NCJ Number
139489
Date Published
1992
Length
149 pages
Annotation
This book provides an introduction to basic research resources on the U.S. Supreme Court; some of the resources are specific guides to finding or interpreting statutes, while others represent general guidebooks to government and legal resources.
Abstract
The first part of the book covers secondary sources and finding tools used to locate them. These sources, including almanacs, dictionaries, encyclopedias, general news publications, and biographical sources, are important in providing background or historical information to put the Supreme Court's actions in perspective. In addition, news publications, including newspapers, news magazines, news services, and journals, provide current information. Pertinent indexes, abstracting services, online data bases, and CD-ROM services are also described. The second part of the book covers primary sources and finding tools used to locate them. Various guides to researching the Supreme Court present an overview of government publications available to the legal researcher. The guides are followed by a discussion of specific legal sources that may be useful in finding and interpreting Supreme Court decisions, statutes, and constitutional information. The third part of the book contains a selected bibliography of major books about the Supreme Court and a few biographies of justices. Appendixes contain additional information on Supreme Court nominations from 1789 to 1991 and justices, and a glossary of common legal terms. Author and title indexes are included.