Guides: Criminal Law and Justice Research Guide: Statutes, Codes, & Legislation

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Federal Laws

Title 18 is the United States Code's Criminal Law title.

Where to Find Federal Statutes

For an introduction to statutory research, see our Statutes Research Guide guide. The following is a list of sources for the full text of federal laws:

U.S. Statutes at Large (Stat.) - Free Web (GovInfo) Coverage: 1951 to 2011
U.S. Statutes at Large (Stat.) - In Print Call Number: KF50 .U5 (Williams 2nd Floor: Williams Reading Room)
U.S. Code (U.S.C.) - Free Web (OLRC) Available via the Office of the Law Revision Counsel (OLRC) of the U.S. House of Representatives. Coverage: 1995 to Present
U.S. Code (U.S.C.) - Free Web (GovInfo) Coverage: 1994 to Present
U.S. Code (U.S.C.) - In Print Call Number: KF62 2006 .A2 (Williams, Reading Room & 5th Fl.)
U.S. Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) - Westlaw Paid subscription database; requires log in.
U.S. Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) - In Print Call Number: KF62 1927.A3 (Williams Reading Room & 5th Fl.)
U.S. Code Service (U.S.C.S.) - Lexis Paid subscription database; requires log in.
U.S. Code Service (U.S.C.S.) - In Print Call Number: KF62 1972.U5 (Williams Reading Room & 5th Fl.)

Proposed Federal Legislation

If you are looking for legislation which has recently been introduced in Congress but has not yet passed, there are several sources to consult:

Congress.gov (for the full text and status of pending and recently enacted health legislation, try a word search in the current Congress)
Lexis: Bill Text, Bill Tracking
Westlaw: Federal Proposed and Enacted Legislation (bills and public laws)
Also see news and current awareness sources and government and research institute reports (particularly CRS reports and the CQ Press Library) for coverage and analysis of proposed federal legislation.

Federal Legislation

Title 18 is the United States Code's Criminal Law title. To retrieve United States Code provisions, you can use any of the following:

Westlaw [Topical Index]
Lexis [Topical Index]
Office of the Law Revision Counsel (U.S. House of Representatives)
Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law)
Print versions: Official, U.S.C.A. and U.S.C.S.

Proposed Legislation

If you are looking for legislation which has recently been introduced in Congress but has not yet passed, there are several sources to consult:

Congress.gov (for the full text and status of pending and recently enacted health legislation, try a word search in the current Congress)
Lexis: All Legislative Histories
Westlaw: CONG-BILLTXT
Newsletters, such as Criminal Law Report (BNA), are good sources of proposed federal legislation

Legislative Histories

For some federal criminal laws, there are compiled legislative histories available in the Library. These compilations usually include bills, Congressional Record debates, reports and hearings. To find a compiled legislative history, try a keyword search in the Library's catalog. For complete legislative history information, read our legislative history research guide. Good starting places for legislative history research include:

USCCAN, also available on Westlaw's LH database
CIS Legislative History Indexes, available:
- ProQuest Congressional (formerly Lexis Nexis Congressional, Georgetown Law Only)
- ProQuest Legislative Insight.
- Lexis: All Legislative Histories
- Westlaw: All Legislative Histories
- HeinOnline: U.S. Federal Legislative History Library
Congress.gov and Govinfo.gov

For state criminal codes and criminal procedure laws, consult Cornell's Legal Information Institute

Criminal Law and Justice Research Guide

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