Penn State University Libraries - Law Citators -- Is it still good law?

Citators allow researchers to trace the history of a case through the courts, and to locate other cases that cite a case they are studying. Since case law relies on precedent, this allows a researcher to determine if subsequent cases, especially those of higher courts, have followed, modified, or overturned a case they are researching — in essence, determining if it is still "good law". All that is needed to begin citation analysis is the citation to a case. Generally, this is a citation to a print reporter.

For example: in the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), the court affirmed a woman's right to an abortion within certain limits up to the point where the fetus is viable, based on an individual's constitutional right to privacy. A researcher would use the citation 410 U.S. 113 as the starting point for research.

Subsequent decisions have modified the original decisions. Using a citator to trace the subsequent citation and treatment of the 1973 case, a researcher can trace those modifications and locate cases such as:

• Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. 490 (1989)

• Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992)

• Gonzales v. Carhart (2007)

The Libraries subscribe to Shepard's Citations [via LexisNexis Academic] for this research. LexisNexis Academic is available to researchers with a Penn State Access Account.