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United States Supreme Court Research: Starting Points

Researching the history, justices and opinions of the United States Supreme Court in print and online.

Scope of This Research Guide

This is a selective research guide on the United States Supreme Court.  It highlights publicly accessible sources and sources available through Brooklyn Law School Library.  This guide includes:

  • Links to/descriptions of news sources, finding tools for legal articles and selected periodicals to learn about Supreme Court activities
  • Links to official Supreme Court documents, such as case dockets, oral arguments and briefs
  • Official and unofficial Supreme Court case reporters in digital and print formats
  • Books about the Supreme Court and its justices - in guide boxes, books appear in alphabetical order
  • Supreme Court practice resources
  • Quizzes

Supreme Court of the United States (publicly accessible)

Supreme Court of the United States includes:

  • Press releases
  • Selected speeches
  • Rules of the Supreme Court + guidance documents
  • A "Docket Search" feature
  • Oral argument audio from Term Year: 2010 - current + oral argument transcripts from Term Year: 1968 - current
  • Slip opinions from the Supreme Court's current Term
  • United States Reports vol. 502 (1991 Term) - present

HeinOnline: U.S. Supreme Court Library (subscription)

The extensive HeinOnline database described below is accessible to all researchers who are on campus.  Remote access by current BLS students, faculty and administrators requires use of the BLS proxy server.  As Breanne Callahan states in the overview to HeinOnline's U.S. Supreme Court Library LibGuide: "Users can navigate the database using various tools, including HeinOnline's ScholarCheck, linking to case law with FastCase, and linking to Oyez, a complete and authoritative source for Supreme Court audio." 

U.S. Supreme Court Library > In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (HEIN).  Includes:

  • Official Reports (United States Reports + United States Reports slip opinions)
  • Books on the Court (focus: historical books)
  • Periodicals and Serials on the Court
  • CRS Reports (U.S. Congressional Research Service Reports)
  • Rules of the Supreme Court (a collection of separately published pamphlets)
  • LibGuide describing this Library and providing search tips.

Suoreme Court: Compendium, Guides & Overviews

Recent Sources:

Additional Sources:

Subject Guide

Quotations

When Was This Guide Last Updated?

This LibGuide was last substantively updated:

On: Dec. 21, 2023

At: 12:32 PM

By: Jean Davis