Federal Statutory Law
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Interpreting Citations
Public Law Numbers:
A new law is first published as a slip law and is given a public law number. Public laws are numbered sequentially starting with each new Congress and cited in the following way: Pub. L. No. 101-123.
- Pub. L. No. = Bluebook abbreviation for "public law number"
- 101 = the Congress
- 123 = sequential number assigned to the law
United States Statutes at Large:
Slip laws are then compiled into bound volumes known as session laws. "Session laws" refer to the publication of laws enacted during a legislative session into a chronological sequence. This is the function of the United States Statutes at Large. An example of a citation to the United States Statutes at Large is: 80 Stat. 931.
- 80 = volume number of the United States Statutes at Large
- Stat. = Bluebook abbreviation for United States Statutes at Large
- 931 = page on which the text of the law begins
In the United States Code (U.S.C.), the laws are grouped into titles, with each title representing a particular subject area, instead of chronologically. In the codified version of a law, section numbers of the session law version are renumbered from their original public law numbers. Thus, the section numbers of the session law will be different from the sections numbers of the codified version. An example of a citation to the United States Code is: 5 U.S.C. § 555.
- 5 = title of the United States Code (Title 5, Government Organization and Employees)
- U.S.C. = Bluebook abbreviation for the United States Code
- 555 = section number
Reference Sources [Aids for finding the Law]
- Acts Cited by Popular Name TableFrom the Office of Law Revision Counsel: "The Table is an alphabetical list of popular and statutory names of Acts of Congress. The Statutes at Large citation following an entry is to the Act or part of the Act to which the name relates."
- United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) Popular Name Table VolumeRevised annually, provides the U.S.C.A. citation, public law number, and United States Statutes at Large citation.
- United States Code Service Table of Acts by Popular NamesThe Table of Acts by Popular Name contains the names of enacted acts along with their public law number and a general classification to the United States Code. Almost every act of Congress has a provision stating how the act should be cited, i.e., 'The Glass Ceiling Act of 1991.'
- United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) Statutory SupplementThe statutory supplement reprints the texts of current public laws and contains selected legislative history documents. Laws are arranged by public law number.
- Shepard's Acts and Cases by Popular NamesCurrent to 2010. Shepard's provides the public law number, the Statutes at Large citation, and the United States Code citation.
- Congressional IndexLibrary has 83rd Cong.(1953/1954) - 112th Cong. (2011/2012). This service is comprised of two volumes--one covering Senate legislation and the other covering House legislation. The Senate volume contains a detailed subject index to legislation being considered by both houses of the current Congress. A "Status of Bills" section in each volume lists all actions taken on a particular bill and provides the public law number, if the legislation was signed into law.
