Statutes
A code section, the same law as enacted, state codes, court rules and local law.
Cite the code section your reader can open today; cite the session law when the code can’t show what you need. Below, one provision both ways: section 5 of the Respect for Marriage Act is now 1 U.S.C. § 7.
A section of the code, pinpointed to a subsection
1 U.S.C. § 7(a) (2024).
- 1 title number
- 2 code, abbreviated
- 3 section sign, one space, section number
- 4 subsection pinpoint, no space before it
- 5 year of the edition: optional for the current official code, in any document
The same provision as Congress enacted it
Respect for Marriage Act, Pub. L. No. 117-228, § 5, 136 Stat. 2305, 2306 (2022).
- 6 name of the act, as its short-title section gives it
- 7 public law number: Congress, then law
- 8 section of the act
- 9 volume, Statutes at Large, first page
- 10 page where § 5 appears
- 11 year enacted: the name has none
13.1One section: title, code, number
In the print and Kindle editions
13.2Citation forms, source by source
In the print and Kindle editions
13.3Subsections, several sections and ranges
In the print and Kindle editions
13.4The law as enacted: names, public laws and the Statutes at Large
In the print and Kindle editions
13.5Which text is the law: positive-law titles and the Statutes at Large
In the print and Kindle editions
13.6Year, edition and currency
In the print and Kindle editions
13.7State codes and session laws
In the print and Kindle editions
13.8Official, unofficial and annotated codes
In the print and Kindle editions
13.9Amended, repealed, renumbered and invalidated laws
In the print and Kindle editions
13.10Court rules, local rules and standing orders
In the print and Kindle editions
13.11Military justice: the UCMJ, the Manual and its rules
In the print and Kindle editions
13.12Municipal ordinances and codes
In the print and Kindle editions
13.13Short forms
In the print and Kindle editions
13.14Errors to catch
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