Judicial Branch
Publications
Peggy Roebuck Jarrett, guest lecturer
http://lib.law.washington.edu/ref/judbranch.html
Sources of Law
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Statutes passed by legislative bodies
Regulations promulgated by administrative
agencies
Case law created by judges
Constitutions
Case Law
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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
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
The Federal Court System
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U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals
U.S. District Courts
Bankruptcy Courts
Courts of Special Jurisdiction
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Federal Claims, Int’l Trade, Tax,
Veterans Claims, Armed Forces
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Published v. unpublished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Some courts allow citations to unpublished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
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
Update, Update, Update
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Reversed or overruled opinions are not
deleted from reporters or databases
Use Keycite or Shepard’s
Free Sites for Case Finding
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Washington State Courts
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Courts website (slip opinions only, 2013 on)
MRSC (from 1854)
U.S. Supreme Court
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Official site
Cornell Legal Information Institute
FindLaw
GPO just has bulk data from 1937-1975
Free Sites for Case Finding
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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
FDsys
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United States Court Opinions collection
(USCOURTS)
Collaborative effort between GPO and
Admin Office of the US Courts (AOUSC)
Dates back to 2004, but earlier years
incomplete
Authenticated
FDsys USCOURTS
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As of November, 2014:
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11 Circuit Courts (85%)
39 District Courts (41%)
46 Bankruptcy Courts (49%)
9th Circuit – yes
District/Bankruptcy for Washington:
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E.D. Wash and Bankr. W.D. Wash
Google Scholar
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US Supreme Court cases, 1791-date
Federal district, appellate, tax, and
bankruptcy cases, 1923-date
State cases, 1950-date
Cons: unknown source(s)
Pros: it’s Google
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
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
Alternatives to PACER
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RECAP: Turning PACER Around
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Firefox extension
PACER results go to the RECAP archive
Archive is not authenticated (but it’s free)
Bloomberg Law
Public Access to Law
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Many law libraries are cancelling print
reporters and digests
How will this affect public?
Free Law Online
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Good enough?
Cases without indexing or editing?
Unauthenticated?
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 workload 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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