The U. S. Code is not law, and has no meaning outside the "courts, tribunals, and public offices of the United States, at home or abroad, of the District of Columbia, and of each State, Territory, or insular possession of the United States", even if "positive law."  According to the law enacting the original U. S. Code (44 Stat.), no new law is enacted or amended by revision of the U. S. Code.  Subject matter jurisdiction can be challenged if a charge is brought only citing the U. S. Code, and not a real law behind the code.

Preface to Volume 44 of the Statutes At Large (which first adopted the present U. S. Code)

   This Code is the official restatment in convenient form of the general and permanent laws of the United States in force December 7, 1925, now scattered in 25 volumes--i. e., the Revised Statutes of 1878, and volumes 20 to 43, inclusive, of the Statutes at Large. No new law is enacted and no law repealed.  It is prima facie the law.  It is presumed to be the law.  The presumption is rebuttable by production of prior unrepealed Acts of Congress at variance with the Code. Because of such possibility of error in the Code and of appeal to the Revised Statutes and Statutes at Large, a table of statutes repealed prior to December 7, 1925, is published herein together with the Articles of Confederation; The Declaration of Independence; Ordinance of 1787; the Constitution with amendments and index; tables of cross references to the Revised Statutes, the Statutes at Large, the United States Compiled Statutes, Anotated, of the West Publishing Co., and the Federal Statutes, Annotated, of Edward Thompson Co.; an appendix with the general and permanent laws of the first session of the Sixty-ninth Congress; and finally an exhaustive index of the laws in the Code and appendix.
   The first official codification of the general and permanent laws of the United States was made in 1874 and followed by a perfected edition in 1878.  From 1897 to 1907 a commission was engaged in an effort to codify the great mass of accumulating legislation.  The work of the commission involved an expenditure of over $300,000, but was never carried to completion. More recently the task of codification was undertaken by the late Hon. Edward C. Little as chairman of the Committee on the Revision of the Laws of the House of Representatives, who labored indefatigably from 1919 to the day of his death, June 24, 1924.  The volumes which represented the result of his labors were embodied in bills which passed the Hose of Representatives in three successive Congresses unanimously but failed of action in the Senate.
* * *
   Scrutiny of this Code is invited.  Constructive criticism is solicited.   It is the ambition of the Committee on the Revision of the Laws of the House of Representatives gradually to perfect the Code by correcting errors, eliminating obsolete matter, and restating the law with logical comleteness and with precision, brevity, and uniformity of expression.
   Address criticisms to Chairman of the Committee on the Revision of the Laws of the House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.
   WASHINGTON, June 30, 1926

[Emphasis added.]

44 Stat. 267
June 30, 1926
[H.R. 10000]
[PUBLIC, No. 440]
Chapter 712

   Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembeled, That the fifty titles set forth are intended to embrace the laws of the United States, general and permanent in their nature, in force on the 7th day of December, 1925, compiled into a single volume under the authority of Congress, and designated "The Code of the Laws of the United States of America."
   SEC. 2. In all courts, tribunals, and public offices of the United States, at home or abroad, of the District of Columbia, and of each State, Territory, or insular possession of the United States--
   (a) The matter set forth in the Code, evidenced as hereinafter in this section provided, shall establish prima facie the laws of the United States, general and permanent in their nature, in force on the 7th day of December, 1925; but nothing in the Act shall be construed as repealing or amending any such law, or as enacting as new law any matter contained in the Code.  In case of any inconsistency arising through omission or otherwise between the provisions of any section of this Code and the corresponding portion of legislation heretofore enacted effect shall be given for all purposes whatsoever to such enactments.
   (b) Copies of this Act printed at the Government Printing Office and bearing its imprint shall be conclusive evidence of the orignal of the Code in the custody of the Secretary of State.
   (c) The Code may be cited as "U. S. C."
[Emphasis added.]

