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Law Librarians of New England

a chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries

CyberCites
U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court's official website provides researchers with docket information, court orders, court rules, case handling guides, public information, etc. Most notable, however, are the full text transcripts of oral arguments since October 2000, and information available through the Opinions link. Slip opinions are posted within hours of issuance. Through the Opinions link, researchers can access the slip opinions and slip lists, which provide the U. S. Reports volume and part numbers for a particular preliminary print. The entire contents of the bound volumes of the U.S. Reports are available beginning with volume 502 (1991). While the Supreme Court's website does not provide a full retrospective collection of its decisions, a Case Citation Finder provides a complete listing of all cases, setting forth the official citations for every signed, per curiam, and in-chambers opinion published (or soon to be published) in the U.S. Reports.

Supreme Court Collection at LII
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/

The Legal Information Institute (LII) offers full-text Supreme Court opinions from 1990 to the present, searchable by subject, citation, name, or date. A collection of select historic opinions is also available, organized by author, topic, and party. Researchers can locate new opinions on the day of the decision, and can subscribe via email to the LII Bulletin, which distributes a synopsis or syllabi of new decisions within hours after the information is released.

FindLaw's Supreme Court Center
http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/supreme_court/resources.html

Most useful on FindLaw are the U.S. Supreme Court's Records and Briefs from the 1999-2000 term to the present, organized alphabetically by case name. This site includes U.S. Supreme Court decisions from 1893 to the present, in a searchable database using name, citation, or keyword. Like LII, FindLaw offers a current awareness service, distributing summaries of decisions shortly after release. FindLaw uses a Shepards-like tool. Researchers select "Cases citing this case: Supreme Court" or "Cases citing this case: Federal Circuit courts" to locate other Supreme Court or Courts of Appeals cases citing to the found case.

The Oyez Project at Northwestern University
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/frontpage

Oyez provides access to oral arguments presented before the U.S. Supreme Court in audio format. Researchers can listen to attorneys argue their cases by using Real Audio. Recordings currently date back to 1961 for selected cases. These cases can be searched by case name, topic, citation, or date. New audio files appear on Oyez about ten months after the term in which the case was heard. Other features include biographical information about the Justices and their voting records. A link is provided to Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, an excellent current awareness resource for locating articles regarding current Supreme Court cases.