Legislative Information  – Statutes | Legislative History
Executive Information  – Presidential Documents | Agencies | Regulations | Agency Decisions
Judicial Information  – U.S. Supreme Court | Other Federal Courts
Other Federal Information – Govt. Info Resources | U.S. Census Publications

Federal Legislative Information

U.S. House Of Representatives Homepage
U.S. Senate Homepage

Statutory Codes and Session Laws

U.S. Code Online

Online version of federal statutes published in the U.S. Code, provided by the Office of Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. As with any primary law source found on the Internet, or anywhere else, remember to check how current the information is. Online codes can sometimes be a year or more out of date.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. Code – HeinOnline

Includes an archive of the U.S.C. going back to inception and predecessor publications. Available only to current CUNY School of Law students and faculty.

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

Provided through the GovInfo website. Includes online versions of the official publication of U.S. Statutes at Large from the most recent year it was published in print back through 1951. The option is provided to view pdf versions of the session laws so you can see them exactly as they appear in print.

U.S. Statutes at Large – HeinOnline

Includes all volumes of the U.S. Statutes at Large from the beginning in 1789 through the most recently published print volumes. Available only to current CUNY School of Law students and faculty.

Legislative History

Congress.gov

Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. The site provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public. It is presented by the Library of Congress (LOC) using data from the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, the Government Publishing Office, Congressional Budget Office, and the LOC’s Congressional Research Service.

Congressional Publications, including U.S. Serial Set – ProQuest Congressional

This is the most comprehensive online resource we have available for finding and downloading congressional documents. Full-text documents are available in most years for House & Senate Reports (1819 – ), House & Senate Documents (1817 – ), Legislative Histories (1969 – ) and the U.S. Serial Set (1789 – 1969). The collection also includes indexes for Committee Hearings (1824 – ) and Committee Prints & Misc. Publications (1830 – ), with limited full-text available for those documents as well. If you find a reference to a document that is not available in full-text, please see one of our reference librarians for help in obtaining it through other means. Using the advanced search function allows you to search for the documents mentioned above in combination or individually. Additional areas of the collection include the full-text of U.S. Public Laws (1988 – ), U.S. Statutes at Large (1789 – ), GAO reports (2004 – ), the C.F.R. (1981 – ), the Federal Register (1980 – ) and more.  There is also a section with information about members of Congress that includes voting records and identification of campaign contributors. Available only to current CUNY School of Law students and faculty.

Legislative Insight – Proquest

Legislative Insight currently includes legislative histories for over 18,000 laws from 1929 – 2014 and includes searchable full-text pdfs of hearings, reports, prints, earlier versions of bills, and other documents associated with each law. Also included are excerpts from the Congressional Record referencing each bill, Presidential signing statements, related CRS reports and more. More information. Available only to current CUNY School of Law students and faculty.

LLSDC Legislative Sourcebook

Links to freely available sources of legislative history research information. Provided by the Law Librarians’ Society of Washington, D.C.

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.

Federal Executive Information

The White House

Presidential Documents

Compilation of Presidential Documents (1993 – Current)

Includes both the Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents (2009 – present) and its predecessor publication, Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (1993 – January 2009). Produced by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Current CUNY law students and faculty can use HeinOnline’s U.S. Presidential Library if older documents from 1965 – 1993 are needed.

U.S. Presidential Library – 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.

Administrative Agencies

A-Z Index of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies

Provided by USA.gov.

Administrative Regulations

Code of Federal Regulations (1996 – current)

The U.S. government provides online access to the official print version of CFR here. Several viewing formats are available, including pdf. Various search options are provided to locate regulations by citation, keywords or through browsing. Current 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.

Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR)

An unofficial electronic version of the Code of Federal Regulations provided by the Office of the Federal Register and GPO. e-CFR is more up to date than the print-based CFR as updates published in the Federal Register are usually incorporated into e-CFR within a week or two. Check the Federal Register for the most recent updates since e-CFR was last updated.

Code of Federal Regulations – HeinOnline

Includes an archive of the C.F.R. going back to inception. Available only to current CUNY School of Law students and faculty.

Federal Register

The U.S. government provides online access to the official print version of the Federal Register here. Several viewing formats are available, including pdf. The Federal Register is the official daily publication of Final Rules, Proposed Rules, Notices of Federal Agencies, Executive Orders and other Presidential Documents. Older issues going back as far as 1994 can be searched on this site.