U.S.C.A. Notes on the U. S. Code

1 USC § 204. Codes and Supplements as evidence of the laws of United States and District of Columbia; citation of Codes and Supplements

In all courts, tribunals, and public offices of the United States, at home or abroad, of the District of Columbia, and of each State, Territory, or insular possession of the United States -

(a) United States Code. - The matter set forth in the edition of the Code of Laws of the United States current at any time shall, together with the then current supplement, if any, establish prima facie the laws of the United States, general and permanent in their nature, in force on the day preceding the commencement of the session following the last session the legislation of which is included: Provided, however, That whenever titles of such Code shall have been enacted into positive law the text thereof shall be legal evidence of the laws therein contained, in all the courts of the United States, the several States, and the Territories and insular possessions of the United States.

[* * *]

The following titles of the United States Code have been enacted into positive law by the act enumerated below [those NOT so enacted are placed within brackets]:

Title 1, General Provisions--Act July 30, 1947, ch. 388, § 1, 61 Stat. 633.
Title 3, The President--Act June 25, 1948, ch. 644, § 1, 62 Stat. 672.
Title 4, Flag and Seal, Seat of Government, and the States--Act July 30, 1947, ch. 389, § 1, 61 Stat. 641.
Title 5, Government Organization and Employees--Pub.L. 89-554, Sept. 6, 1966, § 1, 80 Stat. 378.
Title 6, Surety Bonds--Act July 30, 1947, ch. 390, § 1, 61 Stat. 646, as ammended June 6, 1972, Pub.L. 92-310, Title II, § 203(4), 86 Stat. 202, and repealed Sept. 13, 1982, Pub.L. 97-258, § 5(b), 96 Stat. 1068. See, now, Title 31, Money and Finance.
[Title 7, Agriculture]
[Title 8, Aliens and Nationality]
Title 9, Arbitration--Act July 30, 1947, ch. 392, § 1, 61 Stat. 669.
Title 10, Armed Forces--Act Aug. 10, 1956, c. 1041, § 1, 70A Stat. 1.
Title 11, Bankruptcy--Pub.L. 95-598, Title I, § 101, Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2549.
[Title 12, Banks and Banking]
Title 13, Census--Act Aug. 31, 1954, c. 1158, 68 Stat. 1012.
Title 14, Coast Guard--Act Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393, § 1, 63 Stat. 495.
[Title 15, Commerce and Trade]
[Title 16, Conservation]
Title 17, Copyrights--Act July 30, 1947, ch. 391, § 1, 61 Stat. 652, , as ammended Oct. 19, 1976, Pub.L. 95-553, Title I, § 101, 90 Stat. 2541.
Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure--Act June 25, 1948, ch. 645, § 1, 62 Stat. 683.
[Title 19, Customs Duties]
[Title 20, Education]
[Title 21, Food and Drugs]
[Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse]
Title 23, Highways--Pub.L. 85-767, § 1, Aug. 27, 1958, 72 Stat. 885.
[Title 24, Hospitals and Asylums]
[Title 25, Indians]
[Title 26, Internal Revenue Code]
[Title 27, Intoxicating Liquors]
Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure--Act June 25, 1948, ch. 646, § 1, 62 Stat. 869.
[Title 29, Labor]
[Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining]
Title 31, Money and Finacne--Pub.L. 97-258, § 1, Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 877.
Title 32, National Guard--Act Aug. 10, 1956, c. 1041, § 2, 70A Stat. 596.
[Title 33, Navigation and Navigable Waters]
[Title 34, Navy (repealed)]
Title 35, Patents--Act July 19, 1952, c. 950, § 1, 66 Stat. 792.
[Title 36, Patriotic Societies and Observances]
Title 37, Pay and Allowances of the Uniformed Services--Pub.L. 87-649, § 1, Sept. 7, 1962, 76 Stat. 451.
Title 38, Veterans' Benefits--Pub.L. 85-857, § 1, Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1105.
Title 39, Postal Service--Pub.L. 86-682, § 1, Sept. 2, 1960, 74 Stat. 578, as revised Pub.L. 91-375, § 2, Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 719.
[Title 40, Public Buildings, Property, and Works]
[Title 41, Public Contracts]
[Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare]
[Title 43, Public Lands]
Title 44, Public Printing and Documents--Pub.L. 90-620, § 1, Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1238.
[Title 45, Railroads]
Title 46, Shipping--.
Subtitle II, Vessels and Seamen--Pub.L. 98-89, § 1, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 500.
[Title 47, Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radiotelegraphs]
[Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions]
Title 49, Transportation--.
Subtitle I, Department of Transportation--Pub.L. 97-449, § 1(b), Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2413.
Subtitle II, Part C, Chap. 31, Motor Carrier Safety--Pub.L. 97-449, § 1(b), Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2413.
Subtitle IV, Interstate Commerce--Pub.L. 95-473, § 1, Oct. 17, 1978, 92 Stat. 1337.
[Title 50, War and National Defense]

