Studying a Federal Statute:
Some Suggestions

To start:  

1. Go to United States Code Annotated (Gov. Info. Ref. Y4.J89/1:UN3/3/West)

Find the Index (paperback volumes) The last volume of the index will be the Popular Name Table
Look up your statute by name in the Popular Name Table. The first line describes the original statute and will read something like:
Pub.L. 97-313, Dec. 1, 1981, 81 Stat. 533 (23 § 4; 25 § 660, 661)
Any Pub. L.s that follow are statutes which change the original statute and you may also need to examine them.

2. To find the text of a statute as it originally passed:

Find the Statutes at Large citation. In the example above it is: 81 Stat. 533
which means: volume 81 of Statutes at Large, page 533.
Statutes at Large is at AE2.111: in the Government Information Reference stacks..

3. To find the text of a statute as it looks today:

Find the US Code citation.
In the example above it is: (23 § 4; 25 § 660, 661)
which means: Title 23, Section 4 and Title 25, Sections 660 and 661 of the US Code (or US Code Annotated).
Keep in mind that all the other statutes that are listed after the original statute in the Popular Name Index change the original statute in some way.

The historical and statutory notes sections following the text sections in USCA list the history of all amendments since the original enactment of the statue.  The Library References section of the USCA often includes references to CFR sections interpreting the statute.

4. To find the reasons a statute was passed:

Find the date the statute passed.  In the example above, that date is December 1, 1981.
Find Congressional Quarterly Almanac (Gov. Inf. Ref. XC:) and Congressional Quarterly Weekly Reports (Gov. Inf. Ref. XC:wr) Look up your statute in the appropriate year. There may be additional information in previous years.

Find Congressional Information Service (CIS) (Gov. Inf. Ref. GP3.6/70:).
Look up your statute in the Legislative History volume for the appropriate year. (Early years of CIS have a Legislative History section in the back of the Abstracts volume.)
 

CIS will refer you to hearings, reports, debate, and other congressional working material that was considered when the statute was under discussion.
If your law past after 1996 you may want to look at Statements of Administration Policy on Non-Appropriations and Appropriations Bills,   an OMB site that lists any official White House views on bills before Congress.

Other possibilities:
   Library Catalog
   ProQuest (Select "Search Databases", then select 'ProQuest' form the alphabetical list of databases.

You may also try indexes related to the subject of your statute, for example:
    Environment Universe  (for environmental law)
    ERIC  (for Education law).

 5. To find out how well a statute has worked:

Everything under 4. above applies, except that you want to look for information after the statute passed.
In CIS, look in the Index volume, rather than Legislative History.
There may  have been oversight hearings, reports, etc, on how well the statute is working.

6. To find out what regulations have been implemented to enforce the statute:

Find the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at AE2.106/3: in the Government Information Reference stacks. Find the CFR Index volume.
Find the Authorities Table near the end of the Index volume.
Look up the US Code citation to a section of your statute in the Authorities Table.
The result may look something like this: 24 parts 801
This means that Part 801 of Title 24 of the CFR cites that part of the statute as the authority for its creation.

7. To find court decisions relevant to a statute:
 

To find US Supreme Court Decisions about a subject, look in the United States Supreme Court Digest (Gov. Inf. Ref. JU6.8/e:).
The Descriptive Word Index will give you an outline number (like Const Law 121) to look up in the main volumes.
The main volumes will give you court cases (with numbers like 183 US 22) to look up in the United States Reports (Gov. Inf. Ref. JU6.8:).
You may also be able to find court cases about a particular statute section listed in the U.S.Code Annotation.

You may also look in Shepherd's United States Citations (Gov. Inf. Ref. JU6.8/5:), but it is difficult. To do so, look up the US Code citation for relevant volumes. Read the introduction to Shepherd's to understand all the codes and abbreviations.
While WWU does not have federal court cases below the Supreme Court level, many court cases can be found online at such websites as:
Federal Court Locator
9th Circuit Court Opinions
 

See also: Timeline for Studying Federal Laws
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