Federal Law & Government

Last Updated: 4-14-2008

Federal Legislative Information

U.S. House Of Representatives Homepage

U.S. Senate Homepage

THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet

This site is an excellent source for information on current bills, legislative history, congressional committee reports and much more. New bills and other legislative information are often added to this site within a day or two.

U.S. Code Online

Online version of federal statutes published in the U.S. Code, provided through the U.S. House of Representatives Web site. As with any primary law source found on the Internet or anywhere else, remember to check how current the information is. Online codes are often a year or more out of date. Make sure you update your research accordingly. For the U.S. Code, note the date of the code section and then use the classification tables to see if your code section has been updated during the period covered by the tables.

U.S. Public & Private Laws

Recently enacted federal laws, including those that have not been added to the U.S. Code yet, can be searched here. Coverage goes back through the 104th Congress (1995).

U.S. Statutes at Large - HeinOnline

Includes all volumes of the U.S. Statutes at Large from the beginning in 1789 to within the past 2 years or so. Available only to current CUNY School of Law students and faculty.

Legislative Branch Resources on GPO Access

This page provides links to searchable databases of other Congressional publications.

U.S. Federal Legislative History Library - HeinOnline

The "U.S. Federal Legislative History Title Collection" includes full-text legislative histories for a small group of laws selected based on historical significance, The "Sources of Compiled Legislative History Database" provides citations to books, journal articles and other sources that have compiled legislative histories for other laws. Additional documents provide guidance on how to compile your own legislative history. Available only to current CUNY School of Law students and faculty.

U.S. Congressional Documents Library - HeinOnline

Coverage includes the Congressional Record and its predecessor publications containing the debates of Congress going back to the earliest volumes. Also includes the American State Papers and Journals of the Continental Congress. Available only to current CUNY School of Law students and faculty.

Information About Congress and How to Contact its Members

Congress.org

Provides contact information for federal and state elected officials, as well as national and local media.

Project Vote Smart

Contains lots of information on U.S. federal and state elections. Includes much information about individual elected state and federal leaders, including biographies, voting records, special interest group affiliations and ratings.

Federal Executive Information

The White House

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents

U.S. Presidential Library on HeinOnline

A collection of various historical Presidential documents, executive orders, inauguration speeches, etc. Includes the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents from inception to within a few months of the current date. Available only to current CUNY School of Law students and faculty.

U.S. Federal Government Agencies Directory

Locate federal government agency Web sites easily using the search box on this page, or browse the alphabetical or hierarchical lists of agencies. A very useful site maintained by Louisiana State University.

Code of Federal Regulations (1996 - current)

The U.S. government's online version of the CFR is released here concurrently with the print edition. Various search options are provided to locate regulations by citation, keywords or through browsing. The regulations must be updated following the same procedure used for updating print editions, so be sure to check the List of CFR Sections Affected (LSA) and carefully follow the instructions provided there.

E-CFR

A new electronic version of the Code of Federal Regulations that is more up to date than the source immediately above on this page. Also produced by the U.S. government, but this is NOT the official version (yet). More information.

Historical Code of Federal Regulations (1938 - 1983) - HeinOnline

Available only to current CUNY School of Law students and faculty.

Federal Register

This is the official daily publication of Federal Rules, Proposed rules, Notices of Federal Agencies, Executive Orders and other Presidential Documents. Older issues going back to 1994 can be searched.

Federal Register - HeinOnline

Provides access to the Federal Register from its inception in 1936 to within a few months of the current date. Available only to current CUNY School of Law students and faculty.

U.S. Federal Agency Library - HeinOnline

A growing collection of federal agency decisions from the Board of Immigration Appeals, National Labor Relations Board, Federal Trade Commission, Securities & Exchange Commission and many others. Available only to current CUNY School of Law students and faculty.

FedWorld Home Page

Documents published by many federal agencies can be located here. If you can't find the document you want and you know the agency that published it, try using LSU's U.S. Federal Government Agencies Directory to find the agency's Web site and see if the document is available there.

Federal Judicial Information

U.S. Courts: The Federal Judiciary Home Page

Information on the structure of the federal court system, publications and links to the courts.

U.S. Federal Courts Finder (from Emory Law Library)

History of the Federal Judiciary

Provided by the Federal Judicial Center. Includes judicial biographies (back to 1789!), court information, landmark judicial legislation and more.

U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United States Homepage

Includes recent opinions, orders, oral argument transcripts, court rules and current docket information, in addition to general information about the court.

BNA's U.S. Law Week

This is a weekly update service on developments in all areas of law from across the United States. Previous issues are searchable back to 1997. Links are provided to access the full text of U.S. Supreme Court and other decisions reported in this publication. A separate link is available to take you to the Supreme Court Today portion of this site, which includes docket information and and search capabilities for U.S. Supreme Court Opinions. Published by the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA). Available only to current CUNY School of Law students and faculty.

U.S. Supreme Court Library - HeinOnline

Includes copies of U.S. Supreme Court decisions published in U.S. Reports from 1754 to within the past few years, as well as recent preliminary prints and slip opinions. Some historical books and journals about the court are also provided in full text. Available only to current CUNY School of Law students and faculty.

Findlaw Supreme Court Center

Another source for U.S. Supreme Court information, including recent opinions, orders, briefs, oral argument transcripts (provided only as links within case information, if available), court rules, docket information, filing guidelines and a court calendar.

U.S. Supreme Court Opinions

Opinions from 1893 - present provided by FindLaw. Search for decisions by citation, party names, or full-text keyword.

LexisOne Free Case Law Search

LexisOne provides free access to all U.S. Supreme Court decisions going back to 1781, as well as access to most federal and state appellate decisions from the last 5 years.

LII Supreme Court Collection

An alternate source for recent U.S. Supreme Court opinions, provided by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.

Oyez: the U.S. Supreme Court Multimedia Database

Hear recordings of selected oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court, provided by the Oyez Project at Northwestern University. Claims to have all audio recorded from 1995 to present, and audio from selected cases before 1995. Cases from 1955 (when the Court began recording the oral arguments) to the present are being added on an ongoing basis. Unfortunately, finding the recorded arguments is cumbersome and little technical information is provided for playing them, but this is still an interesting resource.

Other Federal Court Decisions

U.S. Court of Appeals Decisions - Search all Circuits

Search all recent U.S. Court of Appeals opinions available on the Internet by keywords or party names, or restrict your search to just one circuit. Provided by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School. See their "disclaimer" for information on the coverage of the various circuits.

LII Federal Law Materials – Judicial Opinions

Links to the opinion pages of individual federal court sites, provided by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.