The Internal Revenue Code of 1954 was enacted in the form of a separate code by Act August 16, 1954, c. 736, 68A Stat. 1.  The sections of Title 26, United States Code, are identical to the sections of the Internal Revenue Code.

1 U.S.C. Sec. 113. ''Little and Brown's'' edition of laws and treaties; slip laws; Treaties and Other International Acts Series; admissibility in evidence

The edition of the laws and treaties of the United States, published by Little and Brown, and the publications in slip or pamphlet form of the laws of the United States issued under the authority of the Archivist of the United States, and the Treaties and Other International Acts Series issued under the authority of the Secretary of State shall be competent evidence of the several public and private Acts of Congress, and of the treaties, international agreements other than treaties, and proclamations by the President of such treaties and international agreements other than treaties, as the case may be, therein contained, in all the courts of law and equity and of maritime jurisdiction, and in all the tribunals and public offices of the United States, and of the several States, without any further proof or authentication thereof.

2 U.S.C. Sec. 144. Copies of Statutes at Large

Ten of the copies of the Statutes at Large, published by Little, Brown & Co., which were deposited in the Library prior to February 5, 1859, shall be retained by the Librarian for the use of the justices of the Supreme Court, during the terms of court.

"Laws 1941, c. 20719 adopting the revision was approved by the Governor on June 6, 1941, and pursuant thereto the Governor issued his proclamation on the 29th of June, 1942, which proclamation recited that Vol. 1, Florida Statutes 1941, had been printed and published, and provided that the same should become "effective as the law of this State beginning with the thirtieth day," after the date of said proclamation. Thus Vol. 1, Florida Statutes 1941, went into effect on July 29th, A.D. 1942. Cates v. Hefferman, 154 Fla. 422, 18 So.2d 11 (1944)." (FSA § 11.242, nt 1.)

"Statutory revision service lacks authority to rewrite statutes and substitute words used by legislature. McCulley Ford, Inc. v. Calvin, App. 1 Dist, 308 So.2d 189 (1974), certiorari denied 314 So.2d 592." (FSA § 11.242, nt. 3.)

From the end page 1796 of the 1949 edition of the Florida Statutes is this editor's comment:

        EDITOR'S COMMENT

  Write the Attorney General your suggestions
for revising chapters, sections, or any other
matter included herein. This 1949 compilation
may need much revising. The Statutory Revi-
sion Department is anxious to have your help,
comments, and criticisms in order to improve
the next edition.

This shows the publisher had no illusions that the publication was necessarily an accurate compilation of the law, much less the law itself.

What Are Positive Laws

POSITIVE LAWS - Words and Phrases

Positive or revealed laws are not founded on the general constitution of human nature, but only on the will of God, though in other respects such law is established on very good reason, and procures the advantage of those to whom it is sent.  The ceremonial law or political laws of the Jews are of this class. (Burlamqui.) Borden v. state, 11 Ark. 519-527, 44 Am.Dec. 217.

