the number represents its chronological sequence of enactment, i.e., the 128th law enacted in the 98th Congress. Slip laws are produced by the United States Government Printing Office and are available in print and electronically on its website (www.gpo.gov/FDsys), or for current legislation (www.Congress.gov) (108rd Congress (1994)-present).

The second official stage of federal statutory publication is the "session" laws, so designated because they are published at the end of each session of Congress in chronological order by public law number. Variously comprised of as many as six volumes, these materials are known as the United States Statutes at Large. Subject and title indices appear at the end of each volume. While slow in publication, this is the authoritative source of federal legislation or positive law, which means that the version published in the session laws is legal evidence of statutory language in all United States courts. Electronic access is available through FDsys. The researcher would use the session laws only when there is a dispute over the language of the statute or when it is necessary to know what the statutory language was during a specific time. Furthermore, the researcher should be aware that any subsequent amendments to the statute will be published separately after the session in which it was passed. Therefore, the researcher will have to locate any amendments individually.

The third official stage of publication is in a code. The codification process groups all laws related by subject, includes subsequent amendments, and eliminates those laws which have been repealed. The United States Code (U.S.C.) is the official compilation of laws for the United States and is arranged in over 50 titles. A new edition of the Code is issued every six years and supplemented annually with cumulative bound volumes. The Code includes the full text of the statute, followed by a parenthetical reference to the cite of that section in the Statutes at Large. There is a general index, a popular name table, and a tables volume which provides cross references to the public law number and the Statutes at Large citation. Like other official publications, the U.S.C. supplementation is slow, though access to the most up-to-date U.S.C. material is through its official website of the Office of Law Revision Counsel (OLRC) (uscode.house.gov). More important to the researcher, however, is the absence of any reference to cases interpreting federal statutes. For this reason alone, the researcher will find the unofficial sources of more value.

[2] Unofficial Sources

Since there is no unofficial publication of individual slip laws, the first stage of publication of unofficial materials occurs with session laws. The United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (U.S.C.C.A.N.), published by West, provides on a monthly basis the full text of bills enacted into public law during that time. Also included are selected legislative histories in the form of committee reports for important legislation. LexisNexis provides a similar unofficial session law service entitled the United States Code Service Advance Service. These services for statutes are analogous to advance sheets for court reports.

The second stage of unofficial publication is in annotated versions of the U.S.C. There are two sets covering this material: The United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.), published by West, and the United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.), published by LexisNexis. Both sets provide the language of the U.S. Code statutes, their effective dates, and brief descriptions or annotations of cases interpreting the statutes. Historical references provide citations to the Statutes at Large for the law and any amendments, as well as legislative history information. These volumes also have similar update services in the form of annual pocket parts and pamphlet supplements. Because of these similarities, the research processes described below can be applied to either set. Likewise, the search process for Lexis Advance and WestlawNext online accomplish the same tasks.

B. FEDERAL LAW LOCATION METHODS

The methods of finding federal statutes are similar to those employed to locate cases, depending upon the information the researcher already has. The simplest method will be described first.

LOOKING FOR A STATUTE?

Do you have the statute's popular name? If so, use one of the following methods:

1. The OLRC website has a Popular Name tool (http://uscode.house.gov/popularnames/popularnames.htm).
2. The Popular Name Table in the U.S. Code annotated codes, U.S.C.S. or U.S.C.A., or Shepard's Acts and Cases by Popular Names in print or online through Lexis Advance.

Do you have only the statute's public law number or the Statutes at Large volume and page number?

3. Check the tables volumes of the U.S. Code, or the annotated codes in print or online where conversion charts list all public acts by public law number, Statutes at Large reference, and the corresponding U.S.C. title and section numbers.

If you do not have any of the references listed above, use one of the following methods:

4. Descriptive Word Method: Use the U.S. Code's General Index or the annotated codes' General Index in print or online through Lexis Advance or WestlawNext.
5. Topic Method: Select general topics from the titles in the U.S. Code and go to the relevant title's index in print in the U.S.C.S. or U.S.C.A. online through Lexis Advance or WestlawNext.

[1] Popular Name Method

If the researcher has only the popular name of a law and wants to locate the legislation, the simplest technique for finding the statute is to go to Shepard's Acts and Cases by Popular Name, or the Popular Name Table in the U.S.C.S. or U.S.C.A. in print or online, which lists only those federal statutes with popular names in alphabetical order. Here is an illustration.

EXAMPLE: Assume that the federal statute's popular name is the Lanham Act. Use the following steps:
1. Bound Volume: Go to the volume of the Shepard's Acts and Cases by Popular Name, U.S.C.S. or U.S.C.A. containing the Popular Name Table or the electronic version in these sources. Check by alphabetical designation. In this example, you would look under "L" for "Lanham

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