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Legal Research Process

Statutes and Legislative Materials

Overview

At the federal level, bills are introduced in Congress and those bills may become enacted laws. Laws are published in Statutes at Large and then later organized by subject into the U.S. Code. The official U.S. Code is published once every six years. Examples of commercial services that provide access to the U.S. Code with case annotations and other features are U.S.C.A. (Westlaw) and U.S.C.S. (Lexis+).

At the state level, bills are introduced in the General Assembly and are published in the Laws of Pennsylvania and then in the code. Pennsylvania has a somewhat complicated system whereby only some areas of law have been codified, so you must check to see if your statute is part of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes or the Pennsylvania Statutes.

Purdon's is an unofficial commercial service that provides annotations and other features for Pennsylvania statutes. An unannotated version is available free online. 

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Where Can You Find the U.S. Code Free Online?
What is the U.S. Code?
  • The U.S. Code is the compilation of all the “general and permanent laws” of the United States. 
  • The U.S. code organizes federal statutes by subject. Each broad subject is assigned a title. There are currently 54 titles. 
  • Each title of the U.S. Code is broken into smaller units such as subtitles, chapters, subchapters, parts, subparts, and sections. 
  • Often you may want to use the Popular Names Table to find a law by its popular name (e.g., Affordable Care Act).
  • There is also a Statutes at Large table that lists statutes by their Statutes at Large citations with links to public law numbers and U.S. Code citations. 
  • Not all titles of the U.S. Code are positive law, meaning that they are the official text of the law. Non-positive law titles are editorial compilations of laws. They are only prima facie evidence of the law.
  • Free versions of the U.S. Code lack Notes of Decisions (aka case summaries) and other finding aids that are available in the commercially published versions. 
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Overview and Reminder
  • At the state level, bills are introduced in the General Assembly and are published in the Laws of Pennsylvania and then in the code, which is called Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes.
  • Pennsylvania has a somewhat complicated system whereby only some areas of law have been codified, so you must check to see if your statute is part of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes or the Pennsylvania Statutes.
  • Statutes can have the same title and section information in Pennsylvania Statutes and Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, but they will be two entirely different statutes. In other words, a "P.S." citation is not the same as a "Pa.C.S." citation. 
Unofficial Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes from Westlaw

Where Can I Find Purdon's Online for Free? 

What is Purdon's Online? 

  • Purdon's provides access to both the consolidated and unconsolidated Purdon’s Pennsylvania Statutes and Constitution, as compiled and maintained by the editorial staff of Thomson Reuters.
  • Purdon's is made available free online in an unannotated version under agreement with the Pennsylvania Legislative Reference Bureau.

How is Purdon's Online Different from the Print Version?

  • Probably the biggest difference between the online version and the print version is that the online version lacks editorial enhancements such as the Notes of Decisions (aka case summaries).

Is there an "Official" Online Source for Pennsylvania Statutes? 

  • No, the official publication of Pennsylvania laws can be found in Smith’s Laws of Pennsylvania (1700 through Nov. 30, 1801), Laws of Pennsylvania (Dec. 1, 1801 to date), and Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes are available on the General Assembly's website; however, only the print version is considered official. 

For More Information:

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General Assembly Website