United States Code 32211 223976605 2008-07-06T19:58:37Z SJP 2716074 Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/Fishy5555|Fishy5555]] to last version by Edcolins (using [[WP:HG|Huggle]]) The '''United States Code''' ('''U.S.C.''') is a compilation and [[codification]] of the general and permanent federal [[law of the United States]]. <ref name="USC">[http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/about.html United States Code]</ref> == Codification process == The official text of an [[Act of Congress]] is that of the "enrolled [[bill (proposed law)|bill]]" (traditionally printed on [[parchment]]) presented to the President for his [[signature]] or disapproval. Upon [[promulgation|enactment]] of a [[law]], the original bill is delivered to the [[Archivist of the United States]], and duplicate copies are issued in pamphlet form as "slip laws" by the [[Government Printing Office]] (GPO). The Archivist assembles annual volumes of the enacted laws and publishes them as the ''[[United States Statutes at Large]].'' By law, the text of the ''Statutes at Large'' is "legal evidence" of the laws enacted by Congress. (According to 1 USC Sec. 133 slip laws are also competent evidence.) The ''Statutes at Large'', however, is not a convenient tool for legal research. It is arranged strictly in chronological order, so that statutes addressing related topics may be scattered across many volumes. Statutes often [[repeal]] or amend earlier laws, and extensive [[cross-reference|cross-referencing]] is required to determine what laws are in effect at any given time. The United States Code is the result of an effort to make finding relevant and effective statutes simpler by reorganizing them by subject matter, and eliminating expired and amended sections. The Code is maintained by the [[Office of the Law Revision Counsel]] (LRC) of the [[U.S. House of Representatives]]. The LRC determines which statutes in the United States Statutes at Large should be codified, and which existing statutes are affected by amendments or repeals, or have simply expired by their own terms. The LRC updates the Code accordingly. Because of this codification approach, a single named statute (like the [[Taft-Hartley Act]], or the [[Embargo Act of 1807|Embargo Act]]) may or may not appear in a single place in the Code. Often, complex legislation bundles a series of provisions together as a means of addressing a social or governmental problem; those provisions often fall in different [[logical]] areas of the Code. For example, a bill providing relief for family farms might affect items in Title 7 (Agriculture), Title 26 ([[Tax]]), and Title 43 ([[public land|Public Lands]]). When the bill is codified, its various provisions might well be placed in different parts of those various Titles. Traces of this process are generally found in the Notes accompanying the "lead section" associated with the popular name, and in cross-reference tables that identify Code sections corresponding to particular Acts of Congress. Usually the individual sections of a statute are incorporated into the Code exactly as enacted; however, sometimes editorial changes are made by the LRC (for instance, the phrase "the date of enactment of this Act" is replaced by the actual date). Though authorized by statute, these changes do not constitute [[positive law]].<ref name="USC"/> ==Legal status== By law, those titles of the United States Code that have not been enacted into positive law are "''[[prima facie]]'' evidence"<ref>See {{usc|1|204}}.</ref> of the law in effect. The ''[[Statutes at Large]]'' remains the ultimate authority. If a dispute arises as to the accuracy or completeness of the codification of an unenacted title, the courts will turn to the language in the United States Statutes at Large. Where a title has been enacted into positive law, however, a court may neither permit nor require proof of the underlying original statutes.<ref>See, e.g., ''United States v. Zuger'', 602 F. Supp. 889, 891 (D. Conn. 1984) ("Where a title has, however, been enacted into positive law, the Code title itself is deemed to constitute conclusive evidence of the law; recourse to other sources is unnecessary and precluded.")</ref> The distinction between enacted and unenacted titles is largely academic because the Code is nearly always accurate. The United States Code is routinely cited by the [[United States Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] and other federal courts without mentioning this theoretical caveat. On a day-to-day basis, very few lawyers cross-reference the Code to the ''Statutes at Large''. The authority for the material in the United States Code comes from its enactment through the legislative process and not from its presentation in the Code. For example, the United States Code inadvertently omitted 12 U.S.C. &sect;&nbsp;92 for decades, even after Congress amended it in 1982. In its 1993 ruling in ''U.S. National Bank of Oregon v. Independent Insurance Agents of America'', the Supreme Court ruled that section 92 was still valid law.