Tap any paragraph to write a margin note. Your notes collect in the Desk below the text and file under cases with @. The side-by-side margin rail opens on a larger screen.

a working note

The law is intentionally interlocking. Read it that way.

Most legal-research tools are sold to professionals already fluent in the vocabulary. Marginalia is built for the citizen-researcher: someone who suspects a rule applies to them and wants to read it for themselves, in context, exactly as written.

The connections between statutes, regulations, agency manuals, and the commercial code are not always made explicit — that opacity is part of how the system works. We index the primary sources, surface the cross-references, and put the plain-English summary side-by-side with the original text so you can always verify.

Marginalia is not legal advice. It is a research aid. Use it the way a careful reader would use any reference work: to orient yourself, then to read the source.

vol. I · the plan

Where this is going.

Marginalia today is six federal codebooks indexed together. Next is all 50 state codes, domain packs for the situations people actually search, a visible citation graph, alerts, and an honest research desk. The whitepaper lays it all out — and why $5/mo is the honest number to fund it.

Reading the law stays free. Every $5 funds the next book on the shelf.

no account required

Or just toss a coin in the jar.

One-time donation. No subscription, no login, no follow-up emails. Goes straight to keeping the lights on and adding the next codebook.

questions ·support@self-law.org— one person, replies within a day.
★   the supreme law of the land   ★
Don't Tread on Me
E Pluribus Unum — out of many, one

"If you don't know your rights, you don't have any."

Marginalia · a citizen's law index
A research desk, not legal advice. Always read the cited source before relying on a summary.
Questions or an issue? support@self-law.org
disclaimerMarginalia is a research index, not a law firm. Nothing on this site is legal, tax, or financial advice and no attorney–client relationship is formed by using it. Statutes, regulations, and case law change; summaries, search results, AI output, and member posts may be incomplete, out of date, or wrong. Any interpretation drawn from material on this site should be validated by a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction before you act on it.