U.S. Law Research Guide
This Web page provides an introduction and finding guide to the major print
resources on United States law available in the Oviatt Library. Selected Internet
sites are also included. *Note: California
State University, Northridge students and faculty can access some of this
information via a subscription database called LexisNexis
Academic (http://library.csun.edu/restricted/lexis.scr).
Contents:
Constitution
The Law Library of Congress
(http://www.loc.gov/law/guide/usconst.html) provides links to various Web
sites containing the U.S. Constitution, including commentaries, historical
texts that are sometimes credited with having influenced the content, and
judicial decisions. The U.S.Constitution is also available via LexisNexis
Academic (http://library.csun.edu/restricted/lexis.scr) (Legal Research/Federal
Code/Source: Constitution).*
Legislative Law
United States Code
United States
Code [U.S.C.](Ref KF 62 <year> .A2 ... 2d floor). The
U. S. Code is a subject arrangement of the general and permanent laws
of the U. S. from 1789 on. Since 1926, the United States Code has been published
every six years. In between editions, annual cumulative supplements are published
in order to present the most current information. The emphasis is on laws
of a public and permanent nature and thus, will not include private laws,
repealed acts, expired acts, or laws not of a general interest here. This
compilation is composed of 50 broad subject sections or "titles" (i.e., Title
29 is Labor, Title 35 is Patents). Under each title you will find rewritten
texts of the law and citations to statutory authority. The U. S. Code
contains separate indexes for subjects, acts by popular name, and governmental
agencies. The U.S. Code is also available via LexisNexis
Academic (http://library.csun.edu/restricted/lexis.scr) (Legal Research/Federal
Code)*. On the Internet use GPO
Access: U.S. Code (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/index.html) or FindLaw's
US Code (http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/uscodes/).
Session Laws (Statutes)
- United States
Statutes at Large [Stat., Stat. at L.]
(ref KF 50 ... 2d floor and in storage) provides the original and verbatim
text of all public and private laws ("Acts") ever enacted by Congress. Additional
documents contained in this service include: 1) joint and concurrent resolutions
(since 1893), 2) executive agreements (since 1931), 3) reorganization plans
(since 1939), 4) constitutional amendments, 5) all treaties before 1950,
and 6) some presidential proclamations. Each volume of U. S. Statutes
at Large contains an index of subjects, names, and agencies. The arrangement
of this set is chronological, by session of Congress.
- If you know the popular name of an act, look up that name in Shepard's
Acts and Cases
by Popular Names (ref KF 90 .S52 ... Ref
Rm) and you will find citations to Statutes at Large, U.
S. Code, etc. If you do not know the Public
Law (P.L.) number for a current session law, check the various conversion
charts in Commerce Clearing House. Congressional
Index (ref J69 .C6 ... ref room table 8).
- From the 104th Congress (1995-1996) to the present, public laws are also
available on the Internet via GPO
Access: Public and Private Laws (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plaws/index.html)
and are keyword searchable. If you know the bill or resolution number or
public law number, you can find the text of public laws from the 93rd Congress
(1973-1974) to present on the Internet via THOMAS
(http://thomas.loc.gov/).
Bills
Internet:
Beginning with the 101st Congress (1989-90), the full-text of House and
Senate Bills are on the Internet at THOMAS
(http://thomas.loc.gov/) and are searchable by keyword or bill number. Also
available via the GPO
Access: Congressional Bills. (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/bills/index.html)
since the 103rd Congress (1993-1994). Historic
bills and resolutions (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwhbsb.html)
are available for selected sessions of Congress, beginning with the 6th Congress
in the House of Representatives and the 16th Congress in the Senate and continuing
through the 42nd Congress (approximately 1799-1873 for the House and 1823-1873
for the Senate).
Microfiche:
From the 97th Congress, 1st Session (1981) through the 106th Congress, 2d
session (2000), House and
Senate Bills and Resolutions are on Microfiche. An index to the microfiche
collection of bills entitled Superintendent
of Documents Cumulative Finding Aid for Congressional Bills and Resolutions
is located at the Microform Desk, and a second copy is at the Reference Desk.