<ref>''U.S. National Bank of Oregon v. Independent Insurance Agents of America, Inc.'', 508 U.S. 439, 440 (1993).</ref> The LRC continues the process of revising, updating, and restating the existing body of [[statutory law]] in codified form. As the LRC completes particular areas of the law, it proposes that the Congress enact those titles of the Code as "positive law". If a particular title of the United States Code is enacted into law, the enactment repeals all previous enactments on the subject (including those found in the Statutes at Large), thereby making that title of the United States Code "legal evidence"<ref>"[ . . . ] whenever titles of such Code shall have been enacted into positive law the text thereof shall be legal evidence of the laws therein contained, in all the courts of the United States [ . . . ]" {{usc|1|204}}.</ref> of the law in force. ==Uncodified statutes== Only "general and permanent" laws are codified; the Code does not usually include provisions that apply only to a limited number of people (a [[statutory law|private law]]) or for a limited time, such as most [[appropriation (law)|appropriation]] acts or [[budget]] laws, which apply only for a single [[fiscal year]]. If these limited provisions are significant, however, they may be printed as "notes" underneath related sections of the Code. The codification is based on the content of the laws, however, not the vehicle by which they are adopted; so, for instance, if an appropriations act contains substantive, permanent legislation (as is sometimes the case), the permanent provisions will be incorporated into the Code even though they were adopted as part of a non-permanent enactment.<ref>For example, the [[Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2006]], {{USPL|109|148}}, {{USStat|119|2680}} (2005) -- a time-specific appropriations act that the President signed into law on [[December 30]], [[2005]] -- contains in its Division A, Title X the [[Detainee Treatment Act|Detainee Treatment Act of 2005]] ("DTA"). The DTA set out, among other things, permanent provisions governing standards for interrogation of persons in Defense Department custody, prohibitions on cruel and unusual punishment, and procedures for status review of extraterritorial detainees. ''See id.'' at div. A, tit. X, §§ 1001-1006, {{USStat|119|2739}}-44. Notably, DTA section 1002 was printed as a note to {{USC|10|801}}; DTA section 1003 was codified as {{USC|42|2000dd}} (though the section has not yet been enacted into positive law); and DTA section 1005(e)(1) codified a new subsection (e) of {{USC|28|2241}} (which became positive law upon the DTA's enactment). Congress also enacted a nearly identical version of the DTA as a component of the [[National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006]], ''see'' {{USPL|109|163}}, div. A, tit. XIV, §§ 1401-1406, {{USStat|119|3136}}, 3474-80 (2006) -- an authorization act that the President signed into law on [[January 6]], [[2006]] (a week after he signed the original DTA into law). The December 2005 and January 2006 versions of the DTA are generally identical except for certain provisions in the section relating to training of Iraqi security forces (section 1006 of the Dec. '05 DTA and section 1406 of the Jan. '06 DTA). As a result, both the Dec. '05 and Jan. '06 DTAs appear to have made essentially simultaneous and duplicative amendments to the Code and its notes. ''But see'' the legislative history notes under {{usc|28|2241}} (to the effect that two subsection (e)s of that statutory section have apparently been enacted). [[As of May 2008|As of early May 2008]], there has been no litigation challenging the validity of either of the DTA statutes on these grounds.</ref> == Organization == The Code is divided into 50 titles (listed below), which deal with broad, logically organized areas of legislation. Titles may optionally be divided into subtitles, parts, subparts, [[chapter]]s, and subchapters. All titles have sections (represented by a [[§]]), as their smallest basic coherent unit, though sections are often divided into subsections, paragraphs, and [[clause]]s. Not all titles use the same series of subdivisions above the section level, and they may arrange them in different order. For example, in Title 26 (the tax code), the order of subdivision runs: * Title * (Subtitle) ** Chapter ** (Subchapter) *** Part *** (Subpart) **** Section **** (Subsection) ***** Paragraph ***** (Subparagraph) ****** Clause ****** (Subclause) In Title 38 ([[Veteran]]'s Benefits) the order runs Title - Part - Chapter - Subchapter - Section. Put another way, the Title is always the largest division of the Code, and the section the smallest (except for subsections, paragraphs, clauses, etc.), but intermediate levels vary in both number and sequence from Title to Title. The word "title" in this context is roughly akin to a printed "volume," although many of the larger titles span multiple volumes. Similarly, no particular size or length is associated with other subdivisions; a section might run several pages in print, or just a sentence or two. Some subdivisions within particular titles acquire meaning of their own; for example, it's common for lawyers to refer to a "Chapter 11" [[bankruptcy]] or a "Subchapter K" [[partnership]]. According to one style manual<ref>The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation 102 (Columbia Law Review Ass'n et al. eds., 18th ed. 2005)</ref>, a sample citation would be ''[[Privacy Act of 1974]], {{UnitedStatesCode|5|552a}} (2006)''. A [[lawyer]] would read that out loud as "Title five, United States Code, section five hundred fifty-two A." or simply "5 USC five hundred fifty-two A." When sections are repealed, their text is deleted and replaced by a note summarizing what used to be there. This is necessary so that lawyers reading old cases can understand what the cases are talking about. As a result, some portions of the Code consist entirely of empty chapters full of historical notes. For example, Title 8, Chapter 7 is labeled "Exclusion of Chinese." This contains historical notes relating to the [[Chinese Exclusion Act (United States)|Chinese Exclusion Act]], which is no longer in effect. == Versions and history == ===Early compilations=== Early efforts at codifying the Acts of Congress were undertaken by private publishers; these were useful shortcuts for research purposes, but had no official status. Congress undertook an official codification called the ''[[Revised Statutes]]'' approved [[June 22]], [[1874]], for the laws in effect as of [[December 1]], [[1873]]. Congress re-enacted a corrected version in 1878. The Revised Statutes were enacted as positive law, but subsequent enactments were not incorporated into the official code, so that over time researchers once again had to delve through many volumes of the ''[[Statutes at Large]]''. According to the preface to the Code, "From 1897 to 1907 a commission was engaged in an effort to codify the great mass of accumulating legislation. The work of the commission involved an expenditure of over $300,000, but was never carried to completion." ===Official code=== During the [[1920s]], some members of Congress revived the codification project, resulting in the approval of the United States Code by Congress in [[1926]]. The official version of the Code is published by the LRC as a series of paper volumes. The first edition of the Code was contained in a single bound volume; today, it spans several large volumes. Normally, a new edition of the Code is issued every six years, with annual supplements identifying the changes made by legislation in each session of Congress. In practice, however, the Code is kept up-to-date on a near-current basis as laws are enacted, and notes are printed in the margins of the slip laws indicating where each section will be codified, if at all. Both the LRC and the GPO offer electronic versions of the Code to the public. The electronic version may be as much as 18 months behind current legislation, but it is the most up to date official version. ===Internet versions=== A number of other online versions are freely available, including those at [[Findlaw.com]] and at [[Cornell University|Cornell]]'s [[Legal Information Institute]]. ===Annotated codes=== Practicing lawyers who can afford them almost always use an annotated version of the U.S. Code from a private company. The two leading annotated versions are the [[United States Code Annotated]], abbreviated as U.S.C.A., and the [[United States Code Service]], abbreviated as U.S.C.S. The U.S.C.A. is published by [[Thomson West]], and U.S.C.S. is published by [[LexisNexis]] (part of [[Reed Elsevier]]), although the current edition was originated by the [[Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Co]]. ''See [[Wexis]].'' These annotated versions contain notes following each section of the law, which summarize relevant court decisions, law review articles, and other authorities, and may also include uncodified provisions that are part of the Public Laws. The publishers of these versions frequently issue supplements that contain newly-enacted laws, which may not yet have appeared in an official published version of the Code. When an attorney is viewing an annotated code on an online service, such as [[Westlaw]], all the citations in the annotations are [[hyperlink]]ed to the referenced opinions and documents. == Other relevant codifications == The Code generally contains only those Acts of Congress known as public laws (although the notes sometimes contain related Executive