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US Supreme Court Research
Getting Started
Federal Research #4 - Dorraine Zief Law Library Handout
Contents
Introduction
Web Sites
General Background ⁄ Reference Works
Supreme Court Practice — Overview
Statistics
Biographies of Justices — Introductions & Collections
Biographies: Finding Books About Justices Using Ignacio
Articles About Justices
Finding Books on the Supreme Court Using Ignacio
Finding Articles About the Supreme Court Using Legal Resource
Index and Index to Legal Periodicals
Supreme Court Opinions
Supreme Court Briefs and Petitions
Oral Argument Transcripts & Audio Files
Introduction
This guide covers
some major resources for Supreme Court research. For advice specific to your
research, speak to a reference librarian
at the Zief Library Reference Desk, or call 415.422.6773.
(Call numbers are for the Zief Library collection.)
(To keep up with
the latest developments, see the Zief Library research guide Supreme
Court Current Awareness.)
A Word About Lexis & Westlaw
This guide mentions
and links to various Lexis and Westlaw resources. The Zief Law Library's contracts
with Lexis and Westlaw limit our use of Lexis and Westlaw to current students,
faculty, and staff members of the University of San Francisco School of Law.
For information about who may use Lexis and Westlaw, how to arrange your own
subscription, and how to connect to Lexis and Westlaw via the web, see the USF
Law Library's introduction to LEXIS and WESTLAW.
Authorized users who follow a link to a Lexis or Westlaw resource will first need to sign on
to Lexis or Westlaw before coming to the search page for that resource.
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Web Sites
The following are some of the most useful sites. They provide good — though not comprehensive
— information about the Court.
Supreme
Court of the United States (http://www.supremecourtus.gov/)
The official web site of the Court. Offers: same-day slip opinions within
a couple of hours of their release; the current docket; oral argument transcripts;
merit briefs (via the ABA); court rules; case handling guides; calendars
& schedules; public & visitor information.
Supreme
Court Historical Society (http://www.supremecourthistory.org/)
Includes profiles of justices, historical sketches, documentaries, quizzes,
teaching materials, and a guide entitled Researching
the Court.
Cornell Legal Information
Institute's Supreme Court Collection (http://straylight.law.cornell.edu/supct/)
An extensive collection of opinions and other information, such as orders,
calendars, and case updates (including oral argument previews). Cornell
gets opinions from the Court within minutes of their release.
Oyez Project —
U.S. Supreme Court Multimedia (http://www.oyez.org/)
Oyez exists primarily to provides audio files of oral arguments of selected
Supreme Court cases. Oyez also offers links to Supreme Court news, opinions
on FindLaw, information about the justices, a virtual tour of the Court
building, and an "On this Day in Supreme Court History" feature,
and "Oyez Baseball", a quiz for those well-versed in both baseball
and Supreme Court history.
Formats for the arguments vary. Some are in Real Audio format, requiring Real
Player software, and and some are in MP3 format. Enthusiasts can subscribe
to the Oyez Supreme Court Podcast.
FindLaw's Supreme Court Center (http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/supreme_court/resources.html)
Includes opinions, selected briefs, court rules, and a current docket listing
pending Supreme Court cases by oral argument date.
FindLaw's "Supreme Court" Page (http://www.findlaw.com/10fedgov/judicial/supreme_court/)
A basic page with links to opinions, biographies, news stories,oral arguments,
FindLaw's Supreme Court Center, and other resources (including the Solicitor
General's home page).
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General Background ⁄ Reference Works
These books cover the Court's procedures, history, justices, and statistical information.
Martin, Fenton S. & Goehlert, Robert, How to Research the Supreme Court
(Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, c1992) KF 8741 .A1 M36 1992
Law Reference
A thorough guide. Discusses strategies and resources. Contains a selected
bibliography of major works, covering: individual justices; the development
of the Court; the Constitution and the Court; the Court and Congress; the
Court and the President; the power and work of the Court; decision-making
and policy-making by justices; the Court and civil liberties and civil rights.
Biskupic, Joan & Witt, Elder, The Supreme Court at Work, 2d ed. (Washington,
D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc., c1997) KF 8742 .S912 1997 Law Reference
Covers: history; operation; traditions; people; courtrooms; cost; members
of the court. Appendix includes documents, tables, data, lists (e.g., of
Acts of Congress held unconstitutional).
