The Supreme Court of the United States has been in the news quite a bit lately due to the February 13, 2016 death of Justice Antonin Scalia, his possible replacement, the political process surrounding the appointment, and the various high-profile cases in front of “the highest court in the land.”  Actually, the Court is always front and center.  The Supreme Court’s impact is profound and is felt near and far.  In the United States legal system, it has final say on federal constitutional law. 

 

Some online resources about the Supreme Court, often abbreviated “SCOTUS,” that may be of interest include --

 

The Supreme Court official website: www.supremecourt.gov

This website offers information covering opinions, oral arguments, case documents, rules and guidance, historical and current information about the Court.

 

An excellent site by the Legal Information Institute (LII) pertaining to the Supreme Court: www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/home

LII “believes everyone should be able to read and understand the laws that govern them, without cost.”  Highlights from this website include most recent decisions, case updates, and archive of decisions.

 

FindLaw's free, searchable database of Supreme Court decisions since 1760: caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-supreme-court

This database is user-friendly.  The opinions of the Court are browsable by year.  FindLaw includes the U.S. Reports and is searchable by volume number, party name, case title, citation, full text and docket number. Another feature is an archive of Supreme Court opinion summaries from September 2000 to the present.  Summaries are searchable by date, docket number, case title, and full text.  

 

Closer to home on LAPL’s website:

The database History in Context: U.S. (Gale) has in-depth coverage of the Supreme Court. Highlights from this fantastic resource include reference sources, biographies, primary sources, images, magazines, news, videos, academic journals, audio, case overviews, and websites.  Find it on the “Research and Homework” section.

 

We also have many books in our collection regarding the Supreme Court.  Here is a sample of current titles recommended by various professional reviews:

 

The case against the Supreme Court by Erwin Chemerinsky

347.99 C517-1

 

Dissent and the Supreme Court: its role in the Court’s history and the nation’s constitutional dialogue by Melvin I. Urofsky

347.99 U78-2

 

In the balance: law and politics on the Roberts court by Mark V. Tushnet

347.0973 T964

 

Obscenity rules: Roth v. United States and the long struggle over sexual expression by Whitney Strub

323.445 S927-1

 

On democracy’s doorstep: the inside story of how the Supreme Court brought “one person, one vote” to the United States by J. Douglas Smith

328.3345 S651

 

Overruled: the long war for control of the U.S. Supreme Court by Damon Root

347.99 R782

 

Priests of our democracy: the Supreme Court, academic freedom, and the anti-communist purge by Marjorie Heins

378.121 H471

 

Sisters in law: how Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg went to the Supreme Court and changed the world by Linda R. Hirshman

347.092 O18Hi (also available as e-book and as e-audiobook)