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Legal Resources

Statutory vs Case Law

Laws vs Regulations

Reference Sources

Databases

Table 1: Federal Resources

Table 2: State Resources

Statutory vs Case Law

The following descriptions and examples are taken from federal laws but are generally applicable to the states. Statutory and case law are equally important in the legal environment.

Statutory Law
In the United States governmental system, laws (aka statutes) generally are passed by legislative bodies (Congress) and signed by an executive (President). Each new law is assigned a public law number (e.g. P.L. 109-15). The 109 refers to the number of the Congress (each Congress lasts two years) and the "15" indicates this was the 15th law passed by the 109th Congress. Over time, most laws are superceded in whole or in part by later legislation or become irrelevant as social conditions change.
The methods for citing laws are based on print publications. Statutory laws are published in two forms:
- Statutes at Large
  This version provides the text of the law as passed by Congress. For example, the Privacy Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-579) is cited as "88 Stat 1896" where "88" refers to the volume number, "Stat" signifies the Statutes at Large, and "1896" is the first page of the document. The Pennsylvania equivalent is the "Laws of Pennsylvania."
- United States Code (USC)
  The Code represents laws that are in effect now. New laws often deal with a variety of topics. The laws are broken up and the parts are placed in the appropriate section of the Code. The federal government printed the latest complete compilation in 2000. Annual supplements keep the user up-to-date. The Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes is the Pennsylvania equivalent of the USC. Researchers must insure they have the latest information by checking both the USC and any subsequently passed laws. This is accomplished much easier in the electronic realm because databases such as LexisNexis Congressional incorporate new statutes into the USC within a few weeks.
Case Law
Court decisions (case law) interpret statutory law. The judicial system encompasses three levels of courts - district, appeals, and supreme - plus some special courts. The vast majority of cases begin and end in the District Courts. Courts of Appeal can either affirm or overturn the decisions of a District Court; the Supreme Court can do the same to decisions of the Appeals Courts. Very few cases are accepted by the Supreme Court. Court decisions are legally binding only within the geographic region that a court oversees.
Court decisions are published in "Reporters." There are numerous editions of Reporters. Some cover geographic regions (e.g. Atlantic Reporter) or types of courts (U.S. or S.Ct. = Supreme Court). The citation system is built around these Reporters. For example, "76 F.Supp. 2d 258" refers to the decision in the Federal Supplement, 2nd series beginning on page 258 of volume 76. When using LexisNexis, the primary importance of these citations is to enable you to search for other cases easily. Click on "Get a Case" and type in the citation. You can also search by the name of the plaintiff(s) and defendant(s) in a case but a citation search is more precise.
Courts rely heavily upon earlier court decisions (precedents) when deciding a case. This explains the large number of citations to other cases in court decisions.

As you begin your research, it may be beneficial to examine the print editions of the Statutues at Large, United States Code, and United States Reports. The print versions make the structure of these documents - with their numerous subsections, footnotes, and marginal notes - much more obvious and understandable. The call numbers are given in the Reference section below.

Laws vs Regulations

Once Congress passes a law, agencies must write regulations to put the law into effect. Proposed regulations must be published in the Federal Register and people are given a period of time to comment. When regulations are finalized, the completed version is again published in the Federal Register. Codified regulations are handled in much the same way as codified laws. The federal compilation is known as the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The Pennsylvania equivalent is the Pennsylvania Code. The CFR is completely modified from year to year. Like the U.S. Code, the CFR is arranged by title. The subject matter covered in the USC and CFR titles usually are the same. For example, Title 26 in both publications deal with everyone's favorite topic - taxes. The University Libraries no longer acquire the Code of Federal Regulations and the Federal Register in print. Researchers must check both publications to ensure they have the latest information. This is made much easier in the electronic realm because databases such as LexisNexis Congressional and LexisNexis Academic incorporate new regulations into the CFR within a few weeks.

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Reference Sources

This list contains general legal publications. The University Libraries has other subject specific legal materials that can be identified by searching CAMEO.

