Supreme Court Resources

U.S. SUPREME COURT RESOURCES

SUPREME COURT REFERENCE GUIDES

CQ Guide to the Supreme Court, GOV'T & LAW REF KF 8742 .W567 1997 v.1-2

United States Supreme Court Decisions: An Index to Excerpts, Reprints, and Discussions, GOV'T & LAW REF KF 101.6 .G83 1983

West's Encyclopedia of American Law, GOV'T & LAW REF KF 156 .W47 1998 v.

U.S. Constitution Annotated, GOV'T & LAW US REF Serial Set 14152 (Beginning of US Ref area)

Extensive commentary on each article and amendment of the Constitution with references to Supreme Court decisions.

CASE CITATIONS

All published cases are located in volumes called "case reports" or "reporters." The exact location of a case is given in "case citations." The case citation for Supreme Court cases consists of the volume number of the reporter, the name of the reporter (abbreviated), the page number, and the year. Since there are three Supreme Court reporters, a full Supreme Court case reference can contain three citations.

Example of a Supreme Court case citation:

Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co., 488 U.S. 469, 102 L.Ed.2d 854, 109 S.Ct. 706 (1989)

This means that a copy of this case can be found in

Volume 488 of United States Reports on page 469 or
Volume 102 of United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition, 2nd series, on p. 854 or
Volume 109 of Supreme Court Reporter page 706

SUPREME COURT DECISIONS - FULL-TEXT

LexisNexis Legal Research (Miami only)

Full-text of all Supreme Court decisions online. To find a case if you have either the name or citation, choose the "Get a Case" option. Otherwise, choose "Federal Case Law."

Hein Online (Miami only)

Full-text of all Supreme Court decisions online. Select U.S. Supreme Court Library. Click on "Search" in the top menu bar or choose U.S. Reports to view individual volumes.

United States Reports (U.S.) GOV'T & LAW LAW KF 101 .A212

Print set of all Supreme Court decisions -- official government set.

United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers Edition (L.Ed.) GOV'T & LAW LAW KF 101 .A313

Print set of all Supreme Court decisions. Beginning with v. 92 in the first series (1947-) contains a summary at the beginning of each decision and annotations (articles or essays) on selected cases. In the second series, the annotations are collected in an appendix at the end of the volume. Annotations are updated by pocket supplements (v. 32 of the 2nd series on) or the Later Case Service vol. (v. 1-31 of the 2nd series).

Supreme Court Reporter (S.Ct.) GOV'T & LAW LAW KF 101 .A322

Print set of all Supreme Court decisions, but Miami holdings of this set begin with v. 69.

Supreme Court Center (FindLaw)
Supreme Court Collection (Legal Information Institute)

Thorough coverage of more recent decisions with some historical coverage but not as complete as LexisNexis or print resources.

SUPREME COURT DECISIONS - INDEXES

LexisNexis Legal Research (Miami only)

Use "Get a Case" to look up a specific case by name or citation. Can also do a full-text search in "Federal Case Law" to find any references to a specific case within the full-text of decisions. (Search the case name in full-text as in the following example for Adarand Constructors vs. Pena: adarand w/10 pena). Use "Federal Case Law" to do subject/keyword full-text searches as well. "Supreme Court Cases" is the default setting in the Court box.

Supreme Court Digest. GOV'T & LAW LAW KF 101 .U522

Vol. 14-15, called Table of Cases, is an index by exact case name. The plaintiff-defendant volume (a separate v. 15) is by reverse name order. The other volumes are arranged by broad subject category with a subject index at the beginning called Descriptive Word Index.

United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers Edition (L.Ed.) GOV'T & LAW LAW KF 101 .A313

At end of the set is a multi-volume Index to Decisions, Annotations, and Digest to the materials in this specific set. There is also a Quick Case Table that is an index by case name.

SHEPARD'S (SHEPARDIZING)

Validate, or cite-check, your case to determine whether it is still good law, e.g., whether its value as precedent has been affected by a later court decision or legislative action and/or locate a comprehensive listing of additional cases and other authorities that have cited your case, including annotations and law review articles.

LexisNexis Legal Research (Miami only)

Select "Shepard's for U.S. Supreme Court."

Shepard's and Shepardizing Guide

SUPREME COURT BRIEFS

Papers submitted by lawyers for the parties involved and for other interested groups before the case is decided. These give legal arguments for one side or the other, to assist and influence the judges in reaching their decision.

United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers Edition (L.Ed.) GOV'T & LAW LAW KF 101 .A313

Beginning with the 2nd series (1956-) contains an appendix with summaries of briefs and annotations for selected decisions.

LexisNexis Legal Research (Miami only)

Contains briefs from 1979 on. Choose "Federal Case Law" and change the search box to show "Supreme Court Briefs." To locate briefs for a specific case click on the "Guided Search" tab. Type the first party name into the first box and change the full text box to read plaintiff. Type the second party name into the second box and change the full text box to read defendant. Change the court box to read "Supreme Court Briefs" and adjust the time period as necessary.

Landmark Briefs and Arguments of the Supreme Court of the United States: Constitutional Law
KING LIBRARY KF 101.8 .K 87 v. 1-112

Covers a relatively small selection of the most important cases. Our volumes go through the 1978 term.