From "The Authority of Law", by Charles A. Weisman, 1996.

   The term "positive law" is also misleading.  Positive law is a general designation for a "law that is actually ordained or established, under human sanctions, as distinguished from the law of nature or natural law (Bouvier's, 1948, p. 955)."  Any rule or law established and written out by human agency is positive law.  In this sense the U. S. Code was from the beginning a type of positive law, being written and established by human sanctions--i.e., the Committee of the House of Representatives.
   The U. S. Code is also declared to be a codification of "all the general and permanent laws of the United States."  But the articles of war, a treaty, or an executive order can also be called "general and permanent laws of the United States," or "positive law."  They are laws that exist under the United States, but they are clearly of a different nature than acts of Congress which a citizen can be indicted for violating.  We thus come again to the question of authority.   What authority for citizens to follow the "laws" in the U. S. Code?   None legally exists unless one acquieses to such law. (The Authority of Law, by Charles A. Weisman, 1996, p. 39.)

[N]othing becomes a law simply and solely because men who possess the legislative power will that it shall be, unless they express their determination to that effect, in the mode poited out by the instrument which invests them with the power, and under all the forms which that instrument has rendered essential. (Caine v. Robbins, 131 P.2d 516, 518 (Nev. 1942) citing Cooley's Constitutional Limitations, 6^th Ed., p. 155.)

The "forms" of legislation include the title and enacting clause, which are both essential apects of a law.  This excerpt was quoted by the Supreme Court of Arkansas, who also said:

All those rules and solemnities, whether derived from the common law or prescribed by the Constitution, which are of the essentials of law making, must be observed and complied with, and, without such observance and compliance, the will of the Legislature can have no validity as law. (Vinsant, Adm,x v. Knox, 27 Ark. 266, 277 (1871).)

The U. S. Code has none of the forms and solemnities that are essential to make it law which citizens in America are subject to, and congress cannot make it law by its say-so. (The Authority of Law, by Charles A. Weisman, 1996, p. 40.)

Nature of Statues

Though a statute contains the elements of a contract between the government and an individual, it must be construed according to the rules for the construction of statutes, and not according to the rules for contracts.--Union Pacific R. R. v. United States, 10 Ct. Cl. 548. (44 Am. Dig. Century Edition, 1658-1896, Statutes, § 254.)

Regarding Interpreting Statutes

"It is a recognized principle of statutory construction that a statute directing a public officer to do a certain thing, and including provisions qualifying the doing of that thing, is generally to be read as requiring that such qualifications be satisfied before the authoroized thing may be done. In Seaboard Air Line R. Co. v. Wells, 130 So. 587, 593 (Fla. 1930), the court stated that "where a statute says a thing 'may' be done by a public official which is for the public benefit, it is to be construed that it must be done." In 2A Sutherland Statutory Construction s. 57.14, p. 435, it is stated:

"Where authority is granted to public officers to do a thing in a certain way, the manner of doing the thing is mandatory, or jurisdictional, and a limitation on the authority of the officer, even though the doing of the thing in the first place may be discretionary. (Emphasis supplied.)

"Also in Sutherland, at s. 57.17, p. 441, it is stated:

"Certain principles peculiar to statutory provisions involving grants of power or authority have eveolved for the determination of their mandatory or directory character. Under the general rule that grants of powers are strictly construed, such provisions are generally mandatory in the sense that the power granted can be exercised only in strict conformity with the statutory therefor. (Emphasis supplied.)

"In the frequently cited case of White v. Crandon, 156 So. 303, 305 (Fla. 1934), the Florida Supreme Court concisely stated this principle as follows: "The authority of public officers to proceed in a particular way or only upon specific conditions implies a duty not to proceed in any manner (other) than that which is authorized by law." The court also stated, in Alsop v. Pierce, 19 So.2d 799, 805-806 (Fla. 1944), that "[w]hen the controlling law directs how a thing shall be done that is, in effect, a prohibition against its being done in any other way."" (FlAG80-36, April 24, 1980.)

