Major Research Tools

CQ Supreme Court Collection

Full-Text

Summaries and analysis of major U.S. Supreme Court decisions with links to full text of cases. Also includes biographies of justices plus tools for analyzing voting records and opinion alignments.


Hein Online

Full-Text

Database of legal resources, including laws, regulations, some trials and court reports, treaties, and a variety of other materials covering United States and foreign law.


Oxford Reference Online: Law

Full-Text

Collection of reference works on law from Oxford University Press. Includes Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law and The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History.


Oyez: U.S. Supreme Court Multimedia

Full-Text

Provides summaries of Supreme Court cases from 1954 to present. Cases are searchable by justice, issues, or court term. Also includes audio of oral arguments and opinion announcements for most case entries.


Other Suggested Research Tools

American Bar Association

Full-Text, Gateway

Although primarily the official site of the Association, it also offers information valuable to students and the general public from immigration to tax tips, and brief publications on broad areas of the law.


American Prison Newspapers, 1800-2020: Voices from the Inside

Database of hundreds of prison newspapers from across the U.S. representing penal institutions of all kinds, with special attention paid to women's-only institutions. From Reveal Digital, a library crowdfunded open access initiative.


Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation

Full-Text

Online version of the print product prepared by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. Contains: annotations of cases decided by the Supreme Court of the United States; Acts of Congress held unconstitutional in whole or in part by the Supreme Court; state constitutional and statutory provisions and municipal ordinances held unconstitutional; Supreme Court decisions overruled by subsequent decision; and an alphabetical table of cases.


Famous Trials

Full-Text

A collection of original essays, trial transcripts and exhibits, maps, images, and other materials relating to the greatest trials in world history. The site is maintained by the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School.


Federal Judicial Center

Full-Text

Education and research support office for the U.S. courts provides court histories, biographies of federal judges, and access to research produced for the federal judiciary.


Federalist Papers

Full-Text

The original text of the Federalist Papers (also known as The Federalist). View or download the entire or partial plain text version of all of the Federalist Papers as supplied by Project Gutenberg.


GovTrack

Full-Text

Site for tracking legislation being debated in the US Congress. Contains full-text of bills as well as their current status.


How Our Laws Are Made

Full-Text

Basic outline of the federal lawmaking process from expression of idea to publication of statute. Courtesy of the U.S. House Parliamentarian.


Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties

Full-Text
Compilation of U.S. treaties, laws, and executive orders pertaining to Indigenous peoples and tribes from 1778 to 1971.

Judicial Facts and Figures

Data

Current and historical caseload data for the U.S. Courts of Appeals, the U.S. District Courts, and the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts. Includes numbers of civil and criminal cases filed.


Justia Blawg Search

Gateway

Law blog (blawg) directory which allows users to search for blawgs in various categories including types of law, state law blawgs, country blawgs, and law school blawgs.


Landmark Decisions: A Century of Change (1856-1955)

Full-Text

Full text of eleven decisions reflecting the Supreme Court's changing attitude toward race, from Scott v. Sanford to Brown v. Board of Education.


Landmark Supreme Court cases

Full-Text, Gateway

Useful tool for understanding a selection of the U.S. Supreme Court's most historically significant cases. Provides summaries of the cases, excerpts from the opinions, links to the complete text, analysis of the decision's impact and relevance, and more. From The Supreme Court Historical Society and Street Law, Inc.


Law.com Dictionary

Full-Text, Reference

Provides definitions of legal terms in "plain English."


Legal Information Institute

Full-Text, Reference

Cornell Law School's source for legal materials, including Supreme Court information, selected historical decisions, the U.S. Code, a legal encyclopedia, and a breakdown of laws by jurisdiction.


National Conference of State Legislatures

Full-Text

Web site of the national organization for state legislators and their staffs. Useful for charts comparing state laws on a variety of issues such as family leave or drunk driving.


National Indian Law Library-Tribal Law Gateway

Full-Text

Provides access to over four hundred constitutions and over two hundred and forty codes/ordinances of the federally-recognized tribes and Alaska Native villages in the United States.


Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC)

Data

Statistics on law enforcement, spending, and staffing of the federal law enforcement agencies (e.g. the FBI, IRS, and INS). From Syracuse University.


U.S. Code

Full-Text

General and permanent laws of the United States enacted by Congress. Includes a Table of Popular Names, a list of common names for legislative acts. From the Legal Information Institute at Cornell.


U.S. Supreme Court

Full-Text

Official website of the Supreme Court. Includes docket, oral arguments, court rules, opinions, history, etc.


Uniform Crime Reporting Program

Data

Front page to FBI databases on crime.


United States Sentencing Commission: Data Reports

Data

Data on federal crimes, offenders, and punishments. Includes annual Federal Sentencing Statistics.