Constitutional Law I
Professor: Richard Morgan
Librarian: Ginny Hopcroft (
)
Fall 2006
Background for Legal Research
Law Reporters
Indexes and Databases
Reference Books
Selected Web Sites
Background for Legal Research
Law cases are not cataloged individually in the Library's online catalog. Law cases are traditionally published together in sets of volumes called law reporters. Law reporters are now published both online and in print. The traditional legal citation form is used in both media types to identify and locate cases. To locate a case in print, you must know the law reporter name (i.e., Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition) and the case citation, which tells you volume and page. Law cases are consistently cited in this format:
Volume number / Abbreviation of Law Reporter Name / Page number
1 L. Ed. 2d. 1479
In the above example "1" is the volume, "L. Ed. 2d" is the abbreviation for the law reporter (United States Supreme Court Reports Lawyers' Edition 2nd Series) and "1479" is the page number. Citations often accompany case names in the texts of other cases or in law journal articles. For the most precise search, use the citation if known.
Finding Print Law Cases by Citation
The Bowdoin Library has several print law reporters. Follow these steps when you already have a case law citation:
- Figure out which law reporter you need from the abbreviation in the citation - see the section on Law Reporters.
- Find the library classification number for the law reporter cited - see the section on Law Reporters.
- Locate the print law reporter in the Govt Doc stacks.
- Find the individual case within the multiple volumes of the law reporter by locating the correct volume and page number. For Supreme Court cases, we have two law reporters. The text of the decision is identical in both. The United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition is usually preferred because of its supplemental annotations.
Finding Law Cases by Name
Although much case law is referred to by citation, sometimes you may only have the name of the case. Follow these steps when you only have the name of a law case:
- From the Indexes/Databases list, go to the LexisNexis Academic:Legal Research or to Westlaw Campus.
- Select "Get a Case "in LexisNexis; in Westlaw Campus the search box is on the front page.
- Type the names of the litigants; press enter.
- Full text of the case with citation appears on the screen.
- The case can be downloaded, printed, or emailed. Or use the citation to locate the case in print.
- Bowdoin Library has Supreme Court, Federal District Court, Federal Appeals Court and State of Maine Supreme Judicial Court law reporters.
Finding Law Cases by Subject
Sometimes you may want to find a law case on a subject, such as a case involving the commerce clause. Searching for a subject in a caselaw database is cumbersome. It is often more effective to search one of these secondary sources by topic to find representative cases:
- Look in one of the legal encyclopedias in the Library Reference Collection.
- Go to the Cornell Law School website - http://www.law.cornell.edu/
- Search the print Index to Legal Periodicals.
- Search LexisNexis Academic "Area of Law by Topic,""Legal News," or "Law Reviews."
- Search "Encyclopedias and Law Reviews" in Westlaw Campus.
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Law Reporters
- United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition.
Govt Doc KF 101 .A5 U5
Citation Form: 120 L. Ed. 2d. 467 - Lawyers' Edition, 1754-1956;
Lawyers' Edition 2nd Series, 1956-1993;
Lawyers' Edition Third Series, 1994-:
- These three Lawyers' Edition Series include the texts of decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court headnotes, legal analyses in the form of annotations, and summaries of counsel's arguments. Each series is comprised of 100 volumes and within each series the cases are arranged in chronological order.
- United States Reports: Reports of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Govt Doc Ju 6.8:
Citation Form: 112 U.S. 2649 - The United States Reports series publishes texts of official decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court with no supplemental material.
- U.S. Supreme Court records and briefs [microform]: full opinion.
Govt Micro
Microfiche edition, 1969/70--present - In addition to full decisions for U.S. Supreme Court cases, this microfiche series provides the briefs and opinions of the individual justices.
- The Federal Reporter, 1880--present
Govt Doc KF 105.A5: F4 (Government Documents Collection
Citation form: 66F. 3rd 1025 - The Federal Reporter
Federal Reporter, second series
Federal Reporter, third series (1993-present)
- The Federal Reporter publishes decisions of the U.S. Court of Appeals in the above three series. For name and subject access to these decisions, consult LexisNexis Academic or Westlaw Campus.
Federal Supplement
Govt Doc KF120.A5:F4 (Government Documents Collection)
Citation Form: 728 F. Supp. 68- The Federal Supplement reports U.S. District Court decisions, compiled in chronological order. Subject and name access to these federal court cases is furnished by either Westlaw Campus or LexisNexis Academic online.
- Maine Reporter
Govt Doc Maine J 90.28 (Government Documents Collection), 1966-
Citation Form: 577 A. 2nd 765 - The Maine Reporter from West Publishing Co. publishes decisions from the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine. This is the Library's only reporter of Maine state cases. For caselaw from other states, please see LexisNexis Academic.
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Indexes and Databases
- LexisNexis Academic
Online - Fulltext web database of news and legal information.
- Westlaw Campus
Online - Fulltext database of caselaw, statutes, law journals and reviews.
- Index to Legal Periodicals
Periodical Index Area - Yearly print subject index to law reviews. Also includes specialized indices at the back which list articles about specific cases or related to individual statutes.
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Reference Books
- Black's law dictionary : definitions of the terms and phrases of American and English jurisprudence, ancient and modern
- Main Ref KF156 .B532 1991
- Congressional Quarterly's guide to the U.S. Supreme Court
- Main Ref KF8742 .W567 1989
- The constitutional law dictionary
- Main Ref KF4548.5 .C47 198
- Encyclopedia of constitutional amendments, proposed amendments, and amending issues, 1789-1995
- Main Ref KF4557 .V555 1996
- Encyclopedia of the American Constitution
- Main Ref KF4548 .E53 2000
- The Evolving Constitution: how the Supreme Court has ruled on issues from abortion to zoning
- Main Ref KF4548 .L54 1992
- The Guide to American law yearbook : everyone's legal encyclopedia.
- Main Ref KF154 .G85 Suppl 1987
- The United States law week
- Main Ref KF127.1 .U5
- The United States Code
- Govt Ref Y 1.2/5
- West's encyclopedia of American law.
- Main Ref KF154 .W47 1998
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Selected Web Sites
- Findlaw
- http://www.findlaw.com/
- Legal Information Institute from the Cornell Law School
- http://www.law.cornell.edu/
- Judicial Branch Resources on GPO Access
- http://www.gpoaccess.gov/judicial.html
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