Savage, D.G., Guide to the U.S. Supreme Court, 4th ed. (Washington, D.C.:
CQ Press, c2004) KF 8742 .W567 2004 Law Reference
A more elaborate, two-volume version of The Supreme Court at Work.
Covers much of the same ground but in greater detail.
Hall, Kermit, et al., eds., The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United
States (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2005) KF 8742
.A35 O93 2005 Law Reference
Short alphabetically-arranged essays on people, cases, concepts and doctrines
(e.g., "federalism"), statutes, etc. Many essays are followed
by short lists of suggested further reading.
Available to the USF community via Oxford
Reference Online (ORO). Once you've connected to ORO, select "Law"
(under the "Subject Reference" heading), then select "The
Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States."
Jost, Kenneth, ed., The Supreme Court A to Z, 4th ed. (Washington, D.C.: CQ
Press, 2007) KF 8742 .A35 S8 2007 Law Reference
Lengthy alphabetical entries discussing or defining justices, terms (e.g.,
"assigning opinions," "docket," "Solicitor General"),
and concepts (e.g., "incorporation doctrine," "political
question")
Rutland, George H., ed., Supreme Court of the United States: A Bibliography
with Indexes (New York: Nova Science Pub., c2006) KF 8741 .A1 R883 2006 Law Reference
Extensive bibliography with hundreds of citations to important literature dealing with the Court.
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Supreme Court Practice — Overview
Gressman, Eugene., et al., Supreme Court Practice: For Practice in the Supreme Court
of the United States, 9th ed. (Arlington, VA: Bureau of National Affairs,
c2007) KF 9057 .S8 2007 Law Open Reserve
Includes discussions of: the Court's jurisdiction to review decisions of state
and federal courts; the process by which the Court decides whether to grant
cert.; specific procedures for handling appeals.
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Statistics
Epstein, Lee, et al., The Supreme Court Compendium: Data, Decisions, and Developments,
4th ed. (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 2003) KF 8742 .S914 2007
Law Reference
Excellent collection of data and statistics. Covers: review process; opinion,
decision and outcome trends; justices — background, nomination, confirmation;
justices — post-confirmation activities; justices — voting behavior
and opinions; Supreme Court — political and legal environment (including
information on the Solicitor General); Supreme Court and public opinion;
impact of the Court.
The S. Sidney Ulmer Project: U.S. Supreme Court Databases (also known
as the "Spaeth Supreme Court Databases ") (http://www.as.uky.edu/polisci/ulmerproject/sctdata.htm)
Data bearing on voting behavior and containing "variables that bear
on the vote and opinion data that the specific dataset contains: indentification,
background, chronological, substantive, and outcome." Researchers must
download and analyze the date using programs such as SPSS or SAS. Documentation
is available.
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Biographies of Justices — Introductions & Collections
Cushman, Clare, ed., The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies, 1789-1995,
2d ed. (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, c1995) KF 8744 .S86 1995
Law Reference
Profiles and a brief list of additional readings on the Court and its justices.
Friedman, Leon & Israel, Fred L., eds., The Justices of the United States
Supreme Court, Their Lives and Major Opinions (New York: Chelsea
House Publishers, [1995], c1997) KF 8744 .F75 1995 Law Reference
Five volumes of profiles. A select bibliography refers to other relevant books.
Hall, Timothy L., Supreme Court Justices: a Biographical Dictionary (New
York, NY: Facts on File, c2001) KF 8744 .H35 2001 Law Reference
Profiles with suggested readings after each profile and in an appendix.
Urofsky, Melvin I., ed., Biographical Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court:
The Lives and Legal Philosophies of the Justices (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, c2006)
KF 8744 .B56 2006 Law Refernce
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Biographies: Finding Books About Justices Using Ignacio
To find full-length biographies, search Ignacio, the USF
libraries' catalog (http://ignacio.usfca.edu/). Select a "Subject"
search, and enter the justice's name, last name first, e.g.,
Rehnquist, William
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Articles About Justices
Comprehensive citations to articles about justices can be found on Legal Resource Index (for
articles from 1980 to the present) and Index to Legal Periodicals ("ILP")
(for articles from 1784 to the present).
