The United States Supreme Court is the highest court in the country. It is comprised of eight Associate Justices and one Chief Justice, who are nominated by the President and confirmed by a vote of the Senate. The decisions they make on the cases they hear have far-reaching effects on the judicial system and the laws and policies of the United States as a whole.
US Supreme Court Databases
Supreme Court Collection Home: Cornell University Law School offers pdf or html versions of the latest cases.
The Supreme Court Database: Complete information about cases heard between 1958 and 2008. Great resource for students, legal researchers, and interested citizens.
Supreme Court Data: Contains U.S. Supreme Court datasets compiled by Harold J. Spaeth.
FindLaw: Cases and Codes: Supreme Court Opinions: Searchable by citation, case title, and full text, this database contains U. S. Supreme Court decisions made since 1893.
FedWorld.gov home: Offers 7,407 full-text, searchable U. S. Supreme Court Decisions that were issued between 1937 and 1975.
United States Supreme Court Judicial Database Terms Series: The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research offers this database covering cases between 1953 and 1995.
AltLaw: A free, searchable database for cases decided from 1805 to the present.
Willamette Law Online - US Supreme Court: This organization offers summaries of certiorari granted, arguments, and decisions made by the Supreme Court since 2002.
The Oyez Project: This organization offers audio files of actual Supreme Court arguments, judgments, and opinions.
United States Supreme Court Decisions: A searchable database of cases-search by citation, title, or full-text.
US Department of Justice Government Briefs: Find pdf versions of briefs submitted by the United States to the Supreme Court.
US Supreme Court History
The Supreme Court Historical Society: This nonprofit organization is dedicated to collecting and preserving the history of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Landmark Supreme Court Cases: Offers lesson plans for teaching students about some of the most important legal concepts and cases in U.S. history.
About the Supreme Court: Official information about the Court's rules, traditions, building, and members, from 1789 to the present.
Supreme Court Nominations: Supreme Court nominations that were not confirmed. Covers the years 1789 to 2007.
History of the Federal Judiciary: Covers judges, administration, landmark cases and more.
Milestone Cases in Supreme Court History: A timeline of important cases in history.
US Supreme Court Justice Biographies
Supreme Courts.gov: Biographies of all the justices in pdf format.
Supreme Court Collection: Current Supreme Court Justices: Basic biographical data for each of the current justices.
Notable U.S. Supreme Court Justices: Provides biographical information about some of the most prominent justices in history.
Biographies: Supreme Court Justices, 1841: Biographies of the justices in office at this crucial time in the nation's history.
US Supreme Court Case Discussion & Analysis
LAW.com - US Supreme Court Monitor: Discusses decisions, opinions, news, docket, and Certiorari Granted. Requires free registration.
Law Library of Congress (Library of Congress): Discusses current legal topics, news, and events
Supreme Court of the United States - MSN Encarta: Discussion of the process the court goes through in choosing a case, hearing arguments, and ruling on the case.
Employment Law from LawMemo: Analysis on the cases affecting employment laws.
American Civil Liberties Union: Analysis of current cases with the potential to affect civil liberties.
If you are planning to enter the legal profession and attending law school, paralegal school or criminal justice school, you will need to research and study U.S. Supreme Court cases. Even if you are not a student, as a responsible citizen, you should keep abreast of important U.S. Supreme Court decisions.