LibGuides: Locating Federal & Washington Case Law Materials: U. S. Supreme Court

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United States Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United States of America
The U.S. Supreme Court's home on the web contains useful information about the Court as well as its docket, oral arguments, and Court rules.

Links to directly access opinions and merit briefs can be found in this guide, on the boxes to the right, under the appropriate selection.

Opinions

Bound Volumes
Provides access to bound volumes of the United States Reports from 1991 to the present day containing the fourth and final generation of the Court’s opinions. Documents available in PDF format.
Latest Slip Opinions
Slip Opinions, Per Curiams (PC), and Original Case Decrees (D). Displays slip opinions issued during October Term 2012.
FindLaw - Opinion Summaries Archive
FindLaw maintains an archive of published opinions issued since September 2000 by the U.S. Supreme Court, all thirteen U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals, and select state supreme and appellate courts.
Justia - U.S. Supreme Court Center
Sorts opinions by year, from 1759 to present day, and by volume.

Briefs

Merit Briefs
Grants access to archived and current issues of Preview, a publication of the American Bar Association. Lists cases for the current U.S. Supreme Court term as well as previous terms, each presenting the question posed, Merit Briefs, and Amicus Briefs.
Where to find briefs?
Outlines a variety of options to find and request briefs.

How to use Google Scholar for Case Law

To look for case law on Google Scholar:

At the homepage, enter an initial keyword search and narrow your search to "Case law."
You can further narrow your search by jurisdiction or court on the initial search screen.
After results have appeared, there are filters on the left to narrow your search by date and jurisdiction or court. The default is to display results by relevance, but you may also choose to sort results by date, displaying the most recent cases at the top of the page.
When reading a case, case citations are hyperlinked, but not other sources like statutes and regulations.
Below each case on the results page, you will see additional links such as:
- Cited by: other cases that have cited the case you are currently researching. This feature gives some indication of the depth of discussion; one can also search within these results.
- How cited: language snippets from citing cases.
- Related articles: additional information relating to that case.
- Cite: case's citation in Bluebook form with links to different citation management systems.

Along with the filters on the left, you may also create an email alert for your search.

Remember that after finding a case on point, you will want to use a citator to check whether the case you found is still good law.

The Chastek Library provides free access to Shepard's Citations through the public computers using the LexisNexis Academic database.

Other Internet Sources

Cornell University's Legal Information Institute
Offers opinions of the Court issued since May 1990. Search full text or browse by topic, author, or party.
FindLaw
Searchable database of Supreme Court decisions since 1893. Browse by U.S. Reports volume number or year, and search by citation, case title, and full text.
Google Scholar
For more information on how to use Google Scholar for case law, please refer to the appropriate box on the right.
Public Library of Law
By using the "Advanced Options" beneath the Search field, you can select the U.S. Supreme Court as a jurisdiction and then narrow the date range to search by month and year.