Guides: PLS 4610: Senior Thesis in Political Science I: Government

Resources

Here are some simple tips to keep in mind when researching law:

Legislative Branch = writes the law

Federal - Congress is the legislative body (Senate and the House of Representatives) that enacts statutes, many statutes are organized by subject in the United States Code (U.S.C.)
State - the state legislature (names can vary by state), many statutes are organized by state statutory codes by subject

Judicial Branch = interprets the law

Statutes can be vague and open to interpretation. This can lead to disputes
Courts resolve ambiguities in law in the form of opinions, orders, or decisions

Executive Branch = executes/ enforces the law

Federal level - the President
State level - the Governor

Primary vs. Secondary Authority

Primary - the law itself (constitutions; cases, statues, administrative regulations)
Secondary - explain and interpret the law (legal encyclopedias, law journals, treatises, and books)

Guides to breakdown statute citations:

These guides will help you understand how statute citations are written. This is very helpful when you are researching statutes, not just for citing!

Federal Statutory Codes
Georgetown Law Library
State Statutory Codes
Georgetown Law Library

Legal Information Resources

Bills, Acts, & Laws - senate.gov
Allows you to look up legislation and laws. Also contains helpful information on how to find bill numbers, copies of bills, and laws, acts, and statues.
Guides to State Laws - Library of Congress
This is a list of guides created by the Library of Congress and have resources for each state. They provide links to each state's constitution, executive, legislative and judicial branch.
Legislative Search - congress.gov
This is the official source for U.S. federal legislative information. This can be used to track bills that have recently been introduced rather than bills that have become law.
Cornell's Legal Information Institute (LII)
We are a small not-for-profit group that believes everyone should be able to read and understand the laws that govern them, without cost. We value accuracy and objectivity.
Sources available include: Constitution, U.S. Code. C.F.R., Supreme Court, Executive Orders, Federal Rules, State Law resources, Statutes by topic, etc.
Govinfo.gov
This site provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government. It is a service of the Government Publishing Office (GPO).