• The Federal Courts
• Supreme Court Decisions
• Selected Guides and Reference Works
• Research Help
• More Government Documents at Kenyon

The Federal Courts

In addition to the Supreme Court, the federal judicial system includes district (trial) courts and appellate courts. This guide focuses primarily on the Supreme Court, but many of the resources listed below include information about these other federal courts.

• The Supreme Court of the United States: The Supreme Court's official site includes an overview of the court, the docket, arguments, orders, opinions, speeches, court rules, and more.


• The Federal Judiciary: Includes information about the federal courts such as the rules of practice, procedure, and evidence; statistical reports like the Judicial Business of the U.S. Courts; and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts' newsletter, The Third Branch.


• The Federal Judicial Center: The Federal Judiciary Center is the education and research agency for the federal courts and maintains the Biographical Dictionary of Federal Judges, which provides information about all federal judges from 1789 through the present.


• Judicial Branch Resources (GPO Access)


• United States Attorneys' Office Electronic Reading Room (Department of Justice): includes the United States Attorneys' Annual Statistical Report.


• Global Legal Information Network (GLIN): A public database of official texts of laws, regulations, judicial decisions, and other complementary legal sources contributed by governmental agencies and international organizations.

Supreme Court Decisions

• The Supreme Court makes recent decisions available online, but for the official, published opinions of the Court, consult the United States Reports series (KF101 .U58, in Kenyon's main collection).


• Supreme Court Decisions 1937-1975 (GPO Access)


• Supreme Court Decisions 1992-2000 (GPO Access)


• Supreme Court Collection 1990-present (Legal Information Institute, Cornell University)


• Database of U.S. Supreme Court Opinions 1792-present (USSC+)


• Oyez Project: Collection of audio files of selected oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court (requires the RealAudio Player). Also contains selected decisions. (Northwestern University)

Selected Guides and Reference Works

The following resources, though not government publications themselves, can help you locate and understand information related to the judicial branch.

• Black's Law Dictionary (REF KF156 .B53 1999)
• Guide to the United States Supreme Court (REF KF8742 .W567 2004)
• Landmark Supreme Court Cases (REF KF8742 .H37 2004)
• Encyclopedia of the U.S. Supreme Court (REF KF8742.A35 E53 2001)
• Shepard's Acts and Cases by Popular Names (REF KF90 .S538)
• Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States
• Law Library of Congress
• Famous Trials (UMKC School of Law)

Need Help? Contact:

Joseph M. Murphy
Director of Information Resources

740-427-5120