This index is by Bill or Resolution number and refers you to the appropriate
sheet of microfiche. For subject access to Bills see Index to Bills below.
Index to Bills:
There are two different index sets that can be used for research on bills:
- Commerce Clearing House. Congressional
Index,1967 - present. (Ref J 69 .C6. Recent sessions, Ref
Rm, table 8 & 2nd floor). All public bills and resolutions are listed,
indexed, summarized, and have their progress reported in this weekly updated
loose-leaf index. Pending measures are indexed by subject, author, headline
terms, and number. The voting record of congressmen on each House or Senate
bill is given. A numerical listing of all Senate and House bills identifies
all sponsors and the subject of the bill. House and Senate status tables
report action on each bill in a numerical arrangement. Separate listings
identify an enactment by bill number, subject, author and public law number.
Cross references to companion bill numbers are also provided.
- Congressional Information Service. CIS
Index, 1970 - present. (Ref Z 1223 .Z7 C6 ... Ref
Rm, table 8). Monthly and annually cumulated issues of this reference work
are published in two sections: An index section containing subject, title,
bill number, report and document number indexes for all congressional documentation.
The bill number index identifies all bills that have become the subject
of hearings, reports or other publications by Congress. All citations in
this index refer to entries in the abstracts section where full bibliographic
descriptions of the congressional documentation can be found.
Legislative History
A legislative history is the history of the legislative process of a bill
in order to locate its current status, monitor its progress, and determine
the legislators' intent behind the enactment of the law. Compiling a legislative
history involves reading a copy of the bill (various versions), committee
hearings, reports and prints, the debates, and presidential messages.
- Bill indexes
are a good starting point for locating legislative histories. See previous
section above.
- The official record of legislative history is the Congressional
Record [Cong.Rec.] (Ref J 11 .R 42
... 2d floor and in storage). The Congressional Record is issued
daily, thus arranged in chronological order, and is cumulated at the end
of each congressional session into what is sometimes called the "Congressional
Record Permanent Edition" (which has different pagination than
the daily issues). Congressional Record is a particularly useful
tool if you are interested in reading through some of the debates, statements,
articles and editorials related to legislative action. Roll call votes are
also included. Indexes to the Congressional Record are issued every
three weeks and cumulated at the end of each session. A section in the cumulated
index is entitled History of Bills and Resolutions. It provides in
numerical sequence of bill numbers' page citations for action recorded in
the Congressional Record.
- GPO Access: History
of bills (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/hob/index.html) includes bill summaries,
status, and links to the Congressional Record from 1983 to present.
- Legislative action is also recorded in the Journal
of the House of Representatives of the United States [H.J.]
and the Journal
of the Senate of the United States of America [S.J.]
that are published with some delay after each congressional session. Each
of these reference works contains a History of Bills and Resolutions section
that identifies by number the title, sponsor, cosponsor(s) and action of
each bill or resolution.
- Committee Reports
via THOMAS (http://thomas.loc.gov/cp107/cp107query.html) provides
access to committee reports from the 104th Congress (1995-96) onward.
- CQ Weekly (online)
provides reports on legislative activities from 1983 to present. CQ
Weekly in print goes further back.
- Presidential messages are found in the Public
Papers of the President (ref J80 .A283 . . . 2nd floor
and stored) and via GPO
Access: Public Papers of the President (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/pubpapers/search.html)
since 1991. Weekly
Compilation of Presidential Documents (per
JA1 .U58, 1965-2000, 4th floor and stored) and from 1993 to the present
through : GPO Access:
Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/wcomp/index.html).
