2011 federal sources

Federal Legislation and Case Law Research

Legal Research class

Fall 2011

I. Legislation

• Major topics we will cover:– Recent Public Laws– Codification– Electronic Access to

the resources

A. Recent Public Laws Resources• Slip laws

• US Code Congressional and Administrative News

• United States Statutes at Large

Slip Laws

• The US Government Printing Office (GPO) issues the first official publication of a law in the form of a slip law usually 2-3 days after signed.

• Available on 2nd floor of library- Federal Materials

• Westlaw database (US-PL)

United States Statutes at large citation

Bill number in the Senate

United States Code Section

Each public law is assigned a P.L. #

Electronic access to Slip Laws via gpoaccess.gov

United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN)

• Began in 1941• Published by West so it’s an

unofficial version• During each session of Congress,

monthly pamphlets containing the full text of all PL’s, are published.

• Contains committee reports, executive orders, federal regs, etc. Good source for federal legislative history

• Contains a cumulative subject index and a cumulative Table of Laws Enacted

• Found electronically on Westlaw (database USSCAN) and on 2nd floor of library

United States Code Service “Advance”

• Unofficial version published monthly by Lexis

• P.L.s are in numerical order

• Like USCCAN, tables and subject index

• Found electronically on LexisNexis (FILE-NAME: PUBLAW)

United States Statutes at Large

• Official version in publication since 1846, with coverage going back to 1789

• All slip laws are published in numerical order at the end of each session

• Located on 2nd floor of library- federal materials

United States Statutes at Large

• Helpful features:– Popular name index– Subject index

Atchafalaya National Heritage Act

From gpoaccess.gov

Other electronic access to United States Statutes at Large

• Westlaw (1789-1972) Database US-STATLRG

• HeinOnline’s Session Laws Library (1789-2007)

B. Codification of Federal Laws Resources• United States Code (U.S.C)- official

version published by the GPO

• United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A)- unofficial version published by West

• United States Code Service (U.S.C.S)- unofficial version published by Lexis

United States Code (U.S.C)

• Topical arrangement into 50 Titles

• First published in 1926• Published with a 2 year

delay (slow)• Entire set reissued

every 6 years• Available on 2nd floor of

library- Federal Materials

U.S.C. page Topic Title

Section #

Citations to Statutes at Large

Amendments

Searching the U.S.C.

• Multi-volume index• Popular name table

Atchafalaya National Heritage Act

Citation from the popular name table

Accessing the U.S.C in GPOaccess and HeinOnline

Code reproduced in html text and pdf

Code reproduced as a PDF Scan

Locating the USC in Westlaw and Lexis

• Lexis– “Bare bones” U.S.C. unavailable

• Westlaw– Database: U.S.C.

Note: Both vendors favor their annotated products, U.S.C.A. and the U.S.C.S.

United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A)• West product• Reprints the text from the U.S.C• Enhancements include:

– Notes of Decisions, which provide a digest of cases that have interpreted a Code section

– References to Topic and Key Numbers– Supplementary pamphlets indicating PL’s that were enacted since

the last publication of a Title. *Always check the pocket part in the back of a volume to see if the section has been updated since the last publication*

– Continuously updated Popular Name Tables– Index for each Title and a multi-volume index for the entire work

Locating the U.S.C.A.

• In the library, the U.S.C.A. is found on the 2nd floor stacks- Federal Materials

• On Westlaw, it is database USCA

Using the U.S.C.A

• The USC section is reprinted in full

• It is followed by – Historical and statutory notes– Cross references– Law review & journal

commentary citations– West topic and key numbers– Corpus Juris Secundum

citations– ALR citations– Notes of Decisions

Section #

Notes of Decisions

Cross References to other sections in the USCA

Law review citations

West Topic/Key Numbers and CJS citations

The same Code section in Westlaw

Citationscases, etc.

U.S.C.A index

Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge

U.S.C.A. Table of Contents

Expandable menus

Coverage on the spine label

United States Code Service

• Lexis product• Reprints the text from the United States

Statutes at Large• Enhancements include:

– Interpretative Notes and Decisions, which provide a digest of cases that have interpreted a Code section

– References to secondary publications – Supplementary pamphlets indicating PL’s that were enacted

since the last supplementation of a Title.– Continuously updated General Index

Locating the U.S.C.S.

• In the library, the U.S.C.S. is found on the 2nd floor stacks- Federal Materials

• On Lexis, it is database USCODE

Using the U.S.C.S.

