Opinions and Rulings Gateway
Archive of Decisions by Topic, Supreme Court Collection, Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/cases/topic.htm
This webpage, part of Cornell's LII Supreme Court Collection website, is an archive of Supreme Court cases, organized by topic, from the beginning of the court to the present and is constantly updated. The court's opinion and any dissents, concurrences, or separate opinions written by the justices form the content of the site, along with a case synopsis; these are strictly primary print sources with no secondary explanations, illustrations, teaching materials, or student guides. Nonetheless, this page is tremendously useful to researchers (whether student or teacher) because it makes the cases easily accessible by topic and allows the researcher to trace the high court's opinion on a topic by generating a list of cases and with links to each one. Within the case, there are links to earlier decisions, either on the LII site or other free or fee sites. As with any topic index, there are a few glitches (although the cases can be found by typing the topic into the search engine): the Bill of Rights link failed but individual amendments and rights links worked; treason is not a category; the Implied Powers link failed; the pivotal Watergate case of the United States v. Nixon is omitted from the Executive Privilege link. This is a very good webpage for high school government/civics students, particularly those in AP or IB, as well as educators either researching or trying to keep up to date on a particular topic.
Archive of Decisions by Author, Supreme Court Collection, Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/cases/judges.htm
This webpage, part of Cornell's LII Supreme Court Collection website, is an archive of Supreme Court cases, organized by author, from the beginning of the court to the present and is constantly updated. From this page researchers can find a short biography and a list of case opinions (court, concurring, separate, or dissenting) for each member of the Supreme Court, from its beginning. The current members of the Supreme Court also have photographs and expanded biographies. The opinions are strictly primary print sources with links to earlier decisions, either on the LII site or other free or free sites; however, the site generally lacks secondary explanations, illustrations, and has teaching materials, or student guides. There are a few glitches: Some justices' lists are incomplete, the most glaring example being Chief Justice John Marshall who is credited with only one opinion (although they are all on the site, but must be found by topic or case name.) Nonetheless, this is a good webpage for high school government/civics students needing to get biographical information on justices, and for honors, AP or IB students, as well as educators, looking at the men and women whose opinions have shaped the United States.
Rules of the Supreme Court of the United States
http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/supct/
This site is part of the Cornell University Law School's Legal Information Institute. Individual links to each Supreme Court rule, which went into effect on May 1, 2003, are provided. This gives visitors the ability to select specific rules to examine, rather than having to read through the entire document. 2003 revisions to the rules are also included. A nice feature of this site is that any rule referred to within the document is linked to the text of that rule, which allows for easy cross-referencing. The site includes a link to the US Supreme Court Website, and to the entire pdf file of Supreme Court rules. This site could be of value to high school students, particularly those in government or law classes. Teachers doing research will also find this an excellent site.
Supreme Court & Appellate Practice Group
http://www.appellate.net
Mayer, Brown, Rowe, and Maw, LLPs Supreme Court & Appellate Practice Group has developed this website about their practice, including links to cases they have tried and information about their attorneys. They include links to various items related to the Supreme Court. The Docket Reports are updated regularly and summaries of earlier cases and Court rulings are listed. There is an oral arguments link, which can be used to play audiofiles of the group's Court arguments. Under the articles and treatises link are articles about Supreme Court and appellate law practice, such as how to be a good appellate lawyer. This site is best suited to high school students.
Supreme Court Opinions
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/opinions.html
This page of the Supreme Court site is devoted to the opinions written by the Court. It includes links to the actual opinion texts, including both majority and minority opinions, from 1991 to the present. Users can also search for the dates of cases 1791-1882, although the written opinions are not provided. Also included are counsel listings, providing the names of the bar members that were involved in the cases. Helpful for students is the information about the types of opinions written by the Supreme Court. This site is best for students doing advanced research on a particular case.
Selected Administrative Law Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, Supreme Court Collection, Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/cases/adlaw.htm
This webpage, part of Cornell's LII Supreme Court Collection website, specializes in administrative law such as Judicial Review, the Freedom of Information Act, and environmental impact, as is updated regularly. The segment on Background Material is very useful including links to the U.S. Constitution, and explanation of administrative law, the text of the Administrative Procedure Act, and a current list of Recent Decisions. The opinions are strictly primary print sources with links to earlier decisions, either on the LII site or other free or free sites; however, the site lacks secondary explanations, illustrations, teaching materials, or student guides. At the time of this review, when clicking on cases in the Individual Decisions and Related Material segment, the "retrieve" feature (listing current cases related to the earlier decision) failed to work, but the actual individual decision could be accessed through the case number. This is a fairly good webpage for advanced high school government students writing extended essays or research papers on administrative topics; it also helps teachers keep up to date on the latest rulings on some of the themes they cover in their government and civics classes.
On the Docket Northwestern University
http://docket.medill.northwestern.edu/
Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism offers this multimedia site which continually updates and reports on cases pending before the United States Supreme Court. These reports start with the 1998-1999 term. According to the "About Us" link, the "coverage includes a current listing of the cases pending before the Court, a story on each case, additional feature stories on selected cases, links to web sites relevant to the cases, information provided by attorneys and parties in the cases, the dates for scheduled oral arguments, the questions presented to the Court, referrals to the attorneys in the cases, and citations for the lower court opinions." The links offer more than the usual law related sites. Links to NPR's Legal Affairs, CNN.com's Law Center, MSNBC's Supreme Court Guide, the OYEZ Project's Supreme Court Multimedia, and Court TV's Supreme Court: A Journey Through Time invite students to research the Supreme Court through the eyes of the media. This user-friendly site is an excellent choice for students working on cases after the 1998-1999 term.
Oyez: US Supreme Court Multimedia
http://www.oyez.org
This site allows users to look up cases which are currently pending in the US Supreme Court. There are links to current cases in national news. These would assist students in current events and perhaps global issues. There are even audio links which would interest student users. There is a listing of all US Supreme Court Justices along with their photos. There is also a virtual tour of the Supreme Court building which requires the QuickTime plugin. This might be of interest to middle school students and their teachers as well. The "Discussion" link would be of little or no use to middle or high school students nor teachers. This site doesn't offer much historical value but the virtual field trip would be of interest to all.