"The United States Code is the official codification of the general and permanent laws of the United States of America. The Code was first published in 1926, and a new edition of the code has been published every six years since 1934. The 2012 edition of the Code incorporates laws enacted through the One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Second Session, the last of which was signed by the President on January 15, 2013. It does not include laws of the One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, First Session, enacted between January 2, 2013, the date it convened, and January 15, 2013. By statutory authority this edition may be cited "U.S.C. 2012 ed." As adopted in 1926, the Code established prima facie the general and permanent laws of the United States. The underlying statutes reprinted in the Code remained in effect and controlled over the Code in case of any discrepancy. In 1947, Congress began enacting individual titles of the Code into positive law. When a title is enacted into positive law, the underlying statutes are repealed and the title then becomes legal evidence of the law. Currently, 26 of the 51 titles in the Code have been so enacted. These are identified in the table of titles near the beginning of each volume. The Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives continues to prepare legislation pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 285b to enact the remainder of the Code, on a title-by-title basis, into positive law. The 2012 edition of the Code was prepared and published under the supervision of Ralph V. Seep, Law Revision Counsel. Grateful acknowledgment is made of the contributions by all who helped in this work, particularly the staffs of the Office of the Law Revision Counsel and the Government Printing Office"--Preface.

Cemetery Law: The Common Law of Burying Grounds in the United States is the first treatise on U.S. cemetery law since 1950. This volume analyzes and explains key sources of U.S. cemetery law, including treatises, reports, and decisions by appellate courts. The "traditional" American burial-embalming, encasement in a casket, and use of a vault or grave liner in a single, perpetual grave-is still the prevailing practice in the United States. However, Baby Boomers concerned about the cost and environmental consequences of this model are sparking the first significant changes in American disposition practices since the Civil War. Practices that minimize consumption and cost-including "green" burial and cremation-have exploded in popularity in the past decade. Nearly half of all deaths in the United States now result in cremation, and that method of disposition is anticipated to overtake burial in the next few years. Americans eager to innovate in the disposition of human remains find that the law-still heavily rooted in seventeenth century English, Protestant assumptions, practices, and beliefs-is ill-equipped to adapt. Cemetery law in the United States has changed little in the past 200 years, but changes in our disposition practices are so widespread and significant that it will soon have no choice. It is unimaginable that we will start with a clean slate. Instead, the law will, as it always does in a common law system, slowly evolve from its current form. This book is therefore designed to help begin that process by illuminating the structure and history of the common law of burying grounds in the United States, including the foundational assumptions, beliefs, and doctrines.

Abraham Lincoln established the National Cemetery system to ensure that Americas military veterans were properly memorialized. Over three million are now interred, including 763 Medal of Honor recipients, four presidents, astronauts, Indian scouts, camp followers, and spies. This comprehensive reference work provides information on how each national cemetery was chosen, why it was established, and brief stories on notable individuals buried there. Also included are state veterans cemeteries, confederate cemeteries, soldiers lots, monuments, special installations, and lost cemeteries. Appendices contain Memorial Day orders, the history of the Medal of Honor, government headstones and markers, and breakdowns of cemeteries by state and year of establishment.