(NOTE:  This learning module is broken into two parts:   PART I is a general introduction to statutes that walks you through a generic research problem.   PART II is an exercise relating to your section's Legal Writing assignment. Do PART II independently. Turn in your answers to PART II to your Legal Writing professor.)

You are a summer intern working for the United States Attorney's Office.   You have just been handed your first research assignment:

In order to competently answer a research question, you must first understand the terms used by your assigning attorney.  Get in the habit of using a legal dictionary to obtain clarity as to how words are used with precision in the practice of law.

STATUTES

Statutes are laws passed by a legislative body.  They are generally found in two forms: (1) codes and (2) session law.

CODES AND CODIFICATION

Codes are the body of law passed by a legislative entity and arranged according to their subject matter.  Codes are created in a process known as codification.

Codification is the process in which laws are broken into discreet and usable segments and arranged according to their subject matter.  In other words, code books allow subject access into a body of laws.  There are code books for every level of government--the U.S. Code, state codes, as well as county and municipal codes.  Codified materials usually contain only the current version of any particular law.  Once a law has been repealed or replaced, it will drop out of a code book.  The codification of federal laws is performed by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel within the United States House of Representatives.

Annotated Codes are editorially enhanced versions of a code.   Of most use to attorneys is the fact that they contain summaries of cases that have interpreted the various statutory provisions.  Annotated codes contain additional valuable elements such as references to corresponding administrative regulations, historical notes as to the passing and modification of the statutes, references to secondary materials, and better indexes.

SESSION LAW

Session Law is the term used to refer to a collection of laws that have been promulgated by a legislative entity and are arranged in a chronological fashion without consideration as to their subject matter.  This is where you would go to find the complete text of a law (sometimes over a hundred pages) before the Office of the Law Revision Counsel or other similar body has put it into discreet and usable segments.  This is also a source for the text of laws that have been superseded and no longer appear in the current code books.   The Statutes at Large is the official name of the set of volumes that contain the session laws of the United States Congress.

Explicit in the assigning attorney's instructions is the fact that she wants federal statutes.  There are three editions of the United States Code that are commonly held in law libraries:

The United States Code (U.S.C.)


This is the official version of the U.S. Code. It is published by the Government Printing Office (GPO), which produces a completely revised edition once every six years. In the interim, the U.S. Code is updated by an annual cumulative supplement. However, the annual supplement may be up to two years out of date. Consequently, while The Bluebook prefers an author to cite to the official version of the U.S. Code for briefs and scholarly writing, few attorneys use it to do research.


The United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.)


This is the United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.). It is a version of the federal code put out by West Publishing. It takes up about four times the shelf space as the official version of the U.S. Code. It includes many helpful editorial enhancements (called annotations). Most helpful are its summaries of cases that interpret the individual code sections.


The United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.)



This is the United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.) published by Lexis Publishing. Like its competitor, the U.S.C.A., it also takes up about four times the shelf space as the official version of the U.S. Code. The U.S.C.S. also includes editorial enhancements such as case annotations (case summaries) for each code section.

This is the Reference Area of the first floor of the Law Library as you enter the stacks through the double, glass doors.  All three versions of the United States Code are available in the low shelf adjacent to the drinking fountain and the restrooms.

Few people open up the code and start reading it from start to finish.   Instead, a researcher will either open up the code to a specific section or will use an index to find the section for which he or she is looking.   Each of the three versions of the code has an index that appears after the last regular volume.  Pictured above is the 2001 index for the U.S.C.A.  (Each year a new edition of the index is published).   All of the indexes for each version of the code attempt to accommodate the transition from lay terminology to the language used by lawyers and legislators.  While you are getting familiar with a new topic, it will take you many attempts at looking up words in the index before you find the right words.  Often you will look up one term and be referred to another. (This is known as a 'see reference.')

1.   Analyze the language of your research problem.

2.   Look for precise or unique words that are likely to lead only to code sections that will answer your problem.

3.   If your first use of the index proves fruitless, make sure to exhaust all synonyms and related terms at varying levels of abstraction.   (You might want to use a legal dictionary or a legal thesaurus to generate synonyms and related terms.)

4.   Scan the entries in the Index.  If the answer is not apparent, check whether the entries under one topic suggest other topics to look up in the index.  Follow up on all 'see references' that might be relevant.

1.  What are the possible search terms for the Assistant U.S. Attorney's problem?   Write them down.







2.  Which one do you think you should try first, and why?

When you have completed this task, refer to the bottom of this page for suggestions as to the terms most likely to lead to an answer to our research problem when searched in the index.

1.  Now look up 'habeas' in the index to one of the three versions of the federal code (U.S.C., U.S.C.A., or U.S.C.S.).  



2.  Which sub-heading(s) or code(s) citation(s) are most likely to answer the questioned posed by the Assistant U.S. Attorney?  Write them down.