Legal Resource Index on Westlaw (LRI
database), 1980 to the present
Use this search template:
summary("named person" and firstname w/2 lastname)
e.g.,
summary("named person" and william w/2 rehnquist)
Legal Resource Index on Lexis
(source: LAWREV;LGLIND), 1980 to the present
Use this search template:
term(firstname w/2 lastname)
e.g.,
term(antonin w/2 scalia)
Index to Legal Periodicals on Westlaw (ILP
database), 1981 to the present
Follow these examples:
index(firstname w/2 lastname)
or
firstname w/2 lastname [this is a broader search]
e.g.,
index(ruth w/2 ginsburg)
or
ruth w/2 ginsburg
Index to Legal Periodicals on the Web, 1918 to the present
Connect to
Index to Legal Periodicals. In the "Find" box, enter the Justice's
whole name, last name first (e.g., brandeis, louis) then select "Subject(s)"
from the adjacent "as" pull-down menu.
(Index to Legal Periodicals is available only to current members of the USF
Community.)
Index to Legal Periodicals in Print, 1784 to the present
Check the justice's name under the subject heading "Biography: individual."
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Finding Books on the Supreme Court Using Ignacio
To find books at USF about the Supreme Court, use Ignacio
(http://ignacio.usfca.edu/). A good way to begin is with a "Subject"
search. Below are some useful subjects related to the Court. For advice specific
to your project, see any one of the reference librarians or call 415-422-6773.
Subjects for Supreme Court Research on Ignacio
The major subject heading for books about the Supreme Court is:
United
States. Supreme Court
This subject has several useful subdivisions, which you can enter as part of your search.
For example:
United
States. Supreme Court -- Bibliography
United
States. Supreme Court -- Biography
United
States. Supreme Court -- Decision Making
United
States. Supreme Court -- History
United
States. Supreme Court -- Officials and Employees
United
States. Supreme Court -- Public Opinion
United
States. Supreme Court -- Statistics
You can use Ignacio's "Limit This Search" function to combine the subject "United States.
Supreme Court" with other subjects, such as:
Judicial Review
Judges -- Selection and Appointment
Judicial Process
Judges -- United States
You can also use the "Limit This Search " function to combine the subject "United
States. Supreme Court" with key words (such as "statistics" or
"constitution*" or "religio*" etc.) to refine your search.
Other Ignacio subjects related to the Supreme Court include (but are by no means limited to):
United
States. Solicitor General
Government
Litigation -- United States
Political
Questions and Judicial Power
Constitutional
Law -- United States
Civil
Rights -- United States
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Finding Articles About the Supreme Court Using Legal Resource Index and Index to Legal
Periodicals
Legal Resource Index and Index to Legal Periodicals ("ILP") give citations to law
review (and other legal periodical) articles. Coverage on Lexis and⁄or
Westlaw extends from 1980⁄81 to the present. ILP is also available on
the web, with coverage extending back to 1908.
The Zief Library has a research guide on Finding Law Review Articles
and "cheat sheets" on searching Legal Resource
Index on Lexis and Westlaw and searching ILP on
Lexis and Westlaw, and searching ILP on the web.
The guide and cheat sheets are also available at the Zief Library reference
desk. For advice specific to your project, see a reference librarian or call
415-422-6773.
Legal Resource Index on Westlaw (LRI
database), 1980 to the present
Use, as part of any search, the following exact expression:
index("united states" pre/2 "supreme court")
Add other terms as needed, for example:
index("united states" pre/2 "supreme court") and index(select! or appoint!
or resign!)
index("united states" pre/2 "supreme court") and index("political
aspects")
index("united states" pre/2 "supreme court") and index(statistics
or surveys)
index("united states" pre/2 "supreme court") and labor or
employ!
Legal Resource Index on Lexis (source: LAWREV;LGLIND),
1980 to the present
Use, as part of any search, the following exact expression:
term("united states" pre/2 "supreme court")
Add other terms as needed, for example:
term("united states" pre/2 "supreme court") and term(select! or appoint! or
resign!)
term("united states" pre/2 "supreme court") and term("political
aspects")
term("united states" pre/2 "supreme court") and term(statistics
or surveys)
term("united states" pre/2 "supreme court") and environment!