Treaties
Judicial Law
Encyclopedias
One option for locating relevant cases by subject is to consult an encyclopedia,
which is organized alphabetically by broad legal topics and contains references
to supporting cases. See also LexisNexis
Academic (http://library.csun.edu/restricted/lexis.scr) (Legal Research/Federal
Case Law)* to search for cases by keyword. The Library
has the following encyclopedias:
- American Jurisprudence
2d [Am.Jur.2d] (ref KF 154 .A5 ... 2d floor). American Jurisprudence
2d provides a comprehensive textual statement of substantive and procedural
law, arranged alphabetically under 443 broad subject treatises in approximately
80 volumes. Each individual volume of the set has its own subject index
and a multi-volume general index to the entire set is also provided. Look
up your topic in the general index to find the volume(s) of American Jurisprudence
2d where that topic will be covered. Example: If your topic was the
right of a minor child to have an abortion, you would find the following
citations in the general index under the subject, "Abortion and Birth Control":
Minors right to abortion, Abort § 4
If you look up Section 4 in the volume that has the subject "Abortion,"
you will find a brief discussion of the law with footnotes to various relevant
cases. (Be sure to use all updating materials, including "pocket parts"
in the back of the volumes when consulting legal reference books.)
- Corpus Juris Secundum
[C.J.S.] (ref KF 105 .C62 ...2d floor - not currently received).
Corpus Juris Secundum is arranged in the same manner (similar subject breakdown,
similar indexes, etc.) as American Jurisprudence 2d and can be used in the
same fashion. The major difference between the two encyclopedias is that
the emphasis in Corpus Juris Secundum is on citing all cases in point, American
Jurisprudence 2d, on the other hand, will cite only the more major relevant
cases
- Other encyclopedias: The Library also owns several encyclopedias
about law which are written for non-lawyers. These are listed in the Dictionaries
and Encyclopedias section of this guide.
Digests
A more comprehensive topical index to cases is found in multi-volume sets
called digests, which are organized by legal topics, and include multi-volume
subject indexes. See also LexisNexis
Academic (http://library.csun.edu/restricted/lexis.scr) (Legal Research/Federal
Case Law)* to search for cases by keyword.
- Digest of
United States Supreme Court Reports (ref KF 101.1 .D52
... 2d floor) Start in the Descriptive Word Index, which will identify
the digest volume and section (known as a key number) of the main set. Under
the key number, you will find summaries of relevant cases along with the
case name and citation. Citations lead to the appropriate case reporter
series, which is where you can read the judge's opinion of the case. See
the citation example under Case Approach
below.
- American
Law Reports [A.L.R.2d, etc.] (ref KF 132
.A . . . 2d floor) ALR provides selected decisions from every
jurisdiction in the United States. The focus of this service is on decisions
which the editors feel are or will become leading cases in the development
of the law. This service is arranged by subject and provides extensive annotations
as well as the text of decisions. Each edition has its own index. In addition,
the ALR Index
covers the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th editions (ref KF 132 .A6 . . . 2nd floor).
Citations to the ALR annotations can also be found in the American
Jurisprudence 2nd encyclopedia (ref KF 154 .A5...2d floor).
Known Case Search
If you already know the name of a specific U. S. Supreme Court case, consult
the Table of Cases (volumes 15, 15A, 15B, 15C, and 15D) of the Digest of
United States Supreme Court Reports (ref KF 101.1 .D52
... 2d floor). This table of cases will provide access to the case reports.
See also LexisNexis
Academic (http://library.csun.edu/restricted/lexis.scr) (Legal Research/Get
a Case)* to search for known cases.
Example and explanation of a legal citation:
The name of your case is "Roe v. Wade." Citations from the Digest
of U.S. Supreme Court Reports table of cases will read:
ROE V. WADE, 410 U.S. 113, 35 L. Ed. 2d 147, 93 S Ct 705
Legal citations begin with the name of the case (in the citation above, Roe
v. Wade is the name of the case), then a list of one or more case reporting
services that include the court's decision on the case. The case reporting
service information is always formatted with the volume of the service first,
then an abbreviation for the name of the reporting service, then the page
where the opinion begins.Abbreviations of case reporting services are listed
in Bieber's Dictionary
of Legal Abbreviations (ref KF246 .B46 2001 . . . Ref Rm).
The abbreviations for the case reporting services for this case are:
Iinterpreting the citation above for Roe v. Wade: the first case reporting
service reference is to volume 410 of United
States Reports (ref KF 101 .A5...2d floor), beginning on page 113;
the second is to volume 35 of United
States Supreme Court Reports (Lawyers' Edition), 2d series, (ref
KF 101 .A52 ... 2d floor) beginning on page 147; and the third is to volume
93 of Supreme Court Reporter
(ref KF 101 .S8...2d floor), beginning on page 705.
