A citation to any statute in the United States Code indicates which elements?

• A. Title, name of the set, section number, and year
• B. Author and publisher
• C. Court and docket
• D. Page number only

Answer: (A)

The important idea here is how a United States Code citation is structured. When you cite a statute in the U.S. Code, you identify four things: the title number, the name of the set, the section, and the year. The title number points to the broad subject area (for example, Title 42 covers Public Health and Welfare). The name of the set is the United States Code itself (often abbreviated as U.S.C.). The section number pinpoints the exact provision within that title, typically shown with the symbol §. The year in parentheses indicates the edition of the code being cited, since the codification is updated and numbering can change from edition to edition.

For example, 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2018) uses all four elements: the title, the United States Code, the section, and the edition year. This is distinct from other kinds of citations that would reference authors and publishers, or courts and dockets, or rely on page numbers alone, none of which standardly identify a statutory provision within the Code.