FederalRegister.gov

Also known as “Federal Register 2.0,” this is an unofficial electronic version of the Federal Register produced jointly by the Office of the Federal Register, GPO and NARA.  It is designed to be easier to navigate than the print-based version, with a different organizational scheme and additional search options. More information about this version of the Federal Register .

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.

CFR Parts Affected from the Federal Register

Government-provided source for finding updated and proposed regulations appearing in the Federal Register that affect current CFR regulations. Always check when the regulations were last updated in whatever version of the CFR you are using, check this source for any updates since that time affecting your regulations or others appearing in the same CFR Part. If there has been a change during the time period you specify, you will see your Part listed under the Title it appears in. If you don’t see your Part listed, there have been no changes during that time period. Unlike the LSA, below, this updating source takes you directly to the Federal Register issues affecting your CFR Part, which makes using this tool easier.

List of CFR Sections Affected (LSA)

This is the traditional government-provided source for finding updated and proposed regulations appearing in the Federal Register that affect current CFR regulations. Always check when the regulations were last updated in whatever version of the CFR you are using, then check LSA for any updates since that time affecting your regulations or others appearing in the same CFR Part.

Regulations.gov

Provided through the government’s eRulemaking program, the primary purpose of the site is to make it easier for citizens to participate in the rulemaking process. There are helpful search tools for finding final rules, proposed rules, notices, etc. Note that not all federal agencies participate in the program, so this site is not a substitute for checking the Federal Register if you’re doing research. See the About Us and FAQ pages for more information.

Reginfo.gov

Provided by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). This site differs from Regulations.gov in that it provides information about Agency documents undergoing OIRA review before they are published in the Federal Register. OIRA is required to review “significant” regulatory actions to make sure they comply with the requirements of Executive Order 12866 and Executive Order 13563, and that the Agency actions reflect the priorities and policies of the President. If deemed significant, actions reviewed can include drafts of proposed rules, final rules, and notices. See the Reginfo.gov FAQ for more information on its website, OIRA, and the regulatory review process.

Regulatory Insight – Proquest

Regulatory Insight provides U.S. federal administrative law histories for the period 1936-2014 organized by federal statute and Executive Order. More information. Available only to current CUNY School of Law students and faculty.

Administrative Agency Decisions

For decisions of individual agencies, see also the individual agency Web sites, which can be found using the USA.gov A-Z Index of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies

Administrative Decisions

Links to federal agency websites containing administrative decisions and other information not normally found in the Federal Register or CFR. Provided by the U. of Virginia Library.

U.S. Federal Agency Documents, Decisions, and Appeals – 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.

Federal Judicial Information

United States Courts Home Page

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

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

The official U.S. Supreme Court Web site. Includes recent opinions, orders, oral argument recordings and transcripts, court rules and current docket information, in addition to general information about the court. You can also download electronic versions of the U.S. Reports case reporter.

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.

U.S. Supreme Court Records & Briefs, 1832 – 1978 – Gale

Extensive historical archive containing nearly 11 million pages of records, according to the publisher. Part of Gale’s “The Making of Modern Law” collection. Researchers looking for more recent Supreme Court records and briefs should continue to use the “U.S. Supreme Court Briefs” source on Lexis or the SCT-BRIEF-ALL database on Westlaw. Coverage on Lexis and Westlaw varies for different types of Supreme Court documents, so be sure to consult the database scope note and/or ask a librarian if you’re having trouble finding something.

U.S. Supreme Court Opinions

Opinions from 1760 – present provided by FindLaw. Search for decisions by citation, party names, or full-text keyword.

Google Scholar – Advanced Scholar Search for legal opinions

Coverage includes U.S. Supreme Court cases since 1791.

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

Hear recordings of oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court, provided by the Oyez Project at ITT Chicago Kent College of Law. Claims to be “the complete and authoritative source for all of the Court’s audio since the installation of a recording system in October 1955.”

Supreme Court Insight – Proquest

Supreme Court Insight, 1975-2016 , is a complete online collection of full opinions from Supreme Court argued cases, including per decision, dockets, oral arguments, joint appendices and amicus briefs. Content associated with each case is compiled on a dynamic page organized to facilitate understanding of the judicial process, and is also retrievable on a document by document basis. This module covers content through the 2016/2017 term.  More information. Available only to current CUNY School of Law students and faculty.

Other Federal Court Decisions

CourtListener

Created by the Free Law Project, this site provides a searchable database of Federal and state court decisions, recorded oral arguments, and a RECAP archive of court documents from PACER. Coverage varies widely by jurisdiction and time period, so be sure to check their About and Coverage pages.

