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Home / Research Help / Research Guides / How Do I Find... / Guide to Basic Sources of United States Law / Guide to Basic Sources of United States Law

Guide to Basic Sources of United States Law

U.S. Law is based on the Constitution. Congress passes legislation which becomes statutory law. The executive branch makes rules and regulations to comply with the statutory law, which becomes administrative law. The judiciary settles disputes by interpreting the law, which becomes case law. The Constitution and the statutory, administrative and case law together make up the body of United States law.

Table of Contents

1. Constitution
   1. Text and Analysis
   2. Document Collections
   3. Bibliography
2. Statutory Law
   1. How Our Laws are Made (THOMAS)
   2. Tracing Legislative History
   3. Congressional Sources on Proposed Legislation
   4. Federal Statutes
   5. Indexes to Federal Statutes
3. Administrative Law
4. How to Interpret a Legal Citation
5. Case Law--Court Reports, Briefs and Arguments
   1. Supreme Court
   2. Lower Federal Courts
   3. Subject Access to Cases
   4. Case Finding Aids and Bibliographies
6. Selected Reference Sources in Law
   1. Guides and Encyclopedias
   2. Dictionaries
   3. Biography
   4. Periodical Indexes
   5. Historical Resources