Black's Law Dictionary (1999)
REF-1 340 B62A7
The Encyclopedia of American Law (2002)
REF-1 349.7303 E56
Laws of Pennsylvania (1968-)
REF-1 345 P392L
Legal Research Illustrated: An Abridgement of Fundamentals of Legal Research (1994)
REF-1 340 J17L6
The Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions (1999)
REF-1 348.73 O98
Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes (1975-)
REF-1 348.748 P41P
Real Life Dictionary of the Law: Taking the Mystery out of Legal Language (1995)
REF-1 349.73 H64R
United States Code (2000)
REF-1 345 U58A13
United States Reports (1949-1983)
REF-1 348.73413 U58o
Supreme Court decisions.
The United States Law Week (1968-)
REF-1 340 U58; Earlier editions on 3rd floor.
United States Statutes at Large (1968, 1973-1977)
REF-1 345 U58S
West's Encyclopedia of American Law (1998)
American Law Yearbook (1998- )
REF-1 348.7303 W538
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Databases

LexisNexis Academic (Carnegie Mellon users only)
1966- (updated weekly)
Lexis-Nexis is the primary source for case law and legal information at CMU. Researchers can access federal and state court decisions, Shepard's citations for Supreme Court cases, state statutory laws (see "State Codes"), legal news, and law reviews. These last two sections provide journal articles on a wide range of legal topics. Additional sections cover Canadian laws and regulations, European Union laws, patents, and the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. Documents are available in full text.
LexisNexis Congressional (Carnegie Mellon users only)
(updates vary by type of information)
CIS Annual: Congressional Information Service Index. Vol. 1-28, 1970-1997. (annual)
REF-1 INDEX
This database provides comprehensive access to U.S. legislative information, statutory laws, and regulations. It includes the Congressional Record, proposed and recent bills, bill tracking, testimony, laws, legislative histories, the United States Code, Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Register, and more. Most documents are available in full text; the years of coverage vary by document type. Hunt Library possesses a set of microfiche with the full text of Congressional documents from 1977 to the present.
ProQuest Direct
The ProQuest database covers a wide range of academic subjects. Both journals and newspapers are covered. Users can restrict their searches to legal materials by clicking on "Databases Selected" (located just above Basic Search) and then choosing the "law module." Generally it is better to search periodicals and newspapers separately.

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Table 1: Federal Resources - Laws, Court Decisions, and Regulations

	LexisNexis Congressional	LexisNexis Academic	GPO Access *	Other Sources
U.S. Constitution & Amendments				Emory Law School
Bills	All versions (1989-)		Congressional Bills (1993-)	Thomas (1973-)
Law as Passed	Public Laws (1988-)		Public Laws (1995-)	Thomas (1973-)
Law as Passed	Statutes at Large (1789-)		Statutes at Large (1995-)
Codified Laws	United States Code	United States Code	United States Code (1994 & 2000 Editions)	Findlaw (U.S. Code)
Case Law		All Federal Court Levels	Supreme Court (1937-75; 1992-)	Findlaw (Supreme Court, 1893-)
Proposed & Final Regulations	Federal Register	Federal Register	Federal Register (1996-)
Codified Regulations	Code of Federal Regulations	Code of Federal Regulations	Code of Federal Regulations

* The Government Printing Office supports this web site for federal information.

Table 2: State Resources - Laws, Court Decisions, and Regulations

The terminology used by states to designate laws and regulations varies. For example, "Code" in one state may designate statutory laws and "Code" in another state may refer to regulations.

	LexisNexis Academic	Pennsylvania	Other Sources *	Other Sources *
Constitutions	All States	Constitution of Pennsylvania	FindLaw	WashLaw
Bills	Advanced Legislative Service	Session Information (1969-)	FindLaw	WashLaw
Law as Passed	Advanced Legislative Service	Laws of Pennsylvania (Pamphlet Laws)	FindLaw	WashLaw
Codified Laws	All States - "Codes"	Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes	FindLaw	WashLaw
Case Law	Court Levels Covered Vary by State	Unified Judicial System (all court levels)	FindLaw	WashLaw
Proposed & Final Regulations		Pennsylvania Bulletin	FindLaw
Codified Regulations		Pennsylvania Code	FindLaw	WashLaw (Some States)
State Government Home Page Links		Pennsylvania		WashLaw

* FindLaw and WashLaw are two good sites for legal information. Numerous other Internet sites also offer access to quality legal resources.

For similar information regarding all the states, see the State Legal Sources on the Web from the University of Michigan Documents Center.

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  August 13, 2007 -- http://www.library.cmu.edu/Research/PublicPolicy/PubPolMgt/legal.html
  Afeworki Paulos, Social Sciences Librarian, apaulos2@andrew.cmu.edu
  © 2007 Carnegie Mellon Libraries