In honor of the U.S. Supreme Court, which is beginning its Fall 2009 term on Monday, October 5th, the first Monday in October, the Library will host our first Wednesday Workshop for this academic year on September 30th. The topic for this “Lunch & Learn” session will be the new term of the Court and how to research the Court. This will be the first term for new Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was nominated to the Court on May 26, 2009 and sworn in on August 8, 2009. Many Court watchers will be following her performance during oral arguments and awaiting any opinions she writes during the term.
Listed below are some resources for keeping up with the activities of the Court:
Official U.S. Supreme Court Web Site
The official web site of the United States Supreme Court contains an overview of the Court, Court procedures, biographies of the current Justices and a listing of all of those individuals who have ever served on the Court, current decisions of the Court and transcripts of recent oral arguments, as well as Court trivia.
Preview of U.S. Supreme Court Cases
Briefs for the current term of the Supreme Court are available here. The Library also subscribes to the print version of this title which contains an analysis of every case granted review by the Court. These issues are on reserve at the first floor circulation desk.
United States Law Week, published by BNA (the Bureau of National Affairs) allows you to keep current with the activities of the Court and tracks every case on the Court’s docket from filing to final disposition. Students may register for regular e-mail updates from Law Week.
The Oyez Project is a multimedia archive of the work of the United States Supreme Court. It is the authoritative source for audio of Supreme Court oral arguments from 1981 to 2007 and coverage continues for each term, if somewhat belatedly. There is some selective coverage of audio back to the October term 1955. This site also contains information about the Justices and a virtual tour of the Supreme Court building.
Beginning on Sunday, October 4, 2009 and continuing for an entire week, C-SPAN will offer a series of programs on the work of the United States Supreme Court, including interviews with current and retired Justices, as well as other individuals who are knowledgeable on the work of the Court.