Index to Legal Periodicals on Westlaw (ILP
database), 1981 to the present
To find articles about the Court, search using the following exact expression:
index("united states supreme court")
To narrow your search, add other terms as needed, for example:
index("united states supreme court") and index("judicial nominations")
index("united states supreme court") and index("separation of
powers")
index("united states supreme court") and index(statistics)
index("united states supreme court") and environment!
You can also search ILP using subjects related (but not limited) to the Court. For example:
index("legal history")
index("law clerks")
index("judicial independence")
index("constitutional history")
index("constitutional interpretation")
index("united states solicitor general")
Index to Legal Periodicals on the Web, 1908 to the present
Connect to
Index to Legal Periodicals. In the "Find" box, enter united
states supreme court then select "Subject(s)" from the adjacent
"as" pull-down menu. Add other search terms as needed to narrow your
search.
(Index to Legal Periodicals is available only to current members of the USF
Community.)
Index to Legal Periodicals in Print, 1784 to the present
This is a major resource for searching for law review articles published before 1918. Look up
any of the subjects above in the subject index.
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Supreme Court Opinions
Opinions on the Internet
Justia (http://supreme.justia.com/) has free,
searchable opinions from 1790 to the
present. Justia also offers browsing by "Recent Opinions," year, and
U.S. Reports volume.
lexisONE (http://www.lexisone.com)
is another free source, with all opinions from 1790 to the present. The search engine
is very similar to that of fee-based Lexis.
FindLaw's collection of Supreme Court
opinions (http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html) covers 1893 to date, and the
search engine is fairly powerful.
Cornell's
Supreme Court opinion collection (http://straylight.law.cornell.edu/supct/index.html)
gives fast, free, same-day access to new opinions. Opinions are usually available
within 2 hours of their release. Cornell's complete archive goes back to 1990,
and has about 600 pre-1990 decisions of historical significance.
Cornell also publishes the "Liibulletin," an email notification service that allows
subscribers to get the syllabi of the latest opinions, usually the same morning
that they are issued. To subscribe, fill out the form at the
Liibulletin
subscription page (http://liibulletin.law.cornell.edu/).
Opinions on Lexis and Westlaw
Lexis and Westlaw have all Supreme Court opinions, from 1789 to the present. Opinions are generally
available online within 30 minutes of their release by the court.
Lexis's opinions are in the source "U.S. Supreme Court Cases, Lawyers' Edition" (short
source name:
GENFED;USLED).
Westlaw's are in the database "All U.S. Supreme Court Cases" (SCT).
Opinions in Print
These three reporters contain the opinions of the Supreme Court.
- United States Reports KF 101 .A212 Law Stacks [Official]
- United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition KF 101 .A312 Law Stacks
and
United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition, 2d Series KF 101 .A313 Law Stacks
- Supreme Court Reporter KF 101 .A45 Law Stacks
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Supreme Court Briefs & Petitions
Briefs & Petitions on the Internet
The
ABA's Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases offers
Supreme Court merit briefs
from the 2003-04 term to the present (at: http://www.abanet.org/publiced/preview/briefs/home.html).
FindLaw's
Supreme Court brief collection (http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/supreme_court/briefs/)
has selected current briefs (beginning with the 1999-2000 term) in review-granted cases.
The Curiae Project (http://curiae.law.yale.edu/)
has briefs for selected landmark cases.
Briefs & Petitions Online for the USF Community
Supreme Court
Records and Briefs, 1832 to 1978. Searchable, exact page images of petitions,
briefs, and other documents. (Remote access
is available to current USF students, faculty, and staff.)
Briefs, Petitions & Joint Appendices on Lexis and Westlaw
Lexis and Westlaw have briefs for recent full opinion cases. Both Westlaw and Lexis have selected
petitions, and Westlaw has some joint appendices.
Lexis's collection is in the source "U.S. Supreme Court Briefs" (short source name:
GENFED;BRIEFS). Briefs are available beginning with the 1978-79 term. A
few selected pre-1978 briefs are also available.
