Guides: U.S. Supreme Court Research Guide: Research By Topic

Finding Landmark Cases

The following resources contain curated lists of and materials related to particularly significant Supreme Court decisions.

Oyez
Online resource for case summaries, audio files, and Supreme Court history.
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Information about cases dating back to 1832. Includes syllabus, referring court, important dates, counsel, voting record (not all information available for all cases).
Audio of oral arguments and opinion announcements, where available.
Provides an unofficial transcript of oral arguments.
Information about individual Justices's lives and voting records, as well as history of particular benches, dating back to the Jay Court (1789-1790).
Search or browse according to dates of granting cert, arguments, or decision, term, or select from an extensive list of issues.
Sort by "Popularity" to find the most significant cases on a particular issue.
CQ Supreme Court Collection
Comprehensive collection of Supreme Court materials, organized in four sections: cases, justices, data, and context.
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Cases includes Case Summaries organized by Court and topic. Landmark decisions denoted as "Key Cases."
Justices includes biographies of every Justice, links to authored opinions, breakdown of their voting records, and other important dates and term data.
Analyze Data provides tools to analyze the roles of Justices in various opinions (Majority, Concurring, Dissenting, etc.), plus data regarding opinions written, alignment between Justices, and voting bloc analysis.
The Court Explained includes a varied of contextual information about the Court, including history, cultural information, and reference material.

Landmark Briefs and Arguments of the Supreme Court of the United States (periodical)
Call Number: Smith KF 101.8 .K87
Contemporary Supreme Court Cases: Landmark Decisions Since Roe v. Wade (2d) by Donald E. Lively; Russell L. Weaver
Call Number: Electronic
Publication Date: 2016

Cases Organized by Topic

The resources below offer browsable lists of Supreme Court decisions by topic (e.g., Capital Punishment, Search and Seizure, Freedom of Speech).

Oyez
Online resource for case summaries, audio files, and Supreme Court history.
more...less...
Information about cases dating back to 1832. Includes syllabus, referring court, important dates, counsel, voting record (not all information available for all cases).
Audio of oral arguments and opinion announcements, where available.
Provides an unofficial transcript of oral arguments.
Information about individual Justices's lives and voting records, as well as history of particular benches, dating back to the Jay Court (1789-1790).
Search or browse according to dates of granting cert, arguments, or decision, term, or select from an extensive list of issues.
Sort by "Popularity" to find the most significant cases on a particular issue.
CQ Supreme Court Collection
Comprehensive collection of Supreme Court materials, organized in four sections: cases, justices, data, and context.
more...less...
Cases includes Case Summaries organized by Court and topic. Landmark decisions denoted as "Key Cases."
Justices includes biographies of every Justice, links to authored opinions, breakdown of their voting records, and other important dates and term data.
Analyze Data provides tools to analyze the roles of Justices in various opinions (Majority, Concurring, Dissenting, etc.), plus data regarding opinions written, alignment between Justices, and voting bloc analysis.
The Court Explained includes a varied of contextual information about the Court, including history, cultural information, and reference material.
Cornell's Legal Information Institute: Supreme Court
Complete coverage of decisions 1990-date.
Incomplete coverage of decisions 1793-1990.
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Opinions are searchable and browsable by case name, topic, and authorship.
Includes information about past and current Justices, including biographies and decision lists.
Other Supreme Court resources include current oral argument schedule, text of Court rules, and information about the Court's authority and jurisdiction.
LII Bulletin includes previews of upcoming oral arguments.
Subscript Law
This blog translates major cases before the Court into easy-to-understand infographics.
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Browse by topic or date.
Some infographics on historical cases and legal concepts are included.

Special Topics

Acts Held Unconstitutional

Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis, and Interpretation
Published each term by the U.S. Congress, contains citations to and brief summaries of statutes and ordinances that have been held unconstitutional, along with the grounds on which they were held to be unconstitutional and (sometimes) an indication of which justices concurred or dissented.
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These citations and summaries are found following the Twenty-Seventh Amendment, in sections called "Acts of Congress Held Unconstitutional in Whole or in Part by the Supreme Court of the United States" and "State Constitutional and Statutory Provisions and Municipal Ordinances Held Unconstitutional or Held to be Preempted by Federal Law."
Historical and current versions are kept on the U.S. Government Publishing Office website.

CRS Reports

Many Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports examine the Court's opinions regarding a particular issue. For example, Americans with Disabilities Act: Supreme Court Decisions or Overview of Recent U.S. Supreme Court Jurisprudence in Patent Law. Though not all CRS Reports are available to the public, the following resources organize available CRS Reports.

ProQuest Congressional
Full-text Congressional information, including bills, committee reports, hearings, public laws, floor debates, congressional member profiles, the Congressional Record, CRS Reports, and news from the National Journal and Congress Daily.
HeinOnline U.S. Supreme Court Library
Full Text US Reports from 1754 to present.
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US Reports Preliminary Prints 2002-2013
US Reports Slip Opinions 2002-date
Dozens of books and periodicals on the Court
CRS Reports
Rules of the Supreme Court 1790-date

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U.S. Supreme Court Research Guide: Research By Topic

Topical Search

Finding Landmark Cases

Cases Organized by Topic

Special Topics

Related Topics in Catalog

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