LibGuides: U.S. Government Publications: Judicial

Judicial

Fully-searchable archives of court data including growing repositories of opinions, oral arguments, judges, judicial financial records, and federal filings.

CourtListener
Case law content includes opinions from the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Federal Appellate Courts, U.S. Federal District Courts and Bankruptcy Courts, U.S. State Supreme and Appellate Courts, and many special courts.
Federal Courts
Access to opinions from selected U.S. appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts. Incomplete content, dating back to April 2004.

The federal court structure consists of:

the Supreme Court,
the Court of Appeals (there are 13 of these),
District Courts (there are 94 of these, they are organized into 12 regional circuits),
Bankruptcy Courts,
Article I Courts (Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, U.S. Tax Court).

U.S. Court of Appeals
1950's to present. Run your search first. In results page, limit to US Court of Appeals off to right. HeinOnline.
U.S. Courts
Dates vary. U.S. Appellate, District, Bankruptcy. govinfo.
U.S. District, Circuit, Tax and Bankruptcy Court
1923-present. Choose the radio button CASE LAW. Google Scholar.
U.S. District Court
1950's to present. Full-text of US District Court cases. Run your search first. In results, limit to Jurisdiction. HeinOnline.
U.S. District Court
2004 to present. Justia.

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S.

Supreme Court opinions go through several cycles: See the box below for information on the life cycle of an opinion.

Oyez Website
MP3 Recordings, 1981-. MP3 recordings of oral arguments argued before the Supreme Court. Provides recordings for select cases from 1955-1980. To get to the recordings, click on the case link.
United States Reports
Contains the fourth and final generation of the Court's opinions, called Bound. Provides the full-text of opinions, orders, and other materials issued. 1991 to present.
U.S. Supreme Court Library
Provides full-text slip opinions, 2002-present. HeinOnline.
U.S. Supreme Court Opinions
Provides a full-text syllabus, full-text opinions, concurrences, and dissents. Cornell Legal Information Institute. 1990-present.
U.S. Supreme Court Opinions
Full-text opinions. Some dissents and concurrences available on the full-text of the opinion. 1893 - present. FindLaw.

Life Cycle of an Opinion

The Supreme Court's opinions go through several generations--or stages--of publication.

Bench
"On days that opinions are announced by the Court from the bench, the text of each opinion is made available immediately to the public and the press in a printed form called a "bench opinion." http://www.supremecourt.gov/ opinions/info_opinions.aspx

Slip
"Several days after an opinion is announced by the Court, it is printed in a 6" x 9" self-cover pamphlet called a "slip opinion." Each slip opinion consists of the majority or plurality opinion, any concurring or dissenting opinions, and the syllabus. It may [also] contain corrections..." http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/ info_opinions.aspx

Preliminary
"...Brown, soft-cover "advance pamphlets" that contain, in addition to the opinions themselves, all of the announcements, ½ tables, indexes, and other features that make up the U.S. Reports. The contents of two or three preliminary prints will eventually be combined into a single bound volume." http://www.supremecourt.gov/ opinions/info_opinions.aspx

Bound
"The fourth and final generation of opinion publication is the casebound set of law books entitled United States Reports." http://www.supremecourt.gov/ opinions/info_opinions.aspx