Transcript Law 11 - El Camino College

Law 11
Federal Constitution and Code
Federal Constitutions and Code
These are annotated
versions of federal
statutes and the
Constitution, with West
(USCA) or Lexis (USCS)
headnotes from
decisions relying on or
interpreting the law.
Start here if you want
to investigate a
federal statute or
constitutional
provision.
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Proper Citation Format
o Citing Federal Constitutions (Rule 11
of The BlueBook)
U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 2.
Abbreviation of constitution cited
Section symbol and no. of section cited
Abbreviation for “amendment”
No. of amendment cited
o Citing Federal Codes/Statutes (Rule
12 of The BlueBook)
28 U.S.C. § 1291 (2000).
Abbreviation of code cited
Date of code edition cited
Section symbol and specific section cited
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Federal Constitution: Annotated Editions
o United States Code Annotated,
Constitution of the United States
Annotated (West) – U.S.C.A.
o Contains volumes, pocket parts and
tables volumes and index
o United States Code Service,
Constitution (LexisNexis) – U.S.C.S.
o Contains volumes, pocket parts and
tables volumes and index
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Annotated Editions
o Library References are included in
annotated versions and are kept
current by pocket supplements and
subsequent pamphlets.
o After each clause of the Constitution,
digest paragraphs of all cases that
have interpreted the clause follow.
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Statutes at Large
o When bills become law, they are
published in a text according to the
session of the legislature that enacted
them into law. For instance, laws
passed by the California legislature in
1999 were passed in the 1999-2000
session. The individual laws in the
publication for a particular session
(such as Session Laws 1999-2000) can
be found according to their original
bill number.
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Statutes at Large
o The United States Statutes at Large,
prepared by the Office of the Federal
Register, National Archives and Records
Administration, provide a permanent
collection of the laws of each session of
Congress in bound volumes.
o The Statutes at Large are a chronological
arrangement of the laws exactly as they
have been enacted. The laws are not
arranged according to subject matter.
o Amendments may appear in different
volumes from the law being amended.
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Federal Codes – Annotated Editions
o United States Code (U.S.C.) – official
publication by the U.S. Government
Printing Office – see rule 12.3 of The
BlueBook
o United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.)
– West Group - unofficial
o Publishes the text of legislation as it appears
in the in the U.S.C.
o Includes Notes of Decisions
o Digest of cases that have interpreted that
particular section
o References other West publications and topic
and Key Numbers
o General Index
o Popular Name Table
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Federal Codes – Annotated Editions
o United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.)
– LexisNexis
o Includes historical notes and crossreferences in section called “history;
Ancillary Laws and Directives”
o Popular Name Table
o General Index
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Public Law
o After a Federal Bill becomes law, it is
published (first as slip law) and is
classified as either a public law or
private law.
o Public Law: affects the nation as a whole,
or deals with individuals as a class, and
related to public matters
o Private Law: benefits only specific
individuals. Deal primarily with matters
relating to claims against the government
or with matters of immigration.
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How to locate laws in U.S.C., U.S.C.A., and U.S.C.S.
o General/Title Index
o Tables of Popular Names of Federal Acts
(located in the last volume of the descriptive
word index.)
o Tables Volume includes:
o table to convert Revised Statutes and Statutes at
Large citations to code sections
o table to convert former or revised title citation to
current code sections.
o table to convert executive orders, proclamations
and reorganization plans, which are included in
U.S.C., to U.S.C. citations.
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