• The USC section is reprinted in full

• It is followed by – History, ancillary laws and

directives

– Law review & journal commentary citations

– Research guide

– Interpretive notes and Decisions

The same Code section in Lexis

U.S.C.S. Table of Contents

Tips to searching in Lexis and Westlaw• Limit the search by

searching within a field

• Use the table of contents to limit your search

• Update your statutory research with KeyCite in Westlaw or Shepard’s in Lexis

Any Questions on Federal Statutory Research?

II. Federal Case Law

• Major topics we will cover:– Basic Federal Court

Structure– Reporters– Finding your case

electronically– Digests

A. Basic Court Structure in the United States

Geographic Boundaries of U.S. Courts of Appeals

B. Reporters of Federal Cases

• United States Reports

• West’s Supreme Court Reporter

• Federal Reporter series

• Miscellaneous: Bankruptcy, Federal Claims, Tax Court

United States Reports

• Official reports for cases decided by the US Supreme Court published by the GPO

• Found on 2nd floor of library-Federal Materials, Westlaw, and LexisNexis

• The first 90 volumes are cited by individual that compiled the reporter (1789-1874, vols. 1-90)

• Citation for Brown v. Board of Education looks like:

347 U.S. 483 (1954)

West’s Supreme Court Reporter• Reproduces verbatim the

text of the opinions for each Supreme Court case

• Includes headnotes, topics and Key Numbers

• Begins with Vol. 106 (1882)• Found on 2nd floor of library-

Federal Materials and on Westlaw

• Citation for Brown v. Board of Education looks like:

74 S.Ct. 686

Federal Reporters• Published by West, began in 1880• Contains headnotes that summarize key

principles of law in the cases• Includes topic and Key Numbers• Only decisions designated by the courts

as "for publication” those with full precedential value

• Found on 2nd floor of library-Federal Materials and on Westlaw

• 3 main series

Federal Reporter (F)

• Published: 1880–1924 • 300 volumes• Courts covered:

– Court of Claims– United States circuit courts (abolished in 1912)– United States courts of appeals (established in 1891)– United States district courts– Commerce Court of the United States (1911–1913,

abolished)– Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia (established in

1893)

Federal Reporter, Second Series (F.2d.)

• Published: 1924–1993

• Volumes: 999

• Courts covered: – Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia (until 1932)– Court of Claims (abolished in 1982)– United States Claims Court (established in 1982)– United States Court of Customs (1929–1982)– United States Courts of Appeals– United States District Courts (until 1932)

Federal Reporter, Third Series (F.3d.)

• Published: 1993–present

• Volumes: 500+

• Courts covered: – United States Court of Federal Claims– United States Courts of Appeals

Other Federal Reporters

• "Unpublished" decisions of the U.S. Courts of Appeals may be found in the Federal Appendix (F. App'x.), a set which began publication in 2001.

• West’s Federal Supplement (F. Supp.) set began in 1932, when West no longer included federal district courts in the Federal Reporter series. The last volume of the Federal Supplement is numbered 999. A second series, Federal Supplement (F. Supp. 2d) began in 1998.

C. Finding your case electronicallyIf you have the case citation

If you only know the party name(s)In Westlaw, you can use the “Find a Case by Party Name” feature. You may limit your searches to specific jurisdictions.

In LexisNexis, you will have to restrict your searches by document segment- NAME

Where to search for federal cases• Lexis

– US District Court Cases, Combined (DIST)– US Courts of Appeals Cases, Combined (USAPP)– Federal Court Cases (COURTS)

• Westlaw– Supreme Court Cases (SCT)– All Federal Cases (ALLFEDS)–   U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Cases (CTAF)– 1st Circuit (FED1-ALL) through 11th Circuit (FED11-ALL)

D. Federal Digests

• West Federal Practice Digest, 4th (1975-present)– Earlier parts of the series

• West Federal Practice Digest, 3rd (1975-1983)• West Federal Practice Digest, 2nd (1961-1975)• Modern Federal Practice Digest, 4th (1939-

1961)• Federal Digest, all federal cases prior to 1939

Federal Practice Digest features• Descriptive Word Index

• Table of cases

• Words and Phrases

• Pocket parts and supplementary pamphlets

• West's Key Number System

• Found on 2nd floor of library- Federal Materials

United States Supreme Court Digest• U.S. Supreme Court decisions from 1754 to

date• Pocket parts and supplementary pamphlets • West's Key Number System• Words and Phrases • The Table of Cases• Descriptive Word Index• Found on second floor of library- Federal

Materials

Any questions on Federal Case law research?