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CedarCliff: Supreme Court Research

Finding Supreme Court Cases

Free Online Resources

Oyez

Easy-to-use website with a quick summary and facts for Supreme Court cases. Also links to recordings of the Supreme Court Justices' oral arguments and full case when available.

Justia Supreme Court Center

Browse through the free collection of United States Supreme Court full-text opinions from 1791 to the present, plus listen to oral arguments. 

Google Scholar Case Law

Find all federal and state case law, including Supreme Court cases, in Google Scholar.

How to Search: Go to Google Scholar and switch your search from 'Articles' to 'Case law' below the search bar. Click 'Selects courts...' to choose Supreme Court.  Type in the name of your Supreme Court case (example: Roe v. Wade).  For a broader search, type keywords related to your case (example: abortion).

CU Library Databases

How to Search: Click on "All Nexis Uni" to open advanced search options. Choose "Content Collection" and select Cases. Then click "Cases and Codes" and check United States Supreme Court. Then enter the name of your Supreme Court Case in the search bar. 

Nexis Uni Tutorial Videos: These tutorials were created by other university librarians, so follow instructions once they in are Nexis Uni

Search Tips for Finding Cases

Use these simple search tips to make finding and reading Supreme Court cases easier: 

  • Identifying Your Case
    • Take note of the Supreme Court case's citation.  For example, the citation for Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas is 347 U.S. 483.  You can use this citation for more precise searching in places like Google Scholar and Nexis Uni.  
    • Remember what year your Supreme Court cases was decided. This will help differentiate your case from others with similar names.

  • Reading Your Case 
    • Look at the syllabus for your case. This is a summary of the main points of the case, written by legal experts, but is not considered part of the official Supreme Court case. It was not written by Supreme Court Justices.