Google Scholar – Advanced Scholar Search for legal opinions

The “Legal Opinions and Journals” section of this site has two selections for “Search opinions of.” The first one searches all available federal opinions by default, but you can use the pull-down menu to select the U.S. Supreme Court or specific circuits and their associated district courts. For even more specificity, use the “Select specific courts to search” link below. Coverage includes federal district and appellate cases since 1923 and U.S. Supreme Court cases since 1791.

U.S. Federal Courts of Appeals Case Law

Provided by Justia. Includes decisions going back to 1901.

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.

LLSDC Quick Links & Sources to U.S. Court Opinions

Links to the opinion pages and homepages of individual federal court sites, provided by the Law Librarians’ Society of Washington, D.C..

PACER

PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) provides access to case and docket information for federal district, bankruptcy and appellate courts, including electronic filings for most courts on the system. Current CUNY School of Law students and faculty should see a Reference Librarian for access to this service. PACER provides a free training site where you can learn to use the service in advance and get a better idea of what is available.

Federal Courts in New York
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Eastern District of New York
Northern District of New York
Southern District of New York
Western District of New York

Government Information Resources

Bureau of Justice Statistics

A great source for statistics on crime, criminals and the criminal justice system.

Data.gov

Part of the Open Government Initiative, this site makes federal government executive branch datasets available to the public in one location, and in user-friendly formats. More information.

Ethics Data.Gov

This is part of the federal government’s Data.Gov site, linked above. Includes required disclosures by the White House and those who do business with the U.S. government.

Federal Depository Library Program
FedStats

**Removed by the federal government on March 2, 2018.** The Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy maintains this site, providing access to statistics produced by over 100 Federal Government agencies.

Government Information Online (GIO) Ask a Librarian

Through Government Information Online (GIO) you can ask government information librarians questions on almost any subject from aardvarks to zygomycosis. GIO is a free online information service supported by libraries that participate in the U.S. Government Publishing Office’s Federal Depository Library Program. Many are also official depository libraries for other types of governments and public agencies. GIO is sponsored by the Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association.

governmentattic.org

Provides electronic copies of thousands of interesting Federal Government documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act

govinfo

govinfo is a service of the United States Government Publishing Office (GPO), which is a Federal agency in the legislative branch. govinfo provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.

Social Security Administration’s Program Operations Manual System (POMS)

This section of the SSA Program Policy Information Site contains the public version of the Program Operations Manual System (POMS). The POMS is a primary source of information used by Social Security employees to process claims for Social Security benefits. The public version of POMS is identical to the version used by Social Security employees except that it does not include internal data entry and sensitive content instructions. Please note that this document is intended for SSA employees. It contains technical terms and instructions that will be unfamiliar to you. If you have difficulty understanding these materials, please click on this link to the Social Security Handbook, which is written in plain language for use by the public.

 

TRAC (Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse)

An independent, non-partisan data research organization at Syracuse University focused on tracking federal government staffing, spending and enforcement activities. More information. TRAC has created free Web sites providing data and analysis in the following areas it focuses on:

Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms(ATF)
Department of Homeland Security(DHS)
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Immigration
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Judge Information Center
TRAC-Reports
TRACFED Data Warehouse – a subscription-based area of the site that our library doesn’t have access to.

U.S. Government Manual

As the official handbook of the Federal Government, The United States Government Manual provides information on the agencies of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches. It also includes information on quasi-official agencies; international organizations in which the United States participates; and boards, commissions, and committees.

USA.gov

This is the official U.S. government information portal provided by the U.S. General Services Administration’s Office of Citizen Services and Communications. The stated vision for USA.gov to make it “easy for the public to get U.S. government information and services on the web. USA.gov also serves as the catalyst for a growing electronic government.” The site features a topical directory and a search box to facilitate finding out which government agencies and Web sites may provide useful information on a particular subject. Includes links to state as well as federal government resources.

U.S. Census Bureau Publications

Statistical Abstract of the United States (historical)

Historical collection of statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau. The Census Bureau stopped compiling this publication in 2012.

State & Local Area Census Data (historical)

Historical collection of statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau. The Census Bureau stopped maintaining this page in 2011. Created to allow online access to the data provided by the Statistical Abstract supplement publications, State and Metropolitan Area Data Book and County and City Data Book.

Quick Facts

Provides statistics for all states and counties, and for cities and towns with a population of 5,000 or more. Maintained by the U.S. Census Bureau.