When you have completed this task, refer to the bottom of this page for the most likely code provision that answers the question posed by the Assistant U.S. Attorney.

Now go to Title 28 of whatever version of the code you are using and look up section 2244. After reading the statutory language, write down the answer to the question posed by the Assistant U.S. Attorney.

Being up to date is everything in the law.  Nobody wants to cite a law to a court that was changed the previous year.  However, few hardbound legal materials are replaced on a yearly basis.  The solution is to use a ‘pocket part.’   This is a softbound supplement that attaches to a special pocket in the rear of the bound volume.  If the pocket part becomes too large, a code publisher will print a separate softbound volume that will be located on the shelf next to the hardbound volume.  If your hardbound volume of the code does not contain a pocket part, and the hardbound volume itself was not published within the last year, make sure to look for one of these softbound stand-alone update volumes.  (The U.S. Code is updated with annual hardbound update volumes only.)

Look for an update to section 2244 in a pocket part, pamphlet volume, or a separately bound update volume. If there is an update, what does it say? Write down anything in the update that you think the Assistant U.S. Attorney would want to know.

When you have completed this task, refer to the bottom of this page for some observations about the need to consult the pocket part.

The pocket part is not enough. At certain times of the year, the information in the pocket part is over a year old. Fortunately, both the U.S.C.A. and the U.S.C.S. publish an update pamphlet service.

The U.S.C.A. contains a statutory supplement in pamphlet form that identifies recent Public Laws that affect U.S. Code provisions. To use this source effectively, find the most recent pamphlet and consult the table entitled U.S. Code sections “Amended, Repealed, New, Etc.” Use this table to find out whether any particular code section is still good law. If your particular code section has been altered, you will have to consult the Public Law cited in the table to see how your code section was affected. After the Public Laws have been codified, the update supplement will assume the appearance of a combined pocket part for all of the code titles. When this has occurred, it is not necessary to use the "Amended, Repealed, New, Etc." table. Instead, just look up your code section in the update pamphlet. The softbound statutory update pamphlets are kept at the end of the U.S.C.A. volumes next to the index.


The U.S.C.S. also contains an updating pamphlet service entitled U.S.C.S. Advance. To use this source effectively, find the most recent pamphlet and the table entitled “Table of Code Sections Added, Amended, Repealed, or Otherwise Affected.” These softbound supplements are kept at the end of the U.S.C.S. volumes next to the index.

Electronically, this process is easier and more seamless. Both Lexis and Westlaw will make note of recent amendments within a matter of days. However, in order to understand the organizational structure of the online databases, you must first become familiar with how to do research using the books.

Statutes at Large on the 4^th Floor of the Law Library. Call Numbers: AE 2.111 (Vol. 98 (1984) to the present) and GS4.111 (Vol. 1 through 97).

So far, we have located only the codified version of the statute that answers the assigning attorney’s research task. She also asked for the un-codified version of the law. In other words, we need to find this statutory language in the session law. The Statutes at Large is a chronological arrangement of the laws passed by the U.S. Congress. However, the Statutes at Large contains only a rudimentary index for each volume. Consequently, it is better to find the session law citation by using the historical notes following the statutory section in a code than by using the index to each volume of the Statutes at Large. Once you have found the Statutes at Large citation in a code, you can look up the session law itself in the Statutes at Large.

Using the federal code books of your choice, locate the historical information that follows 28 U.S.C. section 2244. Find the citation to the Statutes at Large that reflects an amendment made on April 24, 1996. Locate the April 24, 1996 statutory language that amends section 2244 in the Statutes at Large on the 4^th floor of the library.



What is the pinpoint page citation for the statutory language that specifically modifies section 2244?



What types of additional information are found in the margins of the Statutes at Large?

When you have completed this task, refer to the bottom of this page for an explanation of how one goes from the historical notes of a code section to the specific language of the Statutes At Large.

You should now know:

• The difference between codes and session law.



• What it means to codify a law.



• The difference between annotated and unannotated codes.



• The difference between official and unofficial codes.



• How to interpret a public law citation.



• What information is contained in the Statutes at Large.

The Law Library has codes for all fifty states. This material is also located on the first floor of the Law Library. As with the U.S. Code, there are official and unofficial, annotated and unannotated versions of most state codes. As a collection policy, the Law Library only purchases an annotated version of each state's code. This is true whether or not the annotated version of the code happens also to be the official version.


Refer to Sloan at 15-19 and to Writing Assignment # 3. Write down your answers and turn them in to your Legal Writing professor.

A.   Write down search terms for finding statutes applicable to Writing Assignment # 3. Include terms in all four categories listed by Sloan, and increase the breadth and depth of your terms by using synonyms and related terms and by varying the levels of abstraction.