Why so many case reporters? The
United States Reports is the official edition of United
States Supreme Court decisions and is published by the federal government.
Two privately published case reporters, United
States Supreme Court Reports (Lawyers' Edition) and Supreme
Court Reporter, also provide the full text of decisions as
well as supplementary information.
Recent Decisions
Recent decisions of the U. S. Supreme Court, not yet included in the bound
copies of the United States Reports, are available:
- The U.S.
Supreme Court home page (http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/opinions.html)
has slip opinions (recent decisions).
- Preliminary Prints of the
Official Reports of the Supreme Court (ref KF
101 .A49 ... Ref Rm) are issued before the bound copies of the United
States Reports become available. They contain the same information and
the same pagination as the permanently bound volumes. They also include
an index and cumulative table of cases reported in the bound volumes.
Cases Pending
Cases pending before the U. S. Supreme Court can be found at:
Administrative Law
Code of Federal Regulations
Code of Federal
Regulations [C.F.R.](Ref KF 70 .A3 ...2d floor). For a subject-oriented
approach to administrative law, use the Code of Federal Regulations.
This multi-volume set contains the full text of general and permanent
rules issued by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal government.
The CFR is divided
into 50 titles which represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation.
Each title is revised annually, with the new version superceding the old except
for Title 3, which has Proclamations and Executive Orders issued by the President.
A separate subject index volume, entitled CFR Index and Finding Aids,
is part of the set. Also available from LexisNexis
Academic (http://library.csun.edu/restricted/lexis.scr) (Legal Research/Federal
Regulations)*, GPO
Access: Code of Federal Regulations (http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfr-table-search.html)
since 1996, and from FindLaw:
Code of Federal Regulations (http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/cfr.html).
Example: If you are interested in regulations concerning
advertising of prescription drugs, by checking the CFR Index you would
find the following citation:
Prescription Drugs
Advertising 21 CFR 202
Title 21 is "Food & Drugs," and part 202 deals with advertising.
Federal Register
Federal Register
[FR, Fed. Reg.] (ref KF 70 .A2 ... 2d floor). While the
Code of Federal Regulations is revised once each calendar year, all
new rules are published in the Federal Register. Therefore, both the
CFR and the Federal Register must be used together to determine
the latest version of any given rule. At least three different finding aids
are provided by the Federal Register, namely a subject index, a list
of CFR sections affected (LSA), and the cumulative list of parts affected.
Also available from LexisNexis
Academic (http://library.csun.edu/restricted/lexis.scr) (Legal Research/Federal
Regulations)* and GPO
Access: Federal Register (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html), which
is can be searched from 1994 to present. If you have a citation to an exact
date of the Federal Register from 1996 to the present, you can use GPO
Access: Federal Register: Browse.
Additional sources for administrative law include:
Other Resources
Books
Periodicals
Periodical Indexes:
The best way to find relevant articles on your subject is to start with a
periodical index:
- LexisNexis
Academic (http://library.csun.edu/restricted/lexis.scr) Provides
full-text access to legal newspapers, magazines and newsletters, as well
as law review journals.*
- CQ
Weekly (http://library.csun.edu/restricted/cqweekly.scr) Provides
full-text reports on issues looming on the congressional horizon, plus a
complete wrap up of the previous week's news, including the status of bills
in play, behind-the-scenes maneuvering, committee and floor activity, debates
and all roll-call votes,
1983 to present.
- International
Political Science Abstracts includes current indexing and abstracts
from nearly 900 political science journals published from 1989-.
- Index to Legal Periodicals, 1926 - 2000. Not currently
received. (Ref K 3 .A115 ... Ref Room table 5 latest years - earlier 2nd
floor) Covers legal journals published in the U. S., Canada, United
Kingdom, and other Common Law countries. In addition to the subject index,
each issue provides a table of cases commented upon and a section of book
review citations arranged by author.
