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    Judiciary and Court Decisions Guide     

    Text in BROWN indicates that the item is located in Hoover Library.
    Dewey call numbers for books on Law: 340-349.

    • Academic Universe (LexisNexis)
      • Full text of federal and state legal cases; decisions from all federal court levels; state high court & appellate decisions; cases by topic, and more.
      • Note: This database provides text only, i.e. no images, charts, tables, etc.
    • FindLaw
      • Web portal focused on law and government. For searching the Web, good place to start.
    • Court Forms (FindLaw)
      • Federal and state court forms.

    Warning: The following Web sites are not official reporters, and do not guarantee their information to be error free and correct. If in doubt, go to the official government print version.

    U.S. Federal Judiciary - Overviews

    • Encyclopedia of the American Judicial System. Ed. Robert J. Janosik. 3 vols. (New York: Scribner's Sons, 1987).
      • (Call number: R 347.003 E57)
    • Federal Judicial Center
      • The research and education agency of the federal judicial system. Lots of downloadable publications about the judicial process.
    • Federal Judiciary Homepage
      • News and information about the Federal courts.
    • Understanding the Federal Courts
      • A PDF document.
    • United States Sentencing Commission
      • This federal agency was created by the Sentencing Reform Act in 1984 for the purpose of developing uniform guidelines for sentencing in federal cases.
      • Site has numerous publications.

    U.S. Court Rules

    • USCS Court Rules. Vols. 63-67B. 1986 with annual supplement. Rochester, N.Y.: Lawyers Cooperative Publishing.
      • (Call number: R 348.73 U58)
      • Annotated.
    • Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School)
      • These rules govern the conduct of all civil actions brought in Federal district courts.
    • Federal Rules of Evidence (Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School)
      • Rules governing the introduction of evidence in proceedings, both civil and criminal, in Federal courts.

    U.S. Supreme Court
    Highest court in the federal judiciary.
    Dewey call numbers for books on the U.S. Supreme Court: 347.7-347.9

    • Supreme Court of the United States
      • Official website of the Supreme Court. Includes Court's 1999 Term slip opinions, 1999 Term orders, argument calendar, schedules, Rules, bar admission forms and instructions, visitors' guides, case-handling guides, special notices, press releases, and general information. A link will also be provided to the Court's "bench" opinions on GPO's Federal Bulletin Board.
    • Congressional Quarterly's Guide to the U.S. Supreme Court. 2nd ed. Elder Witt. (Washington D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1990).
      • (Call number: R 347.7326 W827)
    • Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States. Eds. Kermit L. Hall, et als. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992)
      • (Call number: R 347.7326 O98)
    • Rules of the Supreme Court of the United States (Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School)
    • The Supreme Court Yearbook (1989 to present) (Washington D.C.: Congressional Quarterly.)
      • (Call number: R 347.732605 S959)
      • Highlights the activities of the U.S. Supreme Court for an entire term. Includes case summaries.
    • Yahoo! links

    U.S. Supreme Court Decisions

    • United States Reports. (1931 to 1996; vols. 284 to 519)
      • (Call number: SUDOC number: JU 6.8; located in Government Documents section)
      • The official printed record of cases heard and decided by the U.S. Supreme Court which usually includes a syllabus of each case, the opinion of the Court, concurring and dissenting opinions, if any, the disposition made of each case, and orders of the Court. (From Black's Law Dictionary, 6th ed. 1990, p. 1534.)
    • U.S. Supreme Court Opinions (FindLaw)
      • 1893 to present (vols. 150 to present of U.S. Reports). Searchable.
    • Supreme Court Collection (Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School)
      • Nearly all decisions from May 1990 to present, plus selected historical decisions. Searchable.
    • FLITE: Federal Legal Information Through Electronics (FedWorld) FLITE: Federal Legal Information Through Electronics (GPO Access)
      • 1937 to 1975 (vols. 300 to 422 of U.S. Reports). Search by case or keyword.
    • The Oyez Project
      • Oral arguments and other materials relating to leading constitutional cases. Requires RealAudio to listen to the arguments.
    • Supreme Court of the United States...: An Index to Opinions Arranged by Justice. Eds. Linda A. Blandford and Patricia russell Evans. Vols. 1-2 and supplement. (Millwood, N.Y.: Kraus International Publ., 1983, 1994.)
      • (Call number: R 348.73413 B642)
      • Vol. 1 covers 1789-1902. Vol. 2 covers 1902 to 1980 (copy missing). Supplement covers 1980 to 1990.

    U.S. Appellate Courts or Courts of Appeals
    There are 12 U.S. Courts of Appeals for each of the Regional Circuits, plus one U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. A court of appeals hears appeals from the district courts located within its circuit, as well as appeals from decisions of federal administrative agencies. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals in specialized cases, such as those involving patent laws and cases decided by the court of International Trade and the Court of Federal Claims.

    U.S. Trial Courts
    Consists of 94 District Courts and U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, as well as the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

    U.S. District Courts
    Within limits set by Congress and the Constitution, the district courts have jurisdiction to hear nearly all categories of federal cases, including both civil and criminal matter.  There are 94 federal judicial districts, including at one district in each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.  Each district includes a United State bankruptcy court as a unit of the district court.

    U.S. Court of International Trade
    Has nationwide jurisdiction over cases involving international trade and customs issues.

    U.S. Court of Federal Claims
    Has jurisdiction over most claims for money damages against the United States, disputes over federal contracts, unlawful "takings" of private property by the federal government, and a variety of other claims against the United States.

    Federal Courts and Other Entities Outside the Judicial Branch

    State Courts and Decisions

    • State Court Web Sites (National Center for State Courts)
      • State-level court Web sites, but also contains links to some federal courts and non-U.S. courts.
    • State Resources Indexes (FindLaw)
      • Links to state courts, plus to much more. Searchable.
    • National Center for State Courts
      • Independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to the improvement of justice at the state court level. Site is searchable.

    Maryland State Courts

    Note: Hoover Library does not carry the Maryland Reports or the Maryland Appellate Reports.  To consult these two publications, contact a Maryland law library.

    Foreign and International Courts

    International Court of Justice, aka. World Court

    Statistics

    • Federal Sentencing Statistics by State (U.S. Sentencing Commission)
      • 1995 to 1998. Includes additional statistics, tables and charts.
      • Commission sentencing datasets are available through the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan at: www.icpsr.umich.edu.