Presentation Transcript

1. Judicial Branch Publications

   Peggy Roebuck Jarrett, guest lecturer http://lib.law.washington.edu/ref/judbranch.html
2. Sources of Law Statutes passed by legislative bodies Regulations promulgated by administrative agencies Case law created by judges Constitutions
3. Case Law Created by judges in the course of resolving disputes The written resolution of the issues The words “case,” “opinion,” and “decision” are often used interchangeably Not a jury verdict
4. Opinions and the Court System A generic court system consists of trial courts intermediate appellate courts the appellate court of last resort Specialized courts Courts of limited jurisdiction
5. The Federal Court System U.S. Supreme Court U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals U.S. District Courts Bankruptcy Courts Courts of Special Jurisdiction Federal Claims, Int’l Trade, Tax, Veterans Claims, Armed Forces
6. Publication of Opinions Only opinions of precedential value are published in reporters Precedent allows similarly situated people to be treated the same Published v. unpublished Some courts allow citations to unpublished opinions in briefs
7. Publication of Opinions United States Reports only major reporter in Federal Depository Library Program Lower federal court and state appellate opinions are commercially published Some states have official reporters Opinions in commercial reporters are primary law
8. How to Find Case Law Use Free Law Online to find free sites Use a commercial database, such as LexisNexis Academic(UW restricted) Use an annotated code Use secondary sources
9. Update, Update, Update Reversed or overruled opinions are not deleted from reporters or databases Use Keycite or Shepard’s
10. Free Sites for Case Finding Washington State Courts LegalWa.org U.S. Supreme Court Official site Cornell Legal Information Institute FindLaw GPO just has bulk data from 1937-1975
11. Free Sites for Case Finding U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals and States other than Washington Federal and State court websites FindLaw Public Library of Law Google Scholar U.S. District Courts Google Scholar
12. FDsys United States Court Opinions collection (USCOURTS) Collaborative effort between GPO and Admin Office of the US Courts (AOUSC) Dates back to 2004, but earlier years incomplete Authenticated
13. FDsysUSCOURTS As of November, 2013: 9 Circuit Courts (75%) 20 District Courts (21%) 34 Bankruptcy Courts (36%) 9th Circuit – yes District/Bankruptcy for Washington - no
14. Google Scholar US Supreme Court cases, 1791-date Federal district, appellate, tax, and bankruptcy cases, 1923-date State cases, 1950-date Cons: unknown source(s) Pros: it’s Google
15. LexisNexis Academic Federal: all published appellate and district court cases State: all available appellate court cases Shepard’s Citations Finding tools: secondary sources and annotated codes UW Restricted
16. PACER Public Access to Court Electronic Records Case and docket information from Federal courts Fee-based PACER Service Center
17. PACER & the FDLP First Pilot Limited number of libraries Free Suspended early Second Pilot “Access and Education Program” Libraries train public, for a credit Public users still need account
18. Alternatives to PACER RECAP: Turning PACER Around Firefox extension PACER results go to the RECAP archive Archive is not authenticated (but it’s free) Bloomberg Law
19. Public Access to Law Many law libraries are cancelling print reporters and digests How will this affect public? Free Law Online Good enough? Cases without indexing or editing? Unauthenticated?
20. Court Briefs & Oral Arguments Briefs are written arguments submitted to an appellate court Larger law libraries may have paper or microfiche Patrons may need to obtain them directly from the court clerk Some briefs & oral arguments are online
21. Court Briefs & Oral Arguments Audio of U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments at Oyez Audio (and some video) of Washington State Supreme Court at TVW Gallagher Law Library, Briefs & Oral Arguments
22. Judicial Branch Business Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts Federal Judicial Center Judicial Conference of the U.S. Courts Reports, studies, monographs, newsletters, and statistics
23. US Sentencing Commission Develops guidelines for sentencing in Federal courts In 2005 US Supreme Court made guidelines advisory, not mandatory USSC Home
24. Administrative Agency Decisions Most administrative agencies have a quasi-judicial function Decide (adjudicate) individual cases arising from the application of their rules and regulations Few agency decisions are distributed through the Federal Depository Library Program
25. Administrative Agency Decisions Administrative Decisions & Other Actions (UVA) Washington State Administrative Decisions (Gallagher) LLMC Digital(UW Restricted) HeinOnline(UW Restricted) Use web and law library print resources
26. Gallagher Law Library We are located on L1 and L2 (lower level) of William H. Gates Hall. We are open to the public! Home U.S. Government Publications Free Law Online Legal Research Guides Judicial Branch Publications Ask Us!