UN1001, section R44 Perspectives on the U.S. Supreme Court

Librarian: Rhianna Williams

Email: rlwillia@mtu.edu

Phone: 487-2698

 

Instructor: Joel Tuoriniemi

 

Browsing and Search Terms

 

Not everyone uses the same word to describe the same thing. Examples are cars verses automobiles, or PC verses personal computer. When searching for information on your topic it is important to keep this in mind and try different search terms when you do not get the results you want. Here are some examples of terms you may want to use when searching for Supreme Court:

 

Supreme Courts

Appellate courts

Constitutional Courts

Courts of Last Resort

 

Browsing the Government Documents Collection, Garden Level, Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) Classification

 

Ju 6.8 :

 

Browsing the Main Collection 3^rd Floor Library of Congress (LC) Classification

 

KF 8000s, E 400s

 

Search the Library Catalog

 

 

Reference Resources:

 

The reference collection is a good place to begin exploring an unfamiliar subject. The resources found here can give you definitions of new terms and back ground information on your subject, along with help identifying specific issues within your broad subject area to explore in more detail.

 

The 2006-2007 United States Government Manual

AE 2.108/2 : 2007/2007 REF

As the official handbook of the Federal Government, The United States Government Manual provides information on the agencies of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches.

A typical agency description includes a list of principal officials, a summary statement of the agencys purpose and the role in the Federal Government, a brief history of the agency, including its legislative or executive authority.

 

American Bench: Judges of the Nation

KF 8700 .A19 A47 1989 REF

A comprehensive directory of biographical information for state and federal judges and information about the courts they serve.

 

Blacks Law Dictionary

KF 156 .B53 REF

Lexicon of legal terms and phrases, appendixes include: Time Chart of the United States Supreme Court, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Federal Circuits Map, British Regnal Years and a List of Works Cited.

 

Constitutional Law for a Changing America: Rights, Liberties and Justice

KF 4748 .E67 2003 REF

Covers various Americans' right to the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press, discrimination and defendant's rights. Includes a case index and glossary.

 

CQ Researcher (1959 Present)

H 35 .E2 REF

Reports on timely issues. Provides an overview, history impact, positions and resources for further study. A comprehensive index is available at: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/lcco.html

 

Encyclopedia of the American Constitution

KF 4548 .E53 1986 REF

Contains essays covering everything from the Constitutional Convention in 1787 to present day issues. For controversial topics such as gay marriage and electoral redistricting the encyclopedia provides two essays by authors with contrasting viewpoints to provide an array of information.

 

Encyclopedia of Constitutional Amendments, Proposed Amendments, and Amending Issues

KR 4557 .V555 2003 REF

The 27 successful amendments are covered in short but useful essays that discuss the history of their passing. Entries concerning failed efforts, such as the Equal Rights Amendment, usually describe other legislative measures used to address the subject of the proposed amendment. Other articles treat related issues, relevant Supreme Court cases, and presidents and other individuals who have influenced the amending process. Also included is a copy of the Constitution and a time line from 1683 to the present that lists important moments in amendment history and the number of amendments proposed in a given year. Although the book is comprehensive, the articles are uniformly short and the scope is somewhat limited.

 

Guide to the U.S. Supreme Court

KF 8742 .W567 1997 REF

More than half of the content is devoted to extensive discussions of the Court's decisions as they relate to the federal government and to individuals. The remainder provides detailed descriptions of the Court's history, organization, operation, traditions, and external pressures.

 

Historic U.S. Court Cases: An Encyclopedia

KF 352 .Z9 H57 2001 REF

The essays, which vary in length depending upon the significance of their subjects, focus on five main categories: crime and criminal law; governmental organization, power, and procedure; economics and economic regulation; civil liberties; and race, gender, sexual orientation, and disability. These pieces usually examine 20th-century political and legal change as a byproduct of social and economic matters.

 

Justices of the United States Supreme Court, 1789-1969: Their Lives and Major Opinions

KF 8744 .F75 REF

Each of the 97 justices that served between 1789 1969 are treated in an analytical essay followed by one or more representative opinions and a brief bibliographical note.

 

Mass Media and the Constitution: An Encyclopedia of Supreme Court Decisions

KF 2750 .A59 H58 1989 REF

Contains more than 200 entries under twelve generic categories of communication law. Summarizes major Supreme Court cases identified as coming under either the free speech clause or the free press subclause of the First Amendment. Entries include dates argued and decided, a summary, statement of the circumstances, summary of the opinion, references to cited cases, and a list of further reading.

