Federal Law Links

United States Code (U.S.C.)

U.S. Code (Government Printing Office) - Offers a variety of search and browse options for the 2006 USC. Prior versions of the U.S.C. (back to 1994) are also linked from this site. Text format only.
U.S. Code (Law Revision Counsel) - Complete chapters can easily be downloaded here in PDF.
U.S. Code (Cornell Legal Information Institute) - Search by citation, by popular name, keyword and Boolean operators and several other methods. Cross-references are in hypertext. Once you find a code section, browse backward and forward in numerical order. Each section contains a link to check currency.
HeinOnline United States Code library - Prior editions of the USC (back to 1925) in page-image format. Available to current Duke University students, faculty and staff.

Bills

THOMAS (Library of Congress) - provides full text bills from 1989-present.
- Browse by topic, popular name, bill number or search by keyword and bill number. There are separate files for each Congress. Bill summary and status reports provide links to related committee reports and debates in the Congressional Record.
- Bill Status for 111th Congress search by subject, bill number, sponsor, stage of legislation or committee.
GPO Access provides a bill search for the 103rd- present Congress (1994-present). To browse a list of bills in a particular Congress, see Congressional Bills: Browse.

Legislative Information

Federal Legislative History Research Guide - Extensive research guide to conducting federal legislative history research with resources at Duke's Goodson Law Library.
THOMAS (Library of Congress) - A good starting place for most information related to the United States Congress. Includes continuously updated floor actions, bills, votes, confirmations, reports and hearings.
Today In Congress (Washington Post) - Daily summary of the day's activities on Capitol Hill, including schedules for hearings and speakers.
CQ Weekly -The CQ Weekly is known as the pre-eminent resource for Congress-watchers who need nonpartisan information on Capitol Hill. The award-winning magazine's legislative news and analysis is consistently hailed for its accuracy and comprehensiveness. Available to current Duke University students, faculty and staff.
Congressional Record
- THOMAS (1989 - present): Search or browse individual congressional sessions.
- GPO Access (1994 - present): Search Congressional Record for 103rd - 111th Congresses all at once (vol. 140-154)
- HeinOnline (1873-present): PDF scans of the bound Congressional Record are available through HeinOnline's U.S. Congressional Documents Library. Prior versions of the Record (i.e., Congressional Globe, the Register of Debates, and the Annals of Congress) are also provided. Available to current Duke University students, faculty and staff.
Committee Hearings
- GPO Access - Published hearings in text and PDF formats, 1995-present. This site also offers hearings related to U.S. Supreme Court Justice nominations, dating back to 1971.
- LexisNexis Congressional - Digital collection provides published hearings in PDF, 1824-present. Available to current Duke University students, faculty and staff.
- Law Library of Congress - offers selected hearings in PDF in the areas of immigration law, the U.S. Census, and freedom of information/privacy law. This site is a test area for a partnership between the Law Library of Congress and Google; more hearings will be added.
U.S. Congressional Serial Set Digital Collection - full-text of all the Reports, Documents and Journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives (1817-1971; eventually will cover up to 1980). Produced by READEX; available to current Duke University students, faculty and staff.

Federal Courts

Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United States - the official web site includes Court calendars and schedules, background information about the Court and justices, Court Rules, bar admissions information, case handling guides and general public information. Full text of current term opinions are featured with links to previous bench opinions. Most documents are provided in PDF.
U.S. Supreme Court Research Guide - Extensive guide to researching the Supreme Court at Duke's Goodson Law Library.
On the Docket - Current Supreme Court docket information from Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University.
Supreme Court Opinions
- Findlaw (1893- ): Browse by volume or year; search by party, cite or keyword in full text.
- Cornell LII (1990- ): New opinions posted within hours of release. Search by keyword; browse by party, date or docket number.
Supreme Court Online (Duke Law School, Program in Public Law) - Case lists, certorari grants and commentary of Supreme Court cases. This site also includes scholarship generally on public law and institutions.

Lower Federal Courts

Court Links The Administrative Office of the US Courts links to all available lower federal court web sites.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit : Includes rules, calendars, forms and general information about the court.
Opinions of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals - Easy access and searching of full text opinions from 1995-present. Separate browseable lists for today's, this week's and last week's opinions.

Court Information

U.S. Federal Courts - The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts' clearinghouse of federal judicial information.
Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) - Service for access to court records and dockets. Nationwide party index with case information accessed at individual courts. Available to current Law School students, faculty and staff via password. Inquire at the Law Library Reference Desk for access.
Justia Federal District Court Filings and Dockets - Provides docket summaries and information for federal cases, 2004-present. Offers more flexible search capabilities than PACER, although access to actual court documents requires PACER username and password (see above).

Federal Administrative Law

Federal Administrative Law Research Guide - Extensive guide to administrative law research at Duke's Goodson Law Library.
CFR (GPO Access): Search or browse the Code of Federal Regulations.
- Update a CFR section, with List of Sections Affected (LSA)
- For the most recent changes, Current List of CFR Parts Affected
Electronic CFR - Site for unofficial, but more currently-updated, CFR.
HeinOnline - Provides historical versions, in PDF, of the Federal Register (1936- ) and the Code of Federal Regulations (1938- ). Available to current Duke University students, faculty and staff.
U.S. Federal Government Agencies Directory (LSU): List and links to federal agencies including executive, legislative, independent and quasi-official bodies.
Executive Branch Resources (GPO Access): Search or browse for federal agency internet sites (based on the U.S. Government Manual).
Federal Register
- Federal Register (GPO Access) - Search 1994-present
- Federal Register (HeinOnline) - features full-text searching, jump to volume and page, and PDF images, 1936-present. Available to current Duke University students, faculty and staff.
Federal Administrative Agency Decisions & Other Actions - Can be searched by agency or by subject. Availability of material varies by agency.
U.S. Federal Agency Library (HeinOnline) - features full-text searching, jump to volume and page, and PDF images from selected case reporters of agency decisions. Available to current Duke University students, faculty and staff.

General Federal Government

GPO Access - full text of the Congressional Record, Federal Register, legislative documents, GAO Reports and more. Search files individually or all at one time.
Federal Government Resources on the Web - Comprehensive list of links from the University of Michigan Documents Center.
FedWorld - Designed as an overall guide to government information and programs.
USA.Gov (formerly FirstGov) - Official government gateway for locating services and information for federal and state jurisdictions. Categories for citizens, business and governments as well as topical links and search feature.

Last updated 06/2009 jlb