- PAIS International in Print, 1915 - 2000. Not
currently received. (ref Z 7163 .P9 ... latest years Ref Room table 5, earlier
3rd floor). Subject index to selected books, pamphlets, government documents,
and periodical articles. Economics, sociology, public administration, and
international relations are emphasized.
- Other Periodical Indexes: If your research has legal
ramifications for a particular subject area, you will probably be able to
find periodical articles written about that case, legislation, etc., cited
in a subject-specific periodical index. For example, articles about de facto
segregation may be found in education journals. Therefore, a search of ERIC
may be appropriate. Often, general
newspaper and magazine indexes, can be searched as well. Ask a reference
librarian for a recommendation.
Locating Periodicals:
If the full text of the article is not available within the database you
searched, click 
to locate the full text online or in the Library. Or, search the journal title
in the Library Catalog (http://library.csun.edu/cgi/opac)
or the CSUN
List of Electronic Periodicals (http://library.csun.edu/Find_Resources/ejournals/).
Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
Legal dictionaries and encyclopedias provide definitions, overviews, and
background information on legal topics for the non-lawyer. They are often
a good starting place to research a complex area of law, e.g., the first amendment.
Legal dictionaries will help with searching by providing appropriate terminology
that one can expect to find in a case or code.
- American Justice (KF154 .A44 1996 . . . Ref Rm).
- Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations : A Reference Guide for
Attorneys, Legal Secretaries, Paralegals, and Law Students (ref KF246
.B46 2001 . . . Ref Rm).
- Black's Law Dictionary (ref KF 156 .B53 . . . Ref Rm).
- Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage (ref KF 156 .G367 . . . Ref Rm).
- Encyclopedia of the American Constitution (ref KF 4548 .E53 .
. Ref Rm).
- Encyclopedia of the American Judicial System (ref KF 154 .E53
. . . Ref Rm).
- Everybody's Legal Glossary
(http://www.nolo.com/glossary.cfm).
- FindLaw Legal Dictionary
(http://dictionary.lp.findlaw.com/).
- Glossary
of Legal Terms (http://support.lexis-nexis.com/academic/record.asp?articleid=Academic_legal_glossary)
- Guide to American Law (ref KF 156 .G77 . . . Ref Rm).
- Legal Thesaurus (ref KF 156 .B856 . . . Ref Rm).
- West's
Encyclopedia of American Law (CSUN students and faculty can access
this online.)
Directories
The following directories provide information about lawyers, judges, government
agencies, or law schools.
Guides and Handbooks
The following books provide more detail on how to search the law.
- American Bar Association. Family Legal Guide (ref KF 387 .Y655
1994 . . . Ref Rm).
- Cohen. Legal Research in a Nutshell (ref KF 240 .C54 . .
. Ref Rm).
- Martin. Introduction to
Basic Legal Citation (http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/)
- Olson. Legal Information: How to Find It, How to Use It (ref KF
240 .O365 1999 . . . Ref Rm).
- Price & Bitner. Effective Legal Research (ref KF 240 .P7
. . . Ref Rm).
- Southern California Association of Law Libraries. Locating the Law
(ref KF 240 .L63 2001 . . . Ref Rm). Locating
the Law (online) available at http://www.aallnet.org/chapter/scall/locating.htm.
- Teply. Legal Research and Citation (ref KF 240 .T46 1992 . . .
Ref Rm).
Forms
The Library has many books containing legal forms. Search the
Library Catalog (http://library.csun.edu/cgi/opac) using the Keyword
search for any of the following keywords:
- business forms
- contracts forms
- corporation law forms
- forms law
The Internet is another source for legal forms:
- FindLaw Forms(http://forms.lp.findlaw.com/)
includes links to Federal and State court forms, corporate, tax, contracts,
and consumer forms.
- Legaldocs.com (http://www.legaldocs.com/index.htm)
includes some free but mostly paid forms. However, it will let you view
sample forms for free.
- lexisONE
Free Forms(http://www.lexisone.com/store/catalog?action=rootFreeCategory)
requires free registration to view forms and links to paid forms.
Internet
Additional resources with information on legal research and links to law-related
web sites:
Based on a handout by Helen Bennett.
