United States Code
The United States Code (U.S. Code) is the official compilation of federal statutes currently in force, organized systematically to enhance accessibility. Established in 1926, it was created to address the complexities of previous legal collections that were often redundant and unclear. The U.S. Code is divided into titles and is updated annually, with a complete new edition published every six years, reflecting the evolving nature of federal legislation.
In addition to the U.S. Code, there is the United States Code Annotated (USCA), which provides not only the text of laws but also judicial interpretations, historical context, and related references, making it a valuable resource for legal research. For those interested in the chronological development of laws, the United States Statutes at Large offers a different perspective by listing laws as they were enacted, although it does not categorize them by subject. This structured approach to federal legislation helps users navigate the legal landscape more effectively, making the U.S. Code an essential resource for anyone seeking to understand American law.
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Subject Terms
United States Code
The Law: The official collection of federal statutes in force, which are edited to eliminate duplication and arranged under appropriate headings
Date: First compiled in 1926
Significance: The U.S. Code provides easy access to federal legislation which has been “codified”—that is, assembled and presented in a uniform format.
Prior to 1926, when the U.S. Congress authorized preparation of the U.S. Code, federal laws were added as they appeared to the Revised Statutes of 1875. This agglomeration of legislation was difficult to use, because laws were often redundant and their relevance often unclear. The first U.S. Code rearranged the laws in force in 1926 under fifty titles and published them in four volumes; subsequently these were updated annually with a cumulative supplement. Every six years, the federal government publishes a new edition of the code following the same format, and the number of volumes continues to grow. Another official collection of federal legislation, the United States Code Annotated (USCA), is similarly structured. It contains, in addition to the texts of federal laws, notes on state and federal judicial decisions applying individual laws, together with cross-references to other sections of the code, historical annotations, and library references.
The laws enacted by Congress are also collected in a chronological arrangement; issued annually, this arrangement is known as the United States Statutes at Large. The U.S. Statutes at Large are indexed but are not arranged by subject matter. Congress numbers the volumes of the Statutes at Large, which also contain amendments to the U.S. Constitution and presidential proclamations.
Bibliography
Dubber, Markus Dirk. Criminal Law: Model Penal Code. New York: Foundation Press, 2002.
Federal Criminal Code and Rules. St. Paul, Minn.: West Group Publishing, 2003.