Federal Statutes
The laws passed by Congress are called statutes. Statutes are published in the United States Code (U.S.C.), which arranges all the laws by subject. Each subject is called a Title and each Title is numbered. So, for example, the laws on conservation are in Title 16.
The U.S.C. is the official publication of the United States Code, but there are also two commercial publications, the United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) and the United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.) Both commerical codes are arranged exactly like the U.S.C. so that title and section numbers are the same, and the text of the laws is also the same as in the official U.S.C. However, the annotated codes aslo contain references to other research sources in addition to the text of the law, especially cases interpreting a specific law. This makes the annotated codes useful research tools.
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Features & Research Tips
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50 titles, arranged by subject.
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Use an annotated code (USCS or USCA).
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In print, start with the index.
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On Westlaw, select United States Code Annotated, do Natural Language search.
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If you know the name of the law (e.g., National Park Ski Resort Permit Act), on Westlaw use the Popular Name Table.
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