Westlaw's collection of briefs is in the "U.S. Supreme Court Briefs" (SCT-BRIEF)
and the "United States Supreme Court Briefs Multibase" (SCT-BRIEF-ALL)
databases. SCT-BRIEF includes merits briefs beginning in 1991 and amicus briefs
starting with the 1995-96 term. SCT-BRIEF-ALL adds briefs from 1976 to 1990,
as well as briefs in selected landmark cases from 1870 to 1975.
The Lexis source "U.S. Supreme Court Briefs" (short source name:
GENFED;BRIEFS) also includes selected cert. petitions.
Westlaw's database "Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the US Supreme Court" (SCT-PETITION)
contains cert. petitions for most cert. granted cases starting in 1990. Petitions
for selected cert. denied cases are available from 1995 to the present.
Westlaw's database "United States Supreme Court Joint Appendices" (SCT-JA)
contains selected joint appendices (relevant documents from the proceedings
below) from the 1989-90 term to the present.
Briefs in Print at Zief
Selected briefs are collected in:
Landmark Briefs and Arguments of the Supreme Court of the United States ([Washington,
D.C.]: University Publications of America, c1975- ), vol. 1-141. Call number:
KF 101.9 .L36 Law Compact Storage.
Briefs & Petitions on Microfiche
The Zeif Library has briefs and petitions on fiche from 1951 to date,
in Fiche Cabinets 21 through 24.
For 1951-1971, the library has briefs for full opinion cases only. From 1973 to date, the library
has briefs and petitions for all cases—full opinion, cert. denied, summary
disposition, and per curiam.
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Oral
Argument Transcripts & Audio Files
Transcripts & Audio Files on the Internet
Beginning with the October 2000 term, official transcripts (in PDF format) are archived on
the Supreme Court's web site in the archive
of official transcripts. Transcripts appear in the archive on the day of
the argument. All transcripts are in PDF format.
Selected audio files going back perhaps a half century are available on
Northwestern's
Oyez Project site (http://www.oyez.org/).
Transcripts on Lexis and Westlaw
Oral argument transcripts are on Lexis in the source "United States Supreme Court Transcripts"
(short source name:
GENFED;USTRAN). Coverage begins in October 1989. The source is updated as
transcripts are released to the public — usually within two weeks of the
argument.
Westlaw's collection of oral argument transcripts is in the
"Transcripts of U.S. Supreme Court Oral Arguments"
(SCT-ORALARG)
database. Coverage begins with the 1990-91 term. Transcripts are generally available
no later than four weeks after the argument.
Transcripts on Microfiche
The USF law library has oral argument transcripts from 1969 to date. They are filed by docket number
in Fiche Cabinet 20, drawer 7.
The set contains all transcripts for review granted cases, but the publisher is slow to send
new material. Transcripts for a term's arguments generally arrive in the library
about 18 months after the end of the term.
Arguments on Audio Tape
A small selection of arguments is available in these collections of tapes:
Irons, Peter & Guitton, Stephanie, eds., May It Please the Court: the Most
Significant Oral Arguments Made Before the Supreme Court Since 1955 (New
York: The New Press: Distributed by W.W. Norton, c1993). Call number: KF 4748
.M39 1993 Law Reserve AV.
Irons, Peter & Guitton, Stephanie, eds., May It Please the Court: Arguments
on Abortion (New York: New Press, c1995). Call number: KF 3771 .M39 1995
Law Reserve AV.
Irons, Peter, ed. May It Please the Court: the First Amendment (New York:
New Press: Distributed by W.W. Norton, c1997). Call number: KF 4558 1st .M39
1997 Law Reserve AV.
Irons, Peter, ed. May It Please the Court: Courts, Kids, and the Constitution
(New York: New Press; Distributed by W.W. Norton, 2000). Call number: KF 4118
.M39 2000 LAW RESERVE AV.
Transcripts via Commercial Transcription Service
Alderson Reporting Company
(http://www.aldersonreporting.com/) (1111 14th Street, N.W., Suite 400,
Washington D.C. 20005-5603) has the contract to generate official
transcripts for the Court. For a fee, Alderson will provide transcripts —
which can be e-mailed. They can be reached at 1-800-FORDEPO (1-800-367-3376)
or at 202-289-2260.
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