Orders and other presidential documents). The Code does not contain statutes known as private laws. It also does not contain statutes that are not considered permanent (such as appropriations); nor does it contain regulations adopted by executive agencies through the [[rulemaking]] process set out in the [[Administrative Procedure Act]]. These regulations are published chronologically in the [[Federal Register]] and are then compiled by topic or subject matter in the [[Code of Federal Regulations]] (C.F.R.), which constitutes an additional important source of federal law. == Parts of interest == The [[Uniform Code of Military Justice]] is contained in Title 10, Chapter 47. It defines infractions such as going [[AWOL]] and contains the popularly-known phrase, "[[Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman]]." Title 11 is the [[Bankruptcy in the United States|Bankruptcy Code]]. Some of the different types of [[bankruptcy]] are commonly referred to simply by their chapter numbers: [[Chapter 7, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 7]], [[Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 11]], [[Chapter 13, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 13]]. Title 18 deals with federal [[Criminal law|crimes]]. Title 26 is also known as the [[Internal Revenue Code]]. Much of Title 26 is administered and enforced by the [[Internal Revenue Service]] and is one of the largest portions of the Code. Title 28 governs [[Legal procedure|procedure]] in the [[United States federal courts]]. Title 42 is a lengthy title which includes statutes governing several large federal government programs like [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] and [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]]. One provision, {{UnitedStatesCode|42|1983}}, is the basis for a wide range of federal [[civil rights]] actions in federal courts; it is the codification of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1871]]. Section 1983 cases include suits alleging use of excessive force by police and First Amendment suits against public schools to maintain church/state separation. Section 1983 itself is quite short; the annotations (i.e., the digests and summaries of court decisions interpreting it), however, span several volumes. ==Titles== Titles that have been [[enact]]ed into [[positive law]] are indicated by blue shading below. {| class=wikitable |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 1 of the United States Code|Title 1]] | General Provisions |- | [[Title 2 of the United States Code|Title 2]] | The [[United States Congress|Congress]] |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 3 of the United States Code|Title 3]] | The [[President of the United States|President]] |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 4 of the United States Code|Title 4]] | [[Flag of the United States|Flag]] and [[Great Seal of the United States|Seal]], [[Washington, D.C.|Seat Of Government]], and the [[U.S. states|States]] |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 5 of the United States Code|Title 5]] | [[Federal government of the United States|Government]] Organization and [[Employee]]s* |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 6 of the United States Code|Title 6]]<br>(original) | [[Surety Bonds]] (''repealed'')<br>(Enacted into [[positive law]] by the 80th Congress in 1947; combined into Title 31 when it was enacted into [[positive law]].) |- | Title 6 | [[Department of Homeland Security|Domestic Security]] |- | [[Title 7 of the United States Code|Title 7]] | [[Agriculture]] |- | [[Title 8 of the United States Code|Title 8]] | Aliens and [[Nationality]] |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 9 of the United States Code|Title 9]] | [[Arbitration]] |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 10 of the United States Code|Title 10]] | [[United States Armed Forces|Armed Forces]] (including the [[Uniform Code of Military Justice]]) |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 11 of the United States Code|Title 11]] | [[Bankruptcy]] |- | [[Title 12 of the United States Code|Title 12]] | [[Bank]]s and Banking |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 13 of the United States Code|Title 13]] | [[Census]] |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 14 of the United States Code|Title 14]] | [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]] |- | [[Title 15 of the United States Code|Title 15]] | [[Commerce]] and [[Trade]] |- | [[Title 16 of the United States Code|Title 16]] | [[Conservation ethic|Conservation]] |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 17 of the United States Code|Title 17]] | [[Copyright]]s |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 18 of the United States Code|Title 18]] | [[Crime]]s and [[Criminal Procedure]]* |- | [[Title 19 of the United States