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Occasionally, a truly substantive law isn't codified, and can only be found in its entirety as a session law (also known as a
public law) in the United States Statutes at Large, commonly referred to as the Statutes at Large, published by the Government
Printing Office (GPO).
You can find session laws from the Statutes at Large in four databases on Westlaw:
- United States Statutes at Large 1789—1972 (US-STATLRG) Note: This database is not currently available through DOL’s
Westlaw subscription. DOL employees can contact the Wirtz Labor Library for information concerning access to the U.S. Statutes at
Large Library available through HeinOnline. The most
current
version of the United States Statutes at Large is available online free of charge from GPO Access. The Wirtz Labor Law
Library also has this publication in its print collection (dated 1789 to current).
- United States Public Laws 1973 - 2004 (US-PL-OLD)
- United States Public Laws (US-PL)
- U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News—Public Laws 1973 - current (USCCAN-PL)
The Wirtz Labor Law Library also has this publication in its print collection (dated 1944 to current).
Sometimes a legislative note following the text of a USCA section will alert you to the existence and location of an uncodified
law. For instance, a law commonly referred to as the Hyde Amendment allows criminal defendants prosecuted by the government to
recover attorney fees and other litigation expenses if the claims of the United States are proven to be frivolous, vexatious, or in
bad faith. The Hyde Amendment was never codified. Nevertheless, a note following the text of 18 U.S.C.A. § 3006A summarizes the
uncodified provision and provides the proper citation of the session law: Pub.L. 105-119, Title VI, § 617, Nov. 26, 1997, 111 Stat.
2519. On Westlaw, the citation is linked to the full text of the session law in US-PL-OLD.
In the absence of a helpful legislative note, one of the notes of decisions following a USCA section may reveal the existence of
an uncodified law. Otherwise, you may find references to an uncodified law in secondary sources (e.g., treatises and practice guides)
or periodicals. Try a Terms and Connectors search for the law in Texts and Periodicals—All Law Reviews, Texts, and Bar Journals
(TP-ALL).
Note: This tip is the search tip featured in West’s September/October 2006 E-lert newsletter, available at <http://west.thomson.com/newsletters/westelert/2006_SepOct/>.
See article entitled Finding Uncodified Federal Laws on Westlaw, available at <http://west.thomson.com/newsletters/westelert/2006_SepOct/copy6.aspx>.
Archived editions of West E-lert are available at <http://west.thomson.com/newsletters/19.aspx>.
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