Judicial Branch Publications

1. Judicial Branch Publications Peggy Roebuck Jarrett, guest lecturer http://lib.law.washington.edu/ref/judbranch.html

2. Sources of Law • Statutes passed by legislative bodies • Regulations promulgated by administrative agencies • Case law created by judges • Constitutions

3. Case Law • Created by judges in the course of resolving disputes • The written resolution of the issues • The words “case,” “opinion,” and “decision” are often used interchangeably • Not a jury verdict

4. Opinions and the Court System • A generic court system consists of • trial courts • intermediate appellate courts • the appellate court of last resort • Specialized courts • Courts of limited jurisdiction

5. The Federal Court System • U.S. Supreme Court • U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals • U.S. District Courts • Bankruptcy Courts • Courts of Special Jurisdiction • Federal Claims, Int’l Trade, Tax, Veterans Claims, Armed Forces

6. Publication of Opinions • Only opinions of precedential value are published in reporters • Precedent allows similarly situated people to be treated the same • Published v. unpublished • Some courts allow citations to unpublished opinions in briefs

7. Publication of Opinions • United States Reports only major reporter in Federal Depository Library Program • Lower federal court and state appellate opinions are commercially published • Some states have official reporters • Opinions in commercial reporters are primary law

8. How to Find Case Law • Use Free Law Online to find free sites • Use a commercial database, such as LexisNexis Academic(UW restricted) • Use an annotated code • Use secondary sources

9. Update, Update, Update • Reversed or overruled opinions are not deleted from reporters or databases • Use Keycite or Shepard’s

10. Free Sites for Case Finding • Washington State Courts • LegalWa.org • U.S. Supreme Court • Official site • Cornell Legal Information Institute • FindLaw • GPO just has bulk data from 1937-1975

11. Free Sites for Case Finding • U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals and States other than Washington • Federal and State court websites • FindLaw • Public Library of Law • Google Scholar • U.S. District Courts • Google Scholar

12. FDsys • United States Court Opinions collection (USCOURTS) • Collaborative effort between GPO and Admin Office of the US Courts (AOUSC) • Dates back to 2004, but earlier years incomplete • Authenticated

13. FDsysUSCOURTS • As of November, 2013: • 9 Circuit Courts (75%) • 20 District Courts (21%) • 34 Bankruptcy Courts (36%) • 9th Circuit – yes • District/Bankruptcy for Washington - no

14. Google Scholar • US Supreme Court cases, 1791-date • Federal district, appellate, tax, and bankruptcy cases, 1923-date • State cases, 1950-date • Cons: unknown source(s) • Pros: it’s Google

15. LexisNexis Academic • Federal: all published appellate and district court cases • State: all available appellate court cases • Shepard’s Citations • Finding tools: secondary sources and annotated codes • UW Restricted

16. PACER • Public Access to Court Electronic Records • Case and docket information from Federal courts • Fee-based • PACER Service Center

17. PACER & the FDLP • First Pilot • Limited number of libraries • Free • Suspended early • Second Pilot • “Access and Education Program” • Libraries train public, for a credit • Public users still need account

18. Alternatives to PACER • RECAP: Turning PACER Around • Firefox extension • PACER results go to the RECAP archive • Archive is not authenticated (but it’s free) • Bloomberg Law

19. Public Access to Law • Many law libraries are cancelling print reporters and digests • How will this affect public? • Free Law Online • Good enough? • Cases without indexing or editing? • Unauthenticated?

20. Court Briefs & Oral Arguments • Briefs are written arguments submitted to an appellate court • Larger law libraries may have paper or microfiche • Patrons may need to obtain them directly from the court clerk • Some briefs & oral arguments are online

21. Court Briefs & Oral Arguments • Audio of U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments at Oyez • Audio (and some video) of Washington State Supreme Court at TVW • Gallagher Law Library, Briefs & Oral Arguments

22. Judicial Branch Business • Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts • Federal Judicial Center • Judicial Conference of the U.S. Courts • Reports, studies, monographs, newsletters, and statistics

23. US Sentencing Commission • Develops guidelines for sentencing in Federal courts • In 2005 US Supreme Court made guidelines advisory, not mandatory • USSC Home

24. Administrative Agency Decisions • Most administrative agencies have a quasi-judicial function • Decide (adjudicate) individual cases arising from the application of their rules and regulations • Few agency decisions are distributed through the Federal Depository Library Program

25. Administrative Agency Decisions • Administrative Decisions & Other Actions (UVA) • Washington State Administrative Decisions (Gallagher) • LLMC Digital(UW Restricted) • HeinOnline(UW Restricted) • Use web and law library print resources

26. Gallagher Law Library • We are located on L1 and L2 (lower level) of William H. Gates Hall. We are open to the public! • Home • U.S. Government Publications • Free Law Online • Legal Research Guides • Judicial Branch Publications • Ask Us!