Code|Title 19]] | [[Customs]] Duties |- | [[Title 20 of the United States Code|Title 20]] | [[Education]] |- | [[Title 21 of the United States Code|Title 21]] | [[Food and Drug Administration|Food and Drugs]] |- | [[Title 22 of the United States Code|Title 22]] | [[Foreign relations of the United States|Foreign Relations]] and Intercourse |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 23 of the United States Code|Title 23]] | [[Highway]]s |- | [[Title 24 of the United States Code|Title 24]] | [[Hospital]]s and [[Psychiatric hospitals|Asylums]] |- | [[Title 25 of the United States Code|Title 25]] | [[Native Americans in the United States|Indians]] |- | [[Internal Revenue Code|Title 26]] | [[Internal Revenue Code]] |- | [[Title 27 of the United States Code|Title 27]] | [[Alcoholic Beverage|Intoxicating Liquors]] |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 28 of the United States Code|Title 28]] | [[Judiciary]] and [[Judicial Procedure]] |- | [[Title 29 of the United States Code|Title 29]] | [[Employment|Labor]] |- | [[Title 30 of the United States Code|Title 30]] | [[Mineral]] Lands and [[Mining]] |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 31 of the United States Code|Title 31]] | [[Money]] and [[Finance]] |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 32 of the United States Code|Title 32]] | [[United States National Guard|National Guard]] |- | [[Title 33 of the United States Code|Title 33]] | [[Navigation]] and [[Waterway|Navigable Waters]] |- | [[Title 34 of the United States Code|Title 34]] | [[United States Navy|Navy]] (''repealed'') |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 35 of the United States Code|Title 35]] | [[Patent]]s |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 36 of the United States Code|Title 36]] | [[Patriotism|Patriotic Societies and Observances]] |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 37 of the United States Code|Title 37]] | Pay and [[Allowance]]s Of the Uniformed Services |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 38 of the United States Code|Title 38]] | [[Veteran]]s' Benefits |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 39 of the United States Code|Title 39]] | [[United States Postal Service|Postal Service]] |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 40 of the United States Code|Title 40]] | Public Buildings, Properties, and [[Public works|Works]] |- | [[Title 41 of the United States Code|Title 41]] | Public [[Contract]]s |- | [[Title 42 of the United States Code|Title 42]] | The Public [[Health]] and [[Social welfare|Welfare]] |- | [[Title 43 of the United States Code|Title 43]] | Public Lands |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 44 of the United States Code|Title 44]] | Public [[Printing]] and [[Document]]s |- | [[Title 45 of the United States Code|Title 45]] | [[Rail transport|Railroads]] |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 46 of the United States Code|Title 46]] | [[Ship]]ping* |- | [[Title 47 of the United States Code|Title 47]] | [[Telegraphy|Telegraph]]s, [[Telephone]]s, and Radiotelegraphs |- | [[Title 48 of the United States Code|Title 48]] | [[Insular area|Territories and Insular Possessions]] |- bgcolor="#ADDFFF" | [[Title 49 of the United States Code|Title 49]] | [[Transport]]ation<br>(enacted into positive law in stages; Title IV in 1978, Title I in 1983, and Titles II, III, and V-X in 1994) |- | [[Title 50 of the United States Code|Title 50]] | [[War]] and National Defense |} <nowiki>*</nowiki> Includes Appendix of [[provision]]s not yet enacted into positive law. == References== {{reflist}} ==External links== {{Wikisource}} * [http://uscode.house.gov Office of Law Revision Counsel] (Search the U.S. Code House of Representatives Site) * [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/browse.html U.S. Code Official Government site] * [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/casecode/uscodes/toc.html U.S. Code online at findlaw.com] * [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ U.S. Code with links to C.F.R. parallels] * [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/topn/ Acts listed by popular name (at Cornell's U.S. Code site)] * [http://www.llsdc.org/statutes-code/ United States Statutes and the United States Code: Historical Outlines, Notes, Lists, Tables, and Sources] * [http://www.USCodeSurf.com/ U.S. Code - Cross Referencing] * [http://www.llsdc.org/attachments/wysiwyg/544/usc-pos-law-codification.pdf Positive Law Codification in the United States Code] {{USCTitles}} [[Category:United States federal legislation|*Code]] [[Category:Official documents of the United States]] [[de:United States Code]] [[fr:Code des États-Unis]] [[ko:속보식 법전]] [[it:United States Code]] [[ja:合衆国法典]] [[pl:United States Code]] [[pt:Código dos Estados Unidos da América]] [[ru:Кодекс Соединённых Штатов]] [[zh:美国法典]]