The Judicial Branch of the US government is responsible for interpreting the laws established by the Legislative Branch.
Federal Court Structure
The United States Supreme Court
The US Supreme Court is the highest level court in the country, acting as the “final arbiter of the law,” per the official Supreme Court website.
Case Opinions, Summaries, and Commentary
- Supreme Court Opinions – case opinions
- Oyez – Oyez (pronounced OH-yay), case summaries – a free law project from Cornell’s Legal Information Institute (LII), Justia, and Chicago-Kent College of Law—is a multimedia archive devoted to making the Supreme Court of the United States accessible to everyone. It is the most complete and authoritative source for all of the Court’s audio since the installation of a recording system in October 1955. Oyez offers transcript-synchronized and searchable audio, plain-English case summaries, illustrated decision information, and full-text Supreme Court opinions (through Justia). Oyez also provides detailed information on every justice throughout the Court’s history and offers a panoramic tour of the Supreme Court building, including the chambers of several justices.
- SCOTUS Blog – Blog following the US Supreme Court and providing case commentary
- SCOTUS Talk – SCOTUSBlog Podcast, provides case commentary
- For more, see our Legal Research Guide.
United States Supreme Court building. Creative Commons image by Joe Ravi.
Other Information
Courts
- USCourts.gov – General Data on Federal Courts
- Tax Court
- Appeals for Veterans Claims
- Appeals for the Armed Forces
- US Court of International Trade
- US Court of Federal Claims
Databases
- Criminal Justice – from ProQuest
- Criminal Justice Collection – from Gale
- General OneFile – Gale
- Google Scholar
- Omnifile Full Text Select – EBSCO
Additional Resources
Finding Aids
For general searching of government information, see our Finding Aids guide.