Case Decisions Regarding the U. S. Code

Inclusion of statute in United States Code

The United States Code is only prima facie statement of the stataute law, and statutes collected in it do not change their meaning nor acquire any new force by their inclusion and if construction is necessary, recourse must be had to the original statutes themselves. Murrel v. W. U. Tel. Co., C.C.A. Fla.1947, 160 F.2d 787.

Inclusion of designated sections of the Revised Statutes into codification of general and permanent laws of United States did not have effect of re-enacting such sections of Revised Statutes. U. S. ex rel. Boyd v. McMurtry, D.C.Ky.1933, 5 F.Supp 515.

Incorporation in United States Code of both amended Act and amendatory Act impliedly repealing portion of former Act did not show congressional purpose not to repeal or modify amended Act. Ruff v. Gay, D.C. Ga.1933, 3 F.Supp. 264, reversed on other grounds 67 F.2d 684, affirmed 54 S.Ct. 608, 292 U.S. 25, 78 L.Ed. 1099, 92 A.L.R. 970.

Inclusion of an Act in the United States Code did not revitalize the Act if it had been repealed. Hill v. U. S., 1930, 68 Ct.Cl. 740.

Position of statute in United States Code

Change of arrangement should be given no weight where made by codifier without approval of Congress. U. S. v. Welden, Mass. 1964, 84 S.Ct. 1082, 377 U.S. 95, 12 L.Ed.2d 152.

No change in the meaning of a statute results from its being placed in the United States Code in juxtaposition to other statutes enacted at different times. Warner v. Goltra, 1934, 55 S.Ct. 46, 293 U.S. 155, 79 L.Ed. 254.

It will not be inferred that Congress in revising and consolidating laws intended to change their effect unless intention is clearly expressed. Robert E. Lee & Co. v. Veatch, C.A.S. 1961, 301 F.2d. 434, 96 A.L.R.2d 619.

Prima facie evidence

The official source to find United States law is the Statutes at Large and the United States Code is only prima facie evidence of such laws. Royer's, Inc. v. U. S. C.A.Pa. 1959, 265 F.2d. 615.

Inconsistencies with Statutes at Large

If construction of section of United States Code which has not been enacted into positive law is necessary, recourse must be had to original statutes themselves. U. S. v. Welden, Mass. 1964, 84 S.Ct. 1082, 377 U.S. 95, 12 L.Ed.2d 152.

Under subsec. (a) of this section the United States Code cannot prevail over the Statutes at Large if the two are inconsistent. Stephan v. U. S., Mich. 1943, 63 S.Ct. 1135, 319 U.S. 423, 87 L.Ed. 1490. See, also, American Export Lines, Inc. v. U. S., 1961, 290 F.2d 925, 153 Ct.Cl.; Baltan Ice Cream Co. v. Arden Farms Co., D.C. Cal. 1950, 94 F.Supp. 796.

Where an inconsistency appears between the United States Code and the Statutes at Large, the Statutes at Large prevail over the Code. Peart v. Motor Vessel Bering Explorer, D.C. Alaska 1974, 373 F.Supp. 927.

The code establishes prima facie what the laws of the United States are, but to extent that provisions of the Code are inconsistent with the statutes at large, the latter will prevail. Best Foods, Inc. v. U. S., Cust.Ct. 1956, 147 F.Supp. 749.

Reviser's notes

Reviser's notes are authoritative in interpreting United States Code. Acron Investments, Inc. v. Federal Sav. & Load Ins. Corp., C.A. Cal. 1966, 363 F.2d. 236, certiori denied 87 S.Ct. 506, 385 U.S. 970, 17 L.Ed.2d 434.