An increasing number of legal resources for the Federal government are available on the Internet. This guide is designed to point you to those sources. However, it is not an exhaustive list of all resources available on this topic, and is not meant as legal advice. The law library is not responsible for this information or the utilization thereof. For further assistance it would be best to consult an attorney.
United States Code. Available at both the House of Representatives site (http://uscode.house.gov/) and through Cornell University's Legal Information Institute (http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ ). Both are searchable by keyword and section number. The Cornell site tends to be more up-to-date.
Public Laws (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plaws/index.html). Allows you to access statutes in chronological order.
Code of Federal Regulations. Available through both the National Archives (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html) and Cornell's Legal Information Institute (http://cfr.law.cornell.edu/cfr/ ). The Cornell site has a more user-friendly interface.
Federal Register (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html). Part of the GPO website which allows users to search the publication from 1995 to date.
top
White House (http://www.whitehouse.gov/). Includes executive orders, press releases, and other White House documents including the Department of Homeland Security's web site (http://www.whitehouse.gov/homeland/).
Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/wcomp/index.html). Presidential documents from 1993 to present can be found here
The Cabinet and Independent Agencies & Commissions. Documents for Executive Branch agencies are available through a site maintained by the Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/rr/news/fedgov.html)
as well as one by Louisiana State University (http://www.lib.lsu.edu/gov/alpha).
Federal Administrative Decisions (http://www.lib.virginia.edu/govdocs/fed_decisions_agency.html). The UVA School of Law has created this index to Federal agency decisions available on the Internet.
U. S. Government Manual (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/gmanual/index.html). The Government Printing Office and National Archives jointly sponsor this page which offers an on-line version of the federal government's official handbook.
EDGAR (http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml). A database containing all annual reports and quarterly statements of companies required to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Internal Revenue Service (http://www.irs.gov/). Includes forms and publications from the IRS.
Social Security Administration (http://www.ssa.gov/). This site explains social security in easily understood terms. Online publications discuss the programs, types of benefits, and features application forms..
top
Bills, Committee Reports, And Congressional Record. Available on both THOMAS (http://thomas.loc.gov/), which is provided by the Library of Congress and offers information from 1990 to date, and GPO Access (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/legislative.html), which offers legislative material from 1993 to date. If you plan to print any information, GPO access offers a "cleaner" format.
Congressional Directory (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cdirectory/index.html). A guide to House, Senate, and Congressional Committees which includes members' biographies.
U.S. Congressional Bibliographies (http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/congbibs/). A list of hearings, prints, and publications printed by the Senate, 1983 to present as well as lists of House Committee Meetings Recorded in the Congressional Record's Daily Digest, 1985 to present. The material cited will most likely be found at depository libraries.
top
U.S. Supreme Court (http://www.supremecourtus.gov/ ). The Court's official site which provides opinions, case information, oral argument transcripts, rules, and more.
Findlaw's Constitutional Law Center (http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/ ). All Supreme Court decisions since 1893 and all briefs filed with the court beginning with the October term.
Circuit Courts Opinions (http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/courts/index.html ). Findlaw maintains a database of all federal circuit court opinions, which can be searched across all circuits or by any one.
Federal Court Locator (http://www.law.villanova.edu/library/researchguides/fedcourtlocator.asp). This site developed by Villanova provides easy access to all federal court opinions, from the Supreme Court through the Court of Appeals and District Courts. (N.B. that only a select number of district courts and bankruptcy courts have decisions online.)
top
Federal Web Locator (http://www.infoctr.edu/fwl/ ). This site, provided by Chicago-Kent College of Law, is intended to be the one stop shopping point for federal government information on the World Wide Web.
Fed Law (http://www.thecre.com/fedlaw/default.htm ). A search engine providing a gateway to federal laws and legislation.
First Gov (http://www.firstgov.gov/ ). Another site promoted as a one-stop shopping to all kinds of government information on the Internet. Developed by the General Services Administration.
Government Information Locator Service (http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/gils/index.html ). This site identifies, locates and describes federal agency resources as they become available.
Meta-Index for U. S. Legal Research (http://gsulaw.gsu.edu/metaindex/ ) A service of Georgia State University Law School, the Meta-Index provides an easy-to use search tool to sites offering court opinions, legislation, regulations and more.
top
Revised December 5, 2005
Courthouse 