Research Guides: PS 470/570: Constitutional Law: Government (Primary) Sources

Government (Primary) Sources

Supreme Court

Supreme Court (official site)
Supreme Court Decisions, 1990-present
From the Cornell Legal Information Institute. Also provides links to other Supreme Court sources, and handy things such as a legal encyclopedia.

The Cornell LII also has a bulletin to which you can subscribe. Useful for keeping track of current developments, giving brief summaries of all the cases that come onto the Court's docket, and the syllabi (summaries) and full opinions from each case as soon as they're decided.

Oyez
Nonprofit site with Supreme Court opinions, summaries, and audio of oral arguments

All Federal Courts

Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Above the search box, click on "Search by Content Type." Under Legal, select Federal & State Cases. Then click on "Advanced Options" and select your federal jurisdiction(s), e.g., U.S. Supreme Court.
You can "Shepardize" a case to see how the decision has been treated in subsequent cases. See this brief Youtube video for more information.
Thomson Reuters Westlaw This link opens in a new window
Below the search box, click the box next to "Supreme Court Cases" (or "All Federal Cases"), under Cases.
You also can trace citing cases in Westlaw, using "KeyCite". In the full-text record for a case, see the options on the left side
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Click the 'Case law' button beneath the search box, then click on 'Select Courts' to select the US Supreme Court (or others)
When you've clicked on a case from your results list, you can then click on "How cited" at the upper left. This will give you much less than Westlaw or LexisNexis, but is easier to digest.

For many more government sources see the Government Information web pages.

U.S. Congress -- for information such as judicial confirmation hearings

ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window
Index to Congressional publications from 1789 to present; includes fulltext hearings from 1824-1979 and fulltext bills & laws from 1789 to the present

Law and Government Resources - Non-U.S.

Guide to Law Online: Nations
Law Library of Congress. Legal instruments (constitutions, laws, regulations, etc.) as well as official government sites and general sources of information.
Global & Comparative Law Resources
Also from the Law Library of Congress

For many more government sources see the Government Information web pages.