 



B.   Then go to the code for the state to which you've been assigned, and use the index and your search terms to find the most relevant statutes. Look up the statutes, both in the main volumes and in the pocket parts, read them, and list the most relevant ones with a brief description of each. For each statute you list, also note whether you found the statutory language in the main volume, in the pocket part, or in both.





C.   Which search term(s) worked best for finding the statutes? List them.





D.   Finally, scan the case annotations to the statutes you found and list the names and citations of any cases that appear from the annotations to be particularly relevant to your writing assignment.

The words highlighted above are most likely to lead to an answer to our specific research problem.  'Federal' is not a useful search term.  (Once we are in the federal code, almost everything is federal in scope.)  As between 'habeas' and 'appeals,' look up 'habeas' first.  It is a more specific word than 'appeals.'  In fact, it is a term of art with a precise and limited meaning.  Thus, it will likely lead us most directly to an answer to our research problem.

USCA Index

In the USCA index, under the phrase 'Habeas Corpus,' there exist over two pages of entries.  Scanning the list under 'Habeas Corpus,' you will come to an entry for 'Limitation of Action, State court judgments.'   This refers you to 28 USC 2244.  This appears to be the most relevant statute for addressing the attorney's question as to the number of habeas petitions a person may file.  One has to read the language of the statute to know for sure.

Ideally, there would have been an index entry for "number of federal habeas appeals that a prisoner may file."  However, as a legal researcher, one is seldom so lucky.  Instead, as a researcher, you will have to make the intuitive connection that "Limitation of Action" might speak to the issue of the number of federal habeas appeals that a prisoner may file.  (Perhaps this is why the practice of law requires both a graduate degree and a license.)

USC Index

The USC index has less than one page of entries under the phrase 'Habeas Corpus.'   However, one of the entries is 'Limitation of action, State court judgments,' which refers you to 28 USC 2244.

USCS Index

The USCS Index has approximately the same number of entries as the USCA index.   The entry, "Subsequent application after denial," appears to be the most relevant for addressing the attorney's question as to the number of habeas petitions a person may file.  It refers you to 28 USC 2244.

USCA   The specific section of Title 28 for which we are looking appears in the U.S.C.A. in a bound volume that was printed in 1994. However, part of the answer to our research problem was introduced by language that was passed in 1996. Consequently, unless you checked the pocket part, you would have given incomplete information to your assigning attorney.

USCS   Title 28, Section 2244 appears in the U.S.C.S. in a bound volume that was printed in 1992. However, part of the answer to our research problem was introduced by language that was passed in 1996. Consequently, unless you checked the pocket part, you would have given incomplete information to your assigning attorney.

USC   The main, 2000 hardbound volume of the U.S. Code, covering Titles 27-28, is the most recent version of Section 2244 available in this set of books. This volume has a copyright date of 2001. Consequently, you have to use another source to make sure that Section 2244 has not been altered or repealed since 2001.

After each section of the code you will find a reference to the Statutes at Large that contains your statutory language. For instance, in the U.S.C.A. pocket part after Section 2244 you will see the following:

(As amended April 24, 1996, Pub.L. 104-132, Title I, §§ 101, 106, 110 Stat. 1217, 1220.)

This citation refers to the same content in two different forms. The first citation is to the slip law version of the statute:

Pub.L. 104-132, Title I, §§ 101, 106

Laws passed by Congress are first published in the form of a slip law. This is a printing of the law by itself. Some are very small and are only a few slips of paper wide (hence, the name ‘slip law’). Pub. L. 104-132 is the 132nd law passed by the 104^th Congress. In other words, it was proceeded by 131 other laws passed by the 104^th Congress and followed by many more. In time, all of the individual slip laws are collected and published chronologically in a set of books known as the Statutes at Large. This is the meaning of the second part of the citation:

110 Stat. 1217, 1220

The language of our statutory provision appears on page 1220 of the 110th volume of the Statutes at Large. Note also that our citation is a pinpoint citation. This means that while the language of the statute in which we are interested appears on page 1220 of the Statutes at Large, the first part of the law in its entirety begins on page 1217.

As to our problem, this is not the only session law language that is applicable. You would also track down the other Statutes at Large citations in the ‘Historical and Statutory Notes’ (U.S.C.A.) or ‘History; Ancillary Laws and Directives’ (U.S.C.S.) portion of the annotations in the annotated code. The session law versions of the statutes will allow your assigning attorney to determine what language was added at what particular time, and to see the language of each particular amendment in the context in which it was passed. For instance, if you look up the session law version of the 1996 amendment to our statute, you will learn that the amendment was enacted as part of the “Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996.”

Similarly, on the margins of the pages of the Statutes at Large, you should find the location of where particular portions of a statute ended up in the United States Code. (Note: This is not true for our particular statute because Section 106 of the “Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 makes it explicitly clear that it is amending Title 28, Sections 2244(a) and 2244(b) of the U.S. Code.)