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Court Cases

Locating federal and state court cases can be challenging. Below are several resources to make your search easier. If you have questions about any of these resources, please ask for assistance at the Reference Desk, or call 458-4573 (JPL), 458-2446 (Downtown).

What type of information do you have about the case?

• Supreme Court Cases: by Citation
• Supreme Court Cases: by Case Name
• Supreme Court Cases: by Subject Area
• Supreme Court Cases: before 1882
  
  
• Texas Court Cases: by citation, name, or subject
  
  
• Case Law: Combined Sources

Not sure what source your abbreviation refers to? Look in the table of Citation Abbreviations.

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Supreme Court Cases: by Citation

To find Supreme Court cases, use the appropriate source set--the source set is usually abbreviated in the case citation. There is a table in the front of each volume of the Supreme Court Reporter that can be used to convert a U.S. Reports citation to the appropriate Supreme Court Reporter citation.

Complete case citations provide the volume, source, then page number.
For example (100 U.S.124) indicates Volume 100 of the United States Reports, page 124.

If your citation abbreviation is "S.Ct.",
the source is the Supreme Court Reporter.
Location: JPL Reference Stacks KF 101 .S9

If your citation abbreviation is "U.S.,"
the source is United States Reports.
Location: JPL Reference Stacks KF 101 .S9

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Supreme Court Cases: by Case Name

Shepard's Acts and Cases by Popular Names : Federal and State
Location: JPL Reference Stacks KF90 .S52 1999
Parts 1 - 3. Look in part 3 for cases.

United States Supreme Court Digest, 1754 to date : Table of Cases
Location: JPL Reference Stacks KF101.1 .U55
Volumes 1 - 16. Look in the table of cases for the citation.

Supreme Court of the United States, 1789-1980:
An Index to Opinions Arranged by Justice
Location: JPL Reference Stacks KF101.6 .B57 1983
Two volumes. Covers cases from 1789-1980.

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Supreme Court Cases: by Subject Area

United States Supreme Court Digest, 1754 to date : Descriptive Word Index
Location: JPL Reference Stacks KF101.1 .U55
Lists references to cases in United States Supreme Court Digest where you will find citations for relevant cases.

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Supreme Court Cases: Before 1882

Documents of American History
Location: JPL Reference Stacks E 173 .C66 1968
Two volumes. Contains a variety of documents including early landmark Supreme Court decisions such as Marbury v. Madison and Dred Scott.

United States Supreme Court Decisions:
An Index to Excerpts, Reprints, and Discussions
Location: JPL Reference Stacks KF 101.6 .G83 1983
Start in the Case Name Index or Subject Index. Each entry lists books containing information on that case. Refer to the "List of Books Indexed" and then check UCAT to see which books are available in the UTSA Library collection.

Supreme Court of the United States, 1789-1980: An Index to Opinions Arranged by Justice
Location: JPL Reference Stacks KF101.6 .B57 1983
Two volumes. Covers cases from 1789-1980.

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Texas Court Cases: by Citation (S.W.2nd)

Texas decisions reported in South western reporter, Second series
Location: JPL Reference Stacks KFT1255 .S7 v. 1-396

Texas cases reported in South western reporter, Second series
Location: JPL Reference Stacks KFT1255 .S7 v.397-

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Texas Court Cases: by Case Name

Texas Digest, 1840 to date
Location: JPL Reference Stacks KFT1257 .T4 v. 2-42
Covers 1840-1934.

West's Texas Digest, 2d
Location: JPL Reference Stacks KFT1257 .T42 v. 1-60
Covers 1935-present.

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Texas Court Cases: by Subject Area

West's Texas Digest, 2d : Descriptive Word Index
Location: JPL Reference Stacks KFT1257 .T4

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Case Law: Combined Resources

Academic Universe (UTSA subscription)
This database contains full-text information from federal and state court cases, legislation, statutes, regulations, law reviews and legal news. Updated continuously. For tips on using this database, check out the Academic Universe ~ Legal Tip Sheet.

CataLaw
Free Website: http://www.catalaw.com/
Huge meta-index of legal research materials on the web. Includes collections of state and federal resources.

Corpus Juris Secundum
Location: JPL Reference Stacks KF154 .C67 v. 1-101
UTSA Library has the general index and pocket parts for case law up through 1992.

FindLaw.com
Free Website: http://www.findlaw.com/
Part of the LawCrawler web search engine. Provides full text for Supreme Court Opinions from 1893-current. Search by browsing years, citation, party name or full-text. Also includes circuit court of appeals decisions.

Historic U.S. Court Cases, 1690-1990: An Encyclopedia
Location: JPL Reference Stacks KF385.A1 J64 1992 A collection of essays--most are about Supreme Court cases, but includes important federal, state, and colonial court cases.

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Citation Abbreviations

The table below lists a few of the more common types of case citations for this region. Complete citations give the volume, source, then page number (100 U.S. 124).

If the abbreviation for your citation is not listed in the table below, try looking in:

Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Citations
Location: JPL Reference Desk KF246 .P73