Case Law

Case law is the reported decisions of appeals courts and other courts that interpret the law and therefore can be cited as precedents. These interpretations are distinguished from statutory law (statutes and codes (laws) enacted by legislative bodies) and regulatory law (regulations derived from statutes promulgated and required by agencies). Decisions of appeals courts in all states and federal courts are published or "reported" in serial publications called "reports" or "reporters" (e.g. US Reports, Vermont Reports).

Case Law Reporters in the Middlebury Library

Also see these finding aids and supportive materials.

U.S. Supreme Court Digest
Organizes the case law of the Supreme Court alphabetically with headnotes arranged under modern titles of law.
KF101.1 .D5 or LexisNexis

Shepard's United States Citations
Citation system that permits you to determine whether a case decision has been followed, distinguished, limited or questioned in subsequent court cases.
KF101.2 .S55 or LexisNexis for U.S. Supreme Court cases.

Landmark Briefs and Arguments of the Supreme Court of the United States: Constitutional Law
Reproduces the oral arguments and all the written submissions to the Court from the petitioners and respondents, including the petitions for writs of certiorari, motions to deny, briefs, and supplemental briefs. In addition, the editors have included all the amicus curiae briefs. Use this resource to explore how legal arguments are built and judicial decisions made.
KF101.9 .L36

Internet Sources for Case Law

Judicial decisions are public information in most instances, and for that reason are being archived on the WWW to a great extent. The following legal resource internet sites have comprehensive holdings of federal and state supreme and appellate court cases.