Finding Supreme Court Criminal Law Cases
when you have a Legal Citation | when you have a Case Name | when you Browse the volumes
Black's Law Dictionary defines Criminal Law as "the body of law defining offenses against the community at large, regulating how suspects are investigated, charged, and tried, and establishing punishments for convicted offenders."
The Penn State Libraries subscribe to three print titles which report Supreme Court decisions:
- United States Reports
the "official version" as published by the Government Printing Office - and 2 titles published commercially:
- West's Supreme Court Reporter (West Publishing Company)
- United States Supreme Court Reports. Lawyer's Edition (Lawyer's Co-operative Publishing Company)
The Penn State Libraries also subscribe to 4 legal databases containing Supreme Court Cases:
- CQ Supreme Court Collection -- this is perhaps the easiest to use to browse for criminal law cases.
- Click on Case Finder/Browse Cases
- Click on "Law and Society" then "Criminal Justice"
- Click on a sub-topic that interests you.
- This retrieves a citation, case summary, and a link to the full text of the decision
- Westlaw Campus
- LexisNexis Academic
- HeinOnline
when you have a Legal Citation
A Legal Citation will provide you with the necessary information to find a case in either print or electronic sources.
A legal citation will always follow this format: volume number - source abbreviation - page number.
Thus, the citation 410 U.S. 113 shows that the case appears in volume 410 of the United States Reports starting on page 113. Often you will find "parallel citations" to West's Supreme Court Reporter (S.Ct.) and to the Lawyer's Edition (L.Ed.)
Print sources
Depending on your citation, you will find Supreme Court Cases in
- United States Reports (Social Sciences Library, Legal Alcove, 2nd Floor Paterno Library)
- West's Supreme Court Reporter (3rd Floor Paterno Library Stacks)
- United States Supreme Court Reports. Lawyer's Edition (3rd Floor Paterno Library Stacks)
Legal Databases
- Westlaw Campus
- Use the Find section (under Shortcuts) in the left frame
- Enter the citation in the Find a Document by citation search box
- LexisNexis Academic
- Select Legal Research from the left menu
- Select Get a case (under Case law)
- Click the button for Citation and enter your citation in the search box.
- HeinOnline
- Scroll down to Supreme Court Library
- Enter the volume number in the Vol. search box, choose the reporter from the select a title drop-down menu, then enter the page number in the Page search box.
- Alternatively, you may first click on Supreme Court Library from the list on the first page and choose the appropriate reporter and volume by clicking on the resulting links.
when you have a Case Name
A Case Name is simply the names of the defendant and plaintiff (e.g., Roe and Wade).
Print sources
You will first need to determine the legal citation to find a case when you only have a case name. Use the Table of Cases volumes (volumes 14 and 15) of the United States Supreme Court Digest to find the legal citation to a case name. Then use the citation to find the volume, reporter title, and page number on which the case appears.
Legal Databases
- Westlaw Campus
- Use the Find section (under Shortcuts) in the left frame
- Enter the plaintiff/defendant names in the Find a Document by title search box
- LexisNexis Academic
- Select Legal Research from the left menu
- Select Get a case (under Case law)
- Click the button for Party name and enter the plaintiff and defendant names in the "Party one" and "Party two" search boxes.
- HeinOnline
- Scroll down to Supreme Court Library
- Click the Search link to the right of the title
- Enter the plaintiff/defendant names in the Enter your Case Title search criteria search boxes
- Scroll down to number 3, choose a reporter title or "all titles", then click the Search cases button.
when you browse the volumes
Though not the most efficient way to find cases, the most effective way to find cases by browsing is to use the index at the back of each volume.
To find Criminal Law cases, for example, you will choose a volume, turn to the back, and look for criminal law to be listed there.
You will either find cases listed under Criminal Law, or you will find "See" or "See also" references that refer you to other areas of the Index for criminal law cases.
(e-reference)