Research Guides: Legal Research: STEP 3: Statutes

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Statutes Gallery

Federal Statute: Roe v. Wade

Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.

Federal Statute: Equal Marriage

In Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court was asked to determine the constitutionality of state bans on same-sex marriage licenses as well as state bans on recognition of same-sex marriages from other states. On June 26, 2015, the court ruled by a 5-4 vote that the Fourteenth Amendment obliges states to license same-sex marriages and to recognize same-sex marriages from other states.

State Statute: Freedom of Choice Act

Anti-choice groups collected petitions to force the measures contained in the new law onto the 1992 ballot with the intent to repeal the law, but Maryland voters overwhelmingly approved the law. This law ensures women’s access to pre-viability abortion services and would remain in effect even if Roe v. Wade were overturned. Sandy Banisky, Voters Reaffirm Stand Favoring Abortion Choice, Balt. Sun, Nov. 5, 1992.

Maryland Marijuana Decriminalization

In 2016, the Maryland General Assembly, controlled by Democrats, passed SB 517, which decriminalized the possession of marijuana paraphernalia (such as rolling papers, pipes and bongs) and decriminalized the smoking of marijuana in public. The measure makes both civil offenses punishable by a fine of up to $500. Republican Governor Larry Hogan vetoed the bill, but the Assembly overrode the veto.

Step 3 Overview

Step 3: Statues

Following Step 2, Statutes are laws written and enacted by the legislative branch of government. Statutes, also known as acts, are laws passed by a legislature. Federal statutes are laws enacted by Congress with (and in some circumstances without) the approval of the President. Federal statutes are published in three formats: (1) initially as individual slip laws, (2) in compilations of slip laws known as session laws, and (3) as codified law incorporated into a code. Most new laws are created through statutes (as opposed to being created by judges through case opinions); therefore, it is important that you realize that you will frequently begin your research projects by looking at a statute, rather than at cases.

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Maryland

HeinOnline U.S. Federal Legislative Histories Library
The Sources of Compiled Legislative Histories Database (1789 -2002) is derived from the looseleaf publication /Sources of Compiled Legislative Histories: A Bibliography of Government Documents, Periodical Articles, and Books/. All compilations for major laws are included in the database with the following exceptions: appropriations measures; ceremonial matters; laws that extend the life of an agency or authority; and laws that affect small numbers of persons or specific regions of the country. The sources for these compilations include congressional documents, legal periodicals, treatises and looseleaf services. The Legislative History Title Collection is a collection of full-text legislative histories on some of the most important and historically significant legislation of our time.

Notes: PDF printing requires Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or later.
ProQuest Legislative Insight
Federal legislative history service providing access to full text publications created by Congress during the process leading up to the enactment of U.S. Public Laws. Documents include bills (all versions), legislative reports, documents, CRS reports, committee prints, speeches in the Congressional Record and presidential signing statements. Currently, Parts A, C, and D are available which include legislative histories from 1929-2014.
Regulatory Insight
Regulatory Insight seeks to facilitate teaching and learning about administrative law by legal researchers, as well as academic researchers from many other disciplines.

Congress.gov (Free)
Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. The site provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public. It is presented by the Library of Congress (LOC) using data from the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, the Government Publishing Office, Congressional Budget Office, and the LOC’s Congressional Research Service.
Congressional Bills (1993-Present)
Congressional bills are legislative proposals from the House of Representatives and Senate within the United States Congress. There are eight different types of bills. There are numerous different bill versions that track a bill through the legislative process from introduction through passage by both chambers (enrolled version). All final published bill versions are available from GPO. This site contains all published versions of bills from the 103rd (1993-1994) Congress forward. The system is updated by 6 a.m. (EST) daily when bills are published and approved for release. Read More
Public and Private Laws (Free)
Public and private laws are also known as slip laws. A slip law is an official publication of the law and is competent evidence admissible in all state and Federal courts and tribunals of the United States. Public laws affect society as a whole, while private laws affect an individual, family, or small group.
United States Code (Free)
From the Office of the Law Revision Council, this is a link to the official United States Code from the Federal Government. The United States Code is a consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is prepared by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the United States House of Representatives.
United States Statutes at Large
The United States Statutes at Large, typically referred to as the Statutes at Large, is the permanent collection of all laws and resolutions enacted during each session of Congress. The Statutes at Large is prepared and published by the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) .

Annotated Code of Maryland
Maryland Code and Court Rules from LexisNexis with link to the Maryland Constitution and Court Rules.
Annotated Code of Maryland Guide
Information on Maryland's Code and links to further information and text of code.
Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR)
Maryland Register Online
The Maryland Register, published every two weeks, is the official document used by the State of Maryland for promulgating new regulations and it also serves as the temporary supplement to COMAR.
Opinions of the Attorney General of Maryland (1993-Present)
Opinions are listed in chronological order. For opinions starting in 1993, each separate opinion is posted below as an individual file. By contrast, for opinions that were issued before 1993, a scanned copy of each full opinion volume is posted below as a single, searchable pdf file that contains all of the official opinions from the year in which the volume was published. To search within all opinions, enter your search term(s) in the "Find a file" box below. To search within a specific year, add that year to your search terms. For opinions issued before 2007, you can also search using the index and citator volumes that have been published by the Attorney General’s Office. Those index volumes are available here.

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Disclaimer: These Opinions of the Attorney General were based on the law as it existed when the opinions were issued. Please note that laws and judicial interpretations can change over time, so these prior opinions might not always reflect the current state of the law today.