Rule B.1: Federal Statutes and Session Laws

Return to Red Rules

B.1(a): United States Code

TLR uses the United States Code (“U.S.C.”) and does not use the United States Code Annotated (“U.S.C.A.”). The U.S.C. is published every six years, the most recent of which is 2018. This is the version that will be used by Volume 94.

Note: TLR prefers to use I.R.C. for citations to the Internal Revenue Code, not 26 U.S.C.

B.1(b): Session Laws

Session laws comprise pieces of a chronological compilation of a set of laws passed by a legislative body within each legislative session. There are three instances in which session laws should be used in place of statutes: (1) where the statute is scattered, (2) when citing the statute for historical fact, or (3) where the statute contains materially different language. See Bluebook Rule 12.2.2

See also Bluebook Rule 12.7.1–12.7.4 and Red Rule B.2 on page 16 for additional information regarding the proper year-publication parenthetical.

For a listing of session laws and acts that are known by a popular name, see Table of Popular Names, Cornell L. School, http://www.law.cornell.edu/topn/0 (last visited Jan. 3, 2018)

Return to Red Rules