Editing United States Code (section)

===Divisions===
The Code is divided into 53 titles (listed below), which deal with broad, logically organized areas of legislation. Titles may optionally be divided into subtitles, parts, subparts, chapters, and subchapters. All titles have sections (represented by a [[§]]) as their basic coherent units, and sections are numbered sequentially across the entire title without regard to the previously-mentioned divisions of titles. Sections are often divided into (from largest to smallest) subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs, clauses, subclauses, items, and subitems.<ref>Bellis MD. (2008). [http://www.fjc.gov/public/pdf.nsf/lookup/draftcon.pdf/$file/draftcon.pdf Statutory Structure and Legislative Drafting Conventions: A Primer for Judges] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120064942/http://www.fjc.gov/public/pdf.nsf/lookup/draftcon.pdf/$file/draftcon.pdf |date=January 20, 2013 }}. Federal Judicial Center.</ref><ref name="house">{{Cite web |title=DETAILED GUIDE TO THE UNITED STATES CODE CONTENT AND FEATURES |url=https://uscode.house.gov/detailed_guide.xhtml |access-date=2021-02-02 |website=uscode.house.gov |archive-date=November 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126181652/http://uscode.house.gov/detailed_guide.xhtml |url-status=live }}</ref> Congress, by convention, names a particular subdivision of a section according to its largest element. For example, "subsection (c)(3)(B)(iv)" is not a subsection but a clause, namely clause (iv) of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) of subsection (c); if the identity of the subsection and paragraph were clear from the context, one would refer to the clause as "subparagraph (B)(iv)".<ref name="irs">Examples of naming "''section'' 148(b)(2)" and  "''subparagraphs'' (B)(ii) and (C)" in {{Cite web |title=26 U.S. Code § 141 |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/141 |access-date=2021-02-02 |website=LII / Legal Information Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212194304/https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/141 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Not all titles use the same series of subdivisions above the section level, and they may arrange them in different order. For example, in Title 26 (the tax code), the order of subdivision runs: Title – Subtitle – Chapter – Subchapter – Part – Subpart – Section – Subsection – Paragraph – Subparagraph – Clause – Subclause – Item – Subitem.

The "Section" division is the core organizational component of the Code, and the "Title" division is always the largest division of the Code. Which intermediate levels between Title and Section appear, if any, varies from Title to Title. For example, in Title 38 (Veteran's Benefits), the order runs Title – Part – Chapter – Subchapter – Section.

The word "title" in this context is roughly akin to a printed "volume", although many of the larger titles span multiple volumes. Similarly, no particular size or length is associated with other subdivisions; a section might run several pages in print, or just a sentence or two. Some subdivisions within particular titles acquire meaning of their own; for example, it is common for lawyers to refer to a "[[Chapter 11 bankruptcy]]" or a "Subchapter S [[corporation]]" (often shortened to "[[S corporation]]").

In the context of federal statutes, the word "title" has two slightly different meanings. It can refer to the highest subdivision of the Code itself, but it can also refer to the highest subdivision of an Act of Congress which subsequently becomes part of an existing title of the Code.<ref name="Olson 1999 146" /> For example, when Americans refer to Title VII, they are usually referring to the seventh title of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]].<ref name="Olson 1999 146" />  That Act is actually codified in [[Title 42 of the United States Code]], not [[Title 7 of the United States Code|Title 7]].<ref name="Olson 1999 146" />

The intermediate subdivisions between title and section are helpful for reading the Code (since Congress uses them to group together related sections), but they are not needed to cite a section in the Code. To cite any particular section, it is enough to know its title and section numbers.<ref name="Olson 1999 146" /> According to one legal style manual,<ref>The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation 102 (Columbia Law Review Ass'n et al. eds., 18th ed. 2005)</ref> a sample citation would be "[[Privacy Act of 1974]], {{UnitedStatesCode|5|552a}} (2006)", read aloud as "Title five, United States Code, section five fifty-two A" or simply "five USC five fifty-two A".

Some section numbers consist of awkward-sounding combinations of letters, hyphens, and numerals.<ref name="Olson 1999 147">{{cite book|last=Olson|first=Kent C.|title=Legal Information: How to Find It, How to Use It|year=1999|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|location=Phoenix|isbn=0897749634|page=[https://archive.org/details/legalinformation00kent/page/147 147]|url=https://archive.org/details/legalinformation00kent/page/147}}</ref> They are especially prevalent in Title 42.<ref name="Olson 1999 147" /> A typical example is the [[Religious Freedom Restoration Act]] of 1993 (RFRA), which is codified in Chapter 21B of Title 42 at {{USC|42|2000bb}} through {{USC|42|2000bb-4}}.<ref name="Olson 1999 147" /> In the case of RFRA, Congress was trying to squeeze a new act into Title 42 between Chapter 21A (ending at {{USC|42|2000aa-12}}) and Chapter 22 (beginning at {{USC|42|2001}}).<ref name="Olson 1999 147" /> The underlying problem is that the original drafters of the Code in 1926 failed to foresee the explosive growth of federal legislation directed to "The Public Health and Welfare" (as Title 42 is literally titled) and did not fashion statutory classifications and section numbering schemes that could readily accommodate such expansion.<ref name="Olson 1999 147" /> Title 42 grew in size from 6 chapters and 106 sections in 1926 to over 160 chapters and 7,000 sections as of 1999.<ref name="Olson 1999 147" />