Westfield State University Ely Library
| See also the guides to Finding U.S. Supreme Court Decisions on the World Wide Web, Finding U.S. Supreme Court Briefs and Oral Arguments, and Legal Research on LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe |
| The Sources | If You Have the Exact Citation to the Decision |
| If You Have Only the Names of the Parties | If You Have Only the Name of the Defendant |
| Reading a Decision |
Supreme Court Reporter (Ref. KF 101 A322) includes the full text of all decisions published in the official U.S. Reports, plus additional notes and finding aids.
United States Supreme Court Digest (Ref. KF 101.1 1943) provides various indexes to the Supreme Court Reporter.
The citations to the decisions in Supreme Court Reporter begin with a volume number, followed by S.Ct., followed by a page number. For example, the citation 104 S.Ct. 3106 tells you to look in the SupremeCourt Reporter, volume 104, on page 3106.
Beginning with volume 80, each volume extends over two or three books. For example, volume 112 consists of three books labeled 112, 112A, and 112B on the spine. Beneath these volume numbers is the range of pages covered in that book. The most recent decisions are in pamphlet form, with the volume numbers and ranges of pages given on the cover.
If you have only a citation in the form 468 U.S. 364, it is to the official U.S. Reports. The first number is the volume number in U.S. Reports. Look at the spine of the Supreme Court Reporter volumes to find the volumes of U.S. Reports covered in each. (One volume of U.S. Reports may be covered in two volumes of Supreme Court Reporter.) At the beginning of each volume of Supreme Court Reporter is a table entitled "Supreme Court Reporter References," giving cross references from the page numbers in U.S. Reports to the page numbers in Supreme Court Reporter.
The title of a Supreme Court case is almost always in the form of Smith v. Jones. The first name is the plaintiff (the party initiating the case), while the second is the defendant (the party responding).
The index to these titles is the Table of Cases, found in volumes 14 and 15 of the United States Supreme Court Digest. For cases decided since October 1999, refer to the Pocket Part (the pamphlet inserted into a pocket in the inside back cover).
The Table of Cases, volumes 14 and 15 of the United States Supreme Court Digest, also allows for searching by the name of the defendant. For cases decided since October 1999, refer to the Pocket Part (the pamphlet inserted into a pocket in the inside back cover).
Citations listed by defendant are incorporated into the alphabetic listing of cases, and will appear for example as: Jones; Smith v., followed by the citation.
At the beginning of a decision in the Supreme Court Reporter is information supplied by the publisher, which is not part of the original case report: