Judicial Branch
Publications
Peggy Roebuck Jarrett, guest lecturer
http://lib.law.washington.edu/ref/judbranch.html
Sources of Primary Law
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Statutes passed by legislative bodies
Regulations promulgated by administrative
agencies
Case law created by judges
Constitutions
Case Law: Why
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U.S. is a common law country
An evolving body of doctrine
Case Law: What
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Primary law
Created by judges in the course of
resolving disputes
The written resolution of the issues
The words “case,” “opinion,” and
“decision” are often used interchangeably
Not a jury verdict
Publication of Opinions
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Only opinions of precedential value are
published in reporters
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Precedent allows similarly situated people to
be treated the same
Published v. unpublished
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Some courts allow citations to unpublished
opinions in briefs
Publication of Opinions
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United States Reports only major reporter
in Federal Depository Library Program
Lower federal court and state appellate
opinions are commercially published
Some states have official reporters
Opinions in commercial reporters are
primary law
Opinions and the Court System
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A generic court system consists of
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trial courts
intermediate appellate courts
the appellate court of last resort
Specialized courts
Courts of limited jurisdiction
Opinions and the Court System
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Where do reported cases come from?
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State: appellate courts
Federal: appellate plus some trial courts
In a jury trial, there is nothing to “report”
except a verdict
Court Systems
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Washington State Courts
Federal Courts
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Home
Federal Court Locator
U.S. Court Locator
Washington State Courts
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Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
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Superior Courts
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3 divisions
by county
Courts of Limited Jurisdiction
The Federal Court System
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U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals
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Washington State is in the 9th Circuit
U.S. District Courts
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Western and Eastern District of Washington
Bankruptcy handled by special district courts
Specialized Federal Courts
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U.S. Court of Federal Claims handles
claims against the federal government
Court of International Trade deals with
international trade and customs
U.S. Tax Court
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed
Forces
U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
How to Find Case Law
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Use Free Law Online to find free sites
Use a commercial database, such as
LexisNexis Academic (UW restricted)
Use an annotated code
Use secondary sources
How to Find Case Law
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Update, update, update
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Reversed or overruled opinions are not
deleted from reporters or databases
Use Keycite or Shepard’s
Best Free Sites for Case Finding
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Washington State Courts
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LegalWa.org
U.S. Supreme Court
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Official site
Cornell Legal Information Institute
FindLaw
GPO just has bulk data from 1937-1975
Other Places to Look for Cases
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U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals and States
other than Washington
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Federal and State court websites
FindLaw
Public Library of Law
Google Scholar
U.S. District Courts
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Google Scholar
Google Scholar
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Start with Advanced Scholar Search
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Limit by jurisdiction
Limit by date
Includes West reporter citations
Disadvantage: “how cited” is not a case
verification tool
Advantage: free text, includes Federal
District Court opinions!
LexisNexis Academic
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Federal: all published appellate and
district court cases
State: all available appellate court cases
Shepard’s Citations
Finding tools: secondary sources and
annotated codes
UW Restricted
GPO-AOUSC Pilot
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US Court Opinions on FDsys
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2 Circuit Courts
13 District Courts
6 Bankruptcy Courts
2004 – date, but incomplete
PACER
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Public Access to Court Electronic Records
Case and docket information from Federal
courts
Fee-based
PACER Service Center
PACER & the FDLP
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First Pilot
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Limited number of libraries
Free
Suspended early
Second Pilot
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“Access and Education Program”
Libraries train public, for a credit
Public users still need account
RECAP
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RECAP: Turning PACER Around
Firefox extension
PACER results go to the RECAP archive
Archive is not authenticated (but it’s free)
Court Briefs & Oral Arguments
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Briefs are written arguments submitted to
an appellate court
Larger law libraries may have paper or
microfiche
Patrons may need to obtain them directly
from the court clerk
Some briefs & oral arguments are online
Court Briefs & Oral Arguments
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Audio of U.S. Supreme Court oral
arguments at Oyez
Audio (and some video) of Washington
State Supreme Court at TVW
Gallagher Law Library, Briefs & Oral
Arguments
Judicial Branch Business
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Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
Federal Judicial Center
Judicial Conference of the U.S. Courts
Reports, studies, monographs,
newsletters, and statistics
US Sentencing Commission
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Develops guidelines for sentencing in
Federal courts
In 2005 US Supreme Court made
guidelines advisory, not mandatory
USSC Home
Administrative Agency Decisions
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Most administrative agencies have a
quasi-judicial function
Decide (adjudicate) individual cases
arising from the application of their rules
and regulations
Few agency decisions are distributed
through the Federal Depository Library
Program
Administrative Agency Decisions
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Administrative Decisions & Other Actions
(UVA)
Washington State Administrative Decisions
(Gallagher)
LLMC Digital (UW Restricted)
HeinOnline (UW Restricted)
Use web and law library print resources
Gallagher Law Library
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We are located on L1 and L2 (lower level) of
William H. Gates Hall. We are open to the
public!
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