What is the correct spelling of written laws?

The correct spelling of the word for written laws is Statutes: s-t-a-t-u-t-e-s, with two t's, the vowel sequence -a-u- in the middle, and the plural ending -es (singular statute). The word comes from the Latin statutum, the past participle of statuere (to set up or establish), and reached English through Old French. The most common spelling errors are doubling the wrong consonant (Statuttes), substituting the vowel sequence (Stattuses), or confusing it with the homophone-like statues (s-t-a-t-u-e-s, plural of statue, meaning a sculpture).

One memory aid: STA-TUTE, where the second syllable rhymes with cute, and the plural simply adds an s. On the USCIS writing test sentences containing statute or statutes may include "Congress passes statutes" or "Statutes are written laws."

In U.S. law a statute is a written law enacted by a legislature, distinguished from common law (judge-made law) and from regulations (issued by executive agencies). Federal statutes are enacted by Congress and codified in the United States Code, a 54-title compilation organized by subject (Title 8 covers Aliens and Nationality, Title 18 covers Crimes, Title 26 is the Internal Revenue Code, Title 42 covers Public Health and Welfare). Each new federal law is also published chronologically in the Statutes at Large. State statutes are codified in state codes such as the California Codes or the Florida Statutes.

The earliest U.S. federal statute was the Judiciary Act of 1789, which organized the federal court system. The most prolific eras for new federal statutes have been periods of major legislative activity such as the New Deal in the 1930s and the Great Society in the 1960s.