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use this source effectively, find the most recent pamphlet and consult the table entitled U.S. Code sections “Amended, Repealed, New, Etc.”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 When this has occurred, it is not necessary to use the "Amended, Repealed, New, Etc."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this source effectively, find the most recent pamphlet and the table entitled “Table of Code Sections Added, Amended, Repealed, or Otherwise Affected.”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.