Primary Sources - Cases and Statutes
In legal research, cases and statutes are primary sources because they are the law. After doing some background research in secondary sources, you have probably identified a few key cases and/or statutes that relate to your legal issue. The sources below will help you locate these primary sources. Conversely, you might have already identified "one good case" on your legal issue and you want to use that to identify other relevant sources. These sources will help you with that strategy as well.
Search for Cases - Federal and State
- Case Law via HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowAccess to cases at the federal and state levels, either by searching a phrases, i.e., "admissibility of evidence"; a citation (in proper Bluebook format); or the case name, using quotation marks.
- Google Scholar (HPU-specific link) This link opens in a new windowClick on "Case Law" to search for a particular case number, or to search for cases on a topic. Choose whether to look at Federal cases or the cases for a particular state. Google Scholar gives you the opinion only, and does not provide additional information such as headnotes and summaries.
Shepardizing
Shepardizing will show you the case's prior and subsequent history, as well as how and where it has been cited in both primary and secondary sources. This is a valuable tool, as it helps you make sure that your case is still good case law and helps you locate other relevant cases and documents.
How do you find it? When looking at a case in LexisNexis, you will see a small icon in the top left corner, such as a red stop sign, a yellow caution symbol, or a green square. When you click on that icon, it will take you into the "Shepard's Summary" for that case.
Search for Statutes
Statutes are laws enacted by legislative bodies, including those of each of the fifty states or the U.S. Congress. These laws are found in the U.S. Code. The majority of the links below are to the United States Code (federal). To find state codes, use LexisNexis or locate the website of the particular state legislature.
How to read a citation for a section of the U.S. Code:
Ex. 42 USC § 1981 -- 42 refers to the Title; § 1981 refers to the specific section within that title.
You may also be able to locate a statute by its common name, such as "Americans with Disabilities Act."
- United States Code - Office of the Law Revision CouncilVirtual main edition of the U.S. Code maintained by the House of Representatives. Browse by title or by specific code.
- U.S. Code from the Legal Information InstituteThis version of the U.S. Code is generated from the latest official version released by the U.S. House of Representatives.
- Congress.govPresented by the Library of Congress, Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. It is the source for information about current legislation and bills going through the U.S. Congress. There are also links to information about previous congresses and to public laws and the U.S. Code.
The United States Constitution
- Constitution of the United States (Senate.gov)Although not a case or a statute, the U.S. Constitution is an important primary document in legal studies. This annotated version of the Constitution provides the original text (left-hand column) with commentary about the meaning of the original text and how it has changed since 1789 (right-hand column).
Ask a Librarian!
How to read a case number
At the top of any case, you will find the case number. There may be several different numbers assigned to a case, but usually you want the first set. Case numbers include the volume number, the court reporter (an actual print volume) the case appears in, and the page number. It may also include information about the court and year in which the case was tried.
Examples:
493 U.S. 146 = U.S. Reporter, Volume 493, page 146
127 S. Ct. 1769 = Supreme Court Reporter, Volume 127, page 1769
221 F.3d 410 (3d Cir. 2000) = Federal Reporter 3rd Series, Volume 221, page 410 (3rd Circuit Court, 2000)
290 F. Supp. 67 (D. Nev. 1967) = Federal Supplement, Volume 290, page 67 (District Court of Nevada, 1967)
Note: The U.S. Reporter and Supreme Court Reporter contain the same cases but have different publishers and thus contain different supplemental information.
Common Abbreviations
F. Supp.
Federal Supplement
F.
Federal Reporter
U.S.
U.S. Reports
S.Ct.
Supreme Court Reporter
L.Ed.
U.S. Reports, Lawyers' Edition