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U.S. Supreme Court Resources

This LibGuide will provide links to resources for keeping up to date on the working of the United States Supreme Court.

Free Online Resources

         This is one of the most highly respected U.S. Supreme Court Blogs on the web. Highly respected blog authors provide in-depth analysis of cases currently before the court.  Links are provided to Merit and Amicus Briefs submitted to the court in full text. Their live blogging of the Court's opinion days is eagerly followed by thousands of citizens, reporters and legal professional every year. Also useful is their statistical analysis of court activities including the pace of grants and decisions as well as voting relationships between the Justices.

         The offical website of the United States Supreme Court. The site hosts the offical version of all recent Supreme Court Decsions and Orders. One of the most recent additions are audio recordings of Oral Arguments before the court which are posted the day following the arguments dating back to the 2010 term. (See Oyez.org for earlier recordings.)

         A project of the ITT Chicago-Kent College of Law which is best know for providing access to audio recording of U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments. This collection of audio files goes back to cases in the 1955 term of the court. Links to decisions and votes of the justices are provided for selected cases back to the 1800s. There is  biographical information on all current and previous U.S. Supreme Court Justices. Oyez also links to their own blog covering the U.S. Supreme court called IScotusNow which provided in delpt analysis of cases before the court.

         "..[P]lain-language analysis of all cases given plenary review by the Supreme Court in advance of oral argument. Preview issues 1-7 precede the Court’s seven argument sessions from October to April. Published in July following the close of the Court’s term at the end of June, Preview issue 8 reviews the term using a combination of charts, statistics, case summaries, and essays."   The full-text of articles from the publication can also be accessed through HeinOnline.

         Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute has a number of features useful when analyizing U.S. Supreme Court cases. One usefull section contains links to previews of the cases before the court published as part of the LIIBulletin, Cornell's online law journal. Previews and docketing information can be found here. Readers can sign up for a free email subscriptions to the online LIIBulletin, available here.​

Library Resources

In-depth and Historical Resources

         There are many books in the library that discuss landmark Supreme Court Cases, specific Supreme Court Justices or even specific constitutional provisions that come before the court. Search the library catalog to find books on any given topic: https://libcat.widener.edu/ The catalog can be searched by subject (For example:  United States. Supreme Court  or United States Supreme Court History); by author, by title or most broadly by keyword. A reference librarian would be happy to assist you in locating materials that might be useful in your research. Contact a reference librarian on the Delaware Campus here. Faculty of Delaware Law School each have a specific librarian assigned as your library liaison, a list of library liaisons can be found here.

         HeinOnline hosts an extensive Supreme Court Library which contains pdf files of all volumes of the United States Reports, the offcial reporter of the United States Supreme Court. There are also links to all Slip Opinions not yet publiched in U.S. Reports. In addition to the full-text of opinions, there are a number of other features available such as a list of periodicals available in full-text on HeinOnline that analyize the workings fo the court. Titles include: Cato Supreme Court ReviewJournal of the Supreme Court of the United States and the Encyclopedia of United States Supreme Court Reports. Additionally, there are many journals available on HeinOnline that focus on Consitutional issues, a list of those maybe found here. HeinOnline's Supreme Court Library also provides access to a huge number of historical books and treatises on the Supreme Court. HeinOnline has recently become the publisher of the ABA's Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases, which can be accessed here.

In-depth and Current Awareness Resources

Both Lexis and Westlaw have the ability to save searches for a limited time or to set up reoccurring searches to deliver new content to your email at specified intervals for as long as you wish. Lexis and Westlaw both use the term Alerts and a bell icon for this service.

         Supreme Court Reports, Lawyer's Edition is the Lexis U.S. Supreme Court Reporter available on LexisAdvance. To access secondary materials on the subject of constitutional law, navigate to the "Practice Area" Tab and choose, Consitutional Law. From here you can access treatises like, Criminal Constitutional Law or access Constitutional Law journals like, The Univ. of Pennsylavania Journal of Constitutional Law. To create an Alert, run any search on Lexis and then click the bell icon in the upper left corner of the results screen, then choose a timeframe and delivery options for your alert.

         In addition to the full-text of all Supreme Court Reporter cases available on Westlaw, there are a large number of Secondary Sources available on Constitutional Law topics. A list of some of those treatises can be found here. Most Law Journals can be found on Westlaw including the Supreme Court specific journal: The Supreme Court Review. Articles on specific Supreme Court cases or decisions can be found by searching the Law Reviews and Journals section of Westlaw. To create a WestClip Alert, run any search and click the gold bell icon at the top of the results, then set the options to control the content and delivery of your alert.

Accessing Databases From Off Campus

Lexis & Westlaw - all Delaware Law JD, MJ and LLM students have an individual Lexis & Westlaw passwords. If Delaware Law faculty, staff or students have trouble with your password please contact Librarian, Janet Lindenmuth

For other subscription databases like HeinOnline - you may be prompted for your name and library barcode number if you are using them off campus. The library barcode number is printed on the back of your student ID.

Other Supreme Court Blogs and Podcasts

Supreme Court Blogs

Supreme Court Podcasts

  • Slate's Amicus podcast http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/amicus.html
  • C-Span's Landmark Cases https://www.c-span.org/podcasts/     C-SPAN's 12-part television series produced in cooperation with the National Constitution Center, exploring the issues, people, and places involved in some of the most significant Supreme Court cases in our nation's history.
  • RadioLab presents: More Perfect http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolabmoreperfect   Radiolab's first ever spin-off series, More Perfect, dives into the rarefied world of the Supreme Court to explain how cases deliberated inside hallowed halls affect lives far away from the bench.