Guide to Legal Resources

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT---COURTS
U.S. SUPREME COURT

U.S. SUPREME COURT DIGEST, LAWYER'S EDITION

Purpose: Summarizes Supreme Court decisions on each subject. It is the index to Supreme Court decisions in the sources listed below.
Arrangement: Alphabetically by subject. Includes Table of Cases.
Notes: Pocket part supplements keep it up to date.
Location: Ref KF 101.1 D535
Cited: U.S. Dig.

U.S. REPORTS

Purpose: Full texts of Supreme Court decisions. This is the official document put out by the government.
Notes: Text only of decisions. For analysis and other information see SUPREME COURT REPORTS--LAWYERS EDITION, described below. Use LAWYERS EDITION for volumes after 1920.
Location: Ref KF 101 A3 Library has volumes 1-256 (1920)
Cited: U.S.

SUPREME COURT REPORTS, LAWYERS EDITION

Purpose: Texts of the Supreme Court's decisions legal analyses (annotations) and summaries of counsels' arguments. Privately printed. For earlier volumes, use U.S. REPORTS, described above.
Location: Ref KF 101 A33 Library has v.66+ (1921+)
Cited: L.Ed. and L.Ed.2d

SUPREME COURT REPORTER

Notes: PML does not have this source. It is included here because it is referred to so often. It is similar to the SUPREME COURT REPORTS, LAWYERS EDITION, privately printed Supreme Court decisions with commentary. It is indexed in the U.S. SUPREME COURT DIGEST.
Cited: S.Ct.

ONLINE SUPREME COURT DECISIONS

1937-1975 Through GPO Access http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/supcrt/index.html (1937-1975)
1992-2000 Through GPO Access http://fedbbs.access.gpo.gov/court01.htm
2004+ Through the U.S. Supreme Court website http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/opinions.html
All available through LexisNexis on the Truman network only http://www.lexis-nexis.com/universe (Select "Legal Research")

UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT DECISIONS: AN INDEX TO THEIR LOCATIONS, by Nancy Alderman Guenther.

Purpose: Covers major Supreme Court decisions 1792-1980. Leads you to specific books which list abridgments of Supreme Court decisions or complete decisions. Of special interest is the Subject Index in Section 5.
Notes: As we have the full texts of the decisions in sources described on previous page, this book has limited usefulness for us. However, it does help you locate material in the general collection which you may check out of the library.
Arrangement: Chronologically in Section 3. Section 4 is an alphabetical "case name index which leads you to Section 3." Subject index in Section 5.
Location: Ref KF 101.6 G83 1983

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 1789-1980: AN INDEX TO OPINIONS ARRANGED BY JUSTICE, edited by Linda Blandford and Patricia Evans. 2 volumes.

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION.

Purpose: While this is a copy of the Constitution, it includes annotations of cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court to July 2, 1982. Pocket supplement includes annotations of cases through 1986.
Notes: Alphabetical Table of Cases in the back.
Location: Ref KF 4527 J39 1987

JUSTICES OF THE U.S. SUPREME COURT, THEIR LIVES & MAJOR OPINIONS

Purpose: Provides (1) biographical sketches of the justices, (2) digests of the major opinions, (3) bibliographies for each justice.
Location: Ref KF 8744 F75 1997

SUPREME COURT REVIEW

Purpose: Each volume contains approximately 10 essays dealing with current issues in each session of the Supreme Court.
Arrangement: Each volume covers one year. No index.
Location: General Collection KF 8748 S9 Library has 1960, 1965+

ORAL ARGUMENTS OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

Purpose: Transcripts of recorded arguments before the Supreme Court.
Location: 1952/53-1999/2000 in Microfiche Cabinet 26 Drawer 9, Oct 2000+
on the Web at http://www.supremecourtus.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts.html

GREAT AMERICAN COURT CASES

Purpose: Identifies cases which have influenced the development of key aspects of law in the U.S. These are primarily U.S. Supreme Court cases, but there are a few from state courts and lower-level federal jurisdictions.
Location: Reference Collection KF 385 A4 G68 1999 (4 vols)

LANDMARK DECISIONS OF THE SUPREME COURT

U.S. SUPREME COURT WEB SITE

Purpose: Official Web site of the court
Notes: Includes information about the court, docket, recent decisions, rules, opinions, bar admissions, etc.
Online: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/