U.S. Supreme Court: A Research Guide
Decisions from the Supreme Court affect our daily lives such as rulings from court cases about
adoption, disability, discrimination, and employment. The resources listed below will help
researchers gather historical information on the justices and the court, as well as provide current
background information about cases currently being decided. The terms and phrases listed in the
subject headings below can be used to search for more materials in the library’s catalog and
research databases. If you need further assistance, please ask a librarian.
Books
Encyclopedia of the American Constitution, 2nd ed. edited by Leonard Williams Levy, et al. New
York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. ISBN: 0028648803.
Includes articles covering concepts and court cases since 1992 on topics like adoption, race, and
the Constitution, birthright citizenship, Clinton v. Jones, disability discrimination, hate crimes,
modern militias, Violence Against Women Act, and more.
Encyclopedia of the U.S. Supreme Court edited by T. T. Lewis and R. L. Wilson. 3 vols.
Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 2001. ISBN: 0893560979.
Essays on Supreme Court decisions; historical overviews of how the Court has treated important
issues; specific historical events and eras; court administration and structure; legal terms; judicial
interpretation of state and federal laws; and biographies of Supreme Court justices.
The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States edited by Kermit Hall. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1992. ISBN: 0195058356.
Includes more than a thousand alphabetically arranged entries including biographies of justices,
rejected nominees, presidents who had an important impact on—or conflict with—the Court, and
articles on major decisions.
The Supreme Court, A to Z, 2nd ed. edited by Kenneth Jost. Washington, DC: Congressional
Quarterly, 1998. ISBN: 156802357X.
Alphabetical encyclopedia of over 300 essays includes information on significant decisions of the
Supreme Court, the history of the Court, the justices, and the powers of the Court.
The Supreme Court of the United States: Its Beginnings and Its Justices, 1790–1991.
Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution. Washington, DC:
Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution, 1992.
Provides historical background on the chief justices, associate justices, homes of the Supreme
court, a ceremony at the Supreme Court, members of the Supreme Court and the succession of
the justices.
Web Sites
Federal Legal Information Through Electronics
www.fedworld.gov/supcourt/
Search and view full text of Supreme Court decisions issued between 1937 and 1975 Contains
7,407 Decisions from volumes 300 through 422 of U.S. Reports.
Landmark Supreme Court Cases
www.landmarkcases.org
Curriculum support for educators that includes background summaries, diagrams, excerpts from
the majority and dissenting opinions, and full text of the Supreme Court’s decisions.
Supreme Court Collection, Cornell University
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/
Archives U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to 1990. Offers highlights on current term
cases.
U.S. Supreme Court
www.supremecourtus.gov
Authoritative site offering information about the U.S. Supreme Court, docket of the court, oral
arguments, court rules, and opinions.
U.S. Supreme Court Multimedia
www.oyez.org/oyez/frontpage/
Provides access to more than 2,000 hours of Supreme Court audio since 1995. Prior to that date
a selective collection is available.
Organizations
Supreme Court Historical Society
www.supremecourthistory.org
The Supreme Court Historical Society is dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of the
history of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Subject Headings
•
•
•
•
•
•
Constitutional law—United States—encyclopedias
judges—United States—biography
United States Supreme Court
United States Supreme Court—biography
United States Supreme Court—encyclopedias
United States Supreme Court—history