U.S. Supreme Court Records & Briefs GOV'T & LAW MICRO KF 101.9 .U6 (guides in GOV'T & LAW REF, same call no.)

1960/61 - 1964/65 terms

U.S. Supreme Court Briefs (FindLaw), Oct. 1999-

Curiae Project (Yale)

Selected briefs for most cited Supreme Court decisions.

SUPREME COURT ORAL ARGUMENTS

Transcripts of the presentations before the Supreme Court when the lawyers for the two parties present their case and when the justices ask questions.

LexisNexis Legal Research (Miami only)

Search for briefs as described under the briefs section above. Click on one of the briefs found. At the top of the results page there is sometimes a link to oral arguments.

Landmark Briefs and Arguments of the Supreme Court of the United States: Constitutional Law
KING LIBRARY KF 101.8 .K 87 v. 1-80, 99-100

Covers a relatively small selection of the most important cases. Our volumes go through the 1978 term.

Oral Arguments of the Supreme Court of the United States: The Warren Court, 1953 Term - 1968 Term
GOV'T & LAW MICRO KF 101.9 .C729 (guide in GOV'T & LAW REF, same call no.)

The Supreme Court's Greatest Hits. King CD-ROM KF 8742 .G65 1999.

Digital audio collection of seventy-plus hours of oral orgument in fifty of the most significant constitutional cases decided since 1955.

OYEZ

Multimedia Supreme Court database of leading constitutional law cases. Includes text of decisions, abstracts, oral argument audio files and information on justices. Real Audio files of selected oral arguments.

Argument Transcripts (U.S. Supreme Court), Oct. 2000-

United States Law Week, 1966- . GOV'T & LAW LAW K 25 .N47

Supreme Court volume includes summary of proceedings, including summaries of oral arguments.

OTHER POSSIBILITIES FOR BRIEFS/ARGUMENTS

Miami University Libraries' Catalog and OhioLINK

On rare occasions there may be a book on a specific subject or well-known case that includes briefs and/or oral arguments. Try a keyword search on the parties in the case name or on "oral arguments" or "supreme court briefs." An example that Miami has:

May it please the court : the First Amendment ; transcripts of the oral arguments made before the Supreme Court in sixteen key First Amendment cases. King Library KF4770 .M35 1997

Microform sets of briefs and oral arguments exist, but Miami does not own complete sets. Law libraries may own portions of them. Some are listed in OhioLINK, altho it is often difficult to determine exact holdings and most are not requestable. Titles to search include U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs, Oral Arguments of the Supreme Court, and Complete Oral Arguments of the Supreme Court.

See also Union List of Appellate Court Records and Briefs: Federal and State. GOV'T & LAW REF KF 105.9 .W49 1999 for a list of libraries that own briefs.

Briefs and arguments can be hundreds of pages long and are often not good candidates for Interlibrary Loan (ILL), but one can try. ILL request should include case name, citation, docket number (often used to arrange cases in microfiche sets), year, and some reference to possible microfiche sets that may contain the information.

OTHER INFORMATION SOURCES: KING BOOK AND JOURNAL COLLECTION

The King reference collection contains resources on the Supreme Court. The King book collection also contains many books on constitutional law, on the Supreme Court, and on specific law topics that often discuss major court decisions. Check the library catalog for these. (For discussions of constitutional law cases search the subject CONSTITUTIONAL LAW -- UNITED STATES -- CASES). Journal articles also discuss law topics and major decisions. Select Research by Subject from the MiamiLINK home page. Many subject areas may be relevant, not just the "Law" subject area. Consider the "General Periodical," "Political Science," and any subject area that the decision may deal with such as "Education" or "Communication." Search through any indexes listed under these topics.

Selected titles:

Cases in Constitutional Law. King KF 4549 .C8 2000

Cases in Constitutional Law: Summaries and Critiques. King KF 4547.8 .C36 1994

Constitutional Law: Cases, Comments, Questions. King KF 4549 .C653 2001

Landmark Constitutional Law Decisions: Briefs and Analysis. King Reference KF 4549 .Y68 1993

Landmark Decisions of the United States Supreme Court. King Reference KF 4549 .L37 1991 v.1-6

The Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions. King Reference KF 4548 .O97 1999 (Online version MU only)

Summaries of Leading Cases on the Constitution. King Reference KF 4547.8 .B3 1990

Supreme Court Debates: a Congressional Digest Publication. King Periodical KF4546.A3 S86 (1998- )

Each issue features a different case; includes background information plus pro and con arguments.

The Supreme Court in Conference, 1940-1985: the Private Discussions Behind Nearly 300 Supreme Court Decisions. King Reference KF 8742 .S917 2001

The Supreme Court Review. 1960-. King KF 4546 .S9

1960-1998 (MU only)

1998- (MU only)

The Supreme Court Yearbook. 1989/90- . King KF 8742 .S955 (Latest in King Reference)

LAW COLLECTION GUIDES

Guide to Legal Materials in the Government Information & Law Department

Describes the print materials in the Law Collection and provides basic information on locating laws and court decisions.

Introduction to Legal Research Slide Presentation

Works best with Internet Explorer..