 

Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States

KF 8742 .A35 O93 2005 REF

Entries cover the internal operations and history of the Court; biographical information on all of the justices plus other relevant historical figures; definitions of basic legal and constitutional terminology; and the process of selecting, nominating, and confirming justices. More than 400 entries examine the Court's most significant decisions. All are signed; those of any length are followed by selective bibliographies of further reading.

 

Supreme Court in Conference, 1940 1985: Private Discussions Behind Nearly 300 Supreme Court Decisions

KF 8742 .S917 2001

Looks at the private debates between Justices on nearly 300 landmark cases from 1940-1985. Major decisions such as Roe v. Wade and Brown v. Board of Education are covered.

 

Supreme Court of the United States, 1789-1980: An Index to Opinions Arranged by Justice

KF 101.6 .B57 1983 REF

 

The U.S. Constitution A-Z

KF 4548 .M33 2002 REF

A guide to the history and concepts behind the US Constitution. It explains how the Constitution constinues to shape basic rights as well as current issues in American Society.

 

United States Supreme Court Index to Opinions

KF 101.6 .B57 1983 REF

 

Wests Encyclopedia of American Law

KF 154 .W47 1998 REF

This encyclopedia contains a comprehensive overview of American law, covering historical and current terms, concepts, events, movements, cases, and significant persons.

 

 

E Resources

 

Access to electronic indexes/abstracts, online books, e-journals and selected websites are available through the library website at http://www.lib.mtu.edu/ listed under e-resources.

 

JRVP Online Catalog

Contains records of materials owned by the MTU Library, including books, periodicals, videos, CDs, maps, government publications, and microformat materials. Two search interfaces, Basic and Keyword, allow the user to search for items by author, title, subject, call number, ISBN/ISSN, or keyword(s). Use the Location, Status, and Call Number information to find an item in the Library collections. To search for a periodical article, search by Journal Title for the title of the periodical (sometimes called the "Source"), rather than searching by article title or author.

 

Databases & Indexes

 

Article1st

An index of 12,000 journals.

 

CQ Researcher

Noted for its in-depth, unbiased coverage of health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy.

 

Expanded Academic ASAP

Scholarly and popular research on a variety of academic subjects includes full text articles.

 

FindLaw: Supreme Court Opinions

www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html

FindLaw features Supreme Court opinions in HTML format back to 1893, volume 150 of the U.S. Reports. Browse by year and volume number. The opinions have hypertext links from references to other cases available through FindLaw.

 

Index to Legal Periodicals and Books

Indexes legal journals, yearbooks, law reviews, and bar association publications, etc., originating in several English speaking countries of the world. Includes book reviews.

 

Lexis-Nexis Academic

Provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal, and reference information. List of titles, fact book, how to search (tutorials) and more information available.

 

Social Science Abstracts

Covers periodicals in anthropology, economics, ethics, geography, law and criminology, political science, social work, sociology, and international relations.

 

Supreme Court of the United States

www.supremecourtus.gov

Official website of the Supreme Court of the United States. Contains full text of its opinions from the present term and back to 1991. The Court has PDF copies of fact sheets on the courts operations and history, including a list of justices from 1789 to the present and biographies of the current members. Free access for anyone with internet.

 

Thomas

www.thomas.gov

Legislative information from the Library of Congress. Includes special Supreme Court section covering the history of the Supreme Court and a guide to US Law online. Free access for anyone with internet.

 

 

E-Journals

MTU has full text access to hundreds on electronic journals accessable through the e-resources link on the library home page. It is important to note that MTU has over two hundred e-journals on law. Everything from criminal law to environmental law to Islamic law may be found in the MTU e-journal collection.

 

Constitutional Law

Seton Hall Constitutional Law Journal contains the full text of documents which are dedicated to the scholarly review of constitutional law, issues and topics which are of importance to students, acedemics and practitioners.

 

Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy

 

For Additional Assistance - For individual assistance or instruction from a librarian, visit the Reference & Information desk on 2^nd floor, phone 487-2507, or use e-mail or instant messaging by clicking Ask a Librarian on the Library's website.

 

Evaluating Information Sources - Consult these sites provided by other institutions:

Identifying Research Articles & Refereed Journals: http://gateway.library.uiuc.edu/lsx/tutorial/section3.html

Evaluating Web Sites: http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/webeval.html