Transcript First Amendment (Drakeman)

First Amendment:
Legal Sources
September 29th
What is a Case?
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Case = decision = opinion = judgment
Issued in writing by a court of law
Resolves a controversy
How a Case Begins?
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Lawsuit filed with a court
In writing
98+ % of lawsuits filed settle out of court
Very small percentage goes to trial
Trial Court
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A judge presides
Jury may be present
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Evidence introduced
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Typical in criminal cases
Witnesses testify
Documents introduced
Many trial court decisions not published
Appellate Court
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Judge presides, usually at least 3
Hears appeal from trial court
No jury; judges and attorneys only
No additional evidence or legal issues
presented
Decisions frequently published, but not always
Can overturn trial court or lower appellate court
decisions
U.S. Court System
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U.S. District Courts – trial courts
U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal – intermediate
appellate courts
U.S. Supreme Court
Case Reporters
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U.S. District Courts
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Federal Supplement (F. Supp., F. Supp. 2d)
U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal
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Federal Reporter (F., F.2d, F.3d)
U.S. Supreme Court Case
Reporters
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United States Reports (U.S.)
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United States Supreme Court Reports,
Lawyers’ Edition (L.Ed., L.Ed.2d)
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Published by U.S. government
Published by LexisNexis
Supreme Court Reporter (S.Ct.)
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Published by West
Case Citation Form
Gonzales v. Williams, 192 U.S. 1,
24 S.Ct. 177, 48 L.Ed. 317 (1904).
First number = volume of case reporter
Second number = page number of first page of
decision
Anatomy of an Opinion
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Caption
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Names of parties
Court
Date of decision
Headnotes
Syllabus by Court Reporter
Opinion of the Court
Concurring and Dissenting Opinions
How to Find a Specific Case
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Citation – use Westlaw Campus
Identify the jurisdiction
Identify a party’s name (plaintiff or defendant)
Identify a fact from the case and a relevant
legal concept; then run a search
Why Can’t I Find the Case?
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Trial court decisions – small % published
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State trial court decisions rarely published (except
New Jersey and Pennsylvania)
Case settled – no opinion
Jury trial – jury verdict form only; not published
Unpublished opinion
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Written opinion but judge decides not to publish;
copy available at courthouse
US Supreme Court Briefs
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Landmark Briefs and Arguments of the United
States Supreme Court
Records and Briefs of the Supreme Court of
the United States (microfiche)
LexisNexis Academic
Westlaw Campus
Findlaw Supreme Court Center
Case Digests
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Organized by legal subject
West key number
Includes abstract of case and citation to case
reporter
Multivolume descriptive word index
Federal Practice Digest
Atlantic Digest
Electronic Legal Sources for Cases
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LexisNexis Academic / Legal Research
Westlaw Campus
LexisNexis (commercial version)
Findlaw
Verifying Law is Current
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Shepard’s
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Shepardizing
By LexisNexis
KeyCite
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By Westlaw
Shepard’s and KeyCite as a
Research Tool
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Citations to all cases mentioning the principal
case
Citations to law review articles and certain
treatises that mention the principal case
Legal Research Guides
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How to Find the Law
Fundamentals of Legal Research
Legal Information: How to Find It, How to Use
It
Law Librarians’ Exchange
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www.llrx.com