Research Guides: Immigration and Human Rights Law Review Guide: Primary Sources

Headnotes

Headnotes are summaries of the issues in a case.

Lexis

Lexis has developed a legal Topic Hierarchy that it uses to index legal opinions as well as other primary and secondary materials. The highest level of the Topic Hierarchy corresponds to broad legal practice areas. As you expand each topic, you will find more specific Subtopics.

To use the Lexis Advance Topic Hierarchy to locate relevant cases click on "Browse" > "Topics" in the options at the top of the Lexis Advance main search box. You can find a relevant legal Topic by either:

expanding the Topics and Subtopics by clicking on the triangles OR
executing a "Search for a Topic."

Once you find a relevant topic, click on the topic and select either

"Get documents" to get all cases and other sources that have been assigned the topic, OR
"Add topic as a search filter" to get all cases and other sources that have been assigned your topic and contain your search terms(s).

Sample Topics

Immigration Law > General Overview

Family Law > Adoption > Adoption Procedures > Foreign Adoption

Education Law > Students > Foreign Students

International Law > Individual & Sovereign States > Asylum

Westlaw

The West Key Number Digest contains the complete topic and key number outline used by West attorney-editors. You can use the West Key Number Digest to find topic and key numbers related to your issue and to retrieve cases with headnotes classified under those topic and key numbers. To access the West Key Number Digest, click the Key Numbers in the All Content tab on the home page. To browse the list of topic and key numbers, click the links. Once you identify relevant topic and key numbers, click the individual Key Number to retrieve headnotes. To view the full text of a case, click its title.

Sample Topics

Aliens, Immigration, and Citizenship

Adoption (Key Number 25 Foreign Adoption)

Case Law - Federal

Case Law - State

Statutes - Federal

Relevant Immigration Statutes

Immigration & Nationality Act (INA) Title 8 of the U.S.C., Aliens and Nationality
Title 6, Domestic Security
Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure
Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse
Title 29, Labor
Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare

Researching Statutes This guide is designed to give you an introduction to researching statutes.
United States Code The United States Code is the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is divided by broad subjects into 53 titles and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. The U.S. Code was first published in 1926. The next main edition was published in 1934, and subsequent main editions have been published every six years since 1934. In between editions, annual cumulative supplements are published in order to present the most current information.
United States Code Annotated (USCA) Westlaw Annotated United States Code, Titles 1 through 54
USCA Find Template
USCA Index
USCA Popular Name Table
United States Code Service (USCS) Lexis Annotated United States Code, Titles 1 through 54
USCS Index
USCS Popular Name Table

Statutes - State

50 State Statutory Surveys Westlaw 50 State Surveys provides access to state and federal statutes, covering topics of law such as garnishment, attachment and judgment execution requirements, durable powers of attorney, cancellation and nonrenewal of insurance policies and premiums, and numerous others.
50-State Surveys, Statutes & Regulations LexisNexis 50 State Surveys, Statutes & Regulations provide instant comparison of states' treatment of topical issues, linked to governing provisions on Lexis and prefaced by an examination of federal context and state themes.
Subject Compilations of State Laws This library features a database giving you access to more than 25,000 bibliographic records from Cheryl Nyberg's Subject Compilations Bibliography Series. Many records contain extensive annotations with links directly to articles and other documents residing in HeinOnline. In addition to a searchable database, HeinOnline also includes the exact replicas of the original bound volumes.

Administrative Law

Relevant CFR Titles

Title 8, Aliens and Nationality
Title 20, Employee's Benefits
Title 22, Foreign Relations
Title 28, Judicial Administration Acts
Title 29, Labor
Title 42, Public Health

Code of Federal Regulations

Federal Administrative Law Guide Any time you have a statutory issue you may also need to research administrative law.
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) annual edition is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments and agencies of the Federal Government. It is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation. The 50 subject matter titles contain one or more individual volumes, which are updated once each calendar year, on a staggered basis.
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) (Lexis) The CFR - Code of Federal Regulations file contains the full text of all titles from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) (Westlaw) Code of Federal Regulations contains all 50 titles and incorporates recent changes that appear in the Federal Register.
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) is a currently updated version of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). It is not an official legal edition of the CFR. The e-CFR is an editorial compilation of CFR material and Federal Register amendments produced by the National Archives and Records Administration's Office of the Federal Register (OFR) and the Government Publishing Office. The OFR updates the material in the e-CFR on a daily basis.
Historical Versions of the Code of Federal Regulations Coverage is comprehensive, containing all volumes dating back to inception (1938).
Westlaw Immigration Regulations Search Documents from the Code of Federal Regulations that relate to the rights and disabilities of foreign persons in the United States.

Federal Register

Federal Administrative Law Guide Researching Administrative Law Any time you have a statutory issue you may also need to research administrative law.
Federal Register (FR) The Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents. It is updated daily by 6 a.m. and is published Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Federal Register (Lexis) Federal Register (FEDREG) contains the full text of all documents that are published in the Federal Register. The Federal Register (FR) is the official vehicle for making the regulations and legal notices issued by the federal agencies and departments available to the public. These include federal agency documents, such as regulations (proposed, temporary, amended, and final) having general applicability and legal effect, documents required to be published by act of Congress, federal agency documents of public interest, meeting notices, and Presidential proclamations and executive orders.
Federal Register - All (Westlaw) Documents published in the Federal Register provided by U.S. government agencies, with full text coverage beginning January, 1981; documents with citation, name of document, agency, and summary information, and pdf images representing pages of the Federal Register corresponding to each document beginning March, 1936 through December, 1980.
Federal Register Library Published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents. 1936 - current.

Legislative History - Federal

Federal Legislative History Guide This guide is designed to help you understand the Federal Legislative process as well as what documents comprise a legilative history. It covers the major print materials, free web sources, and online databases. The guide can be used by students, faculty members, lawyers, and the general public.