Research Guides: JBS: Legal, Legislative and News on the ACA: Legal Stuff & State Info

Supreme Court of the United States as Puppies

From "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Supreme Court" 10/19/14

PACER Alternatives

PACER
PACER is the online database for US Courts documents. Users must sign up for an account to do searches, and it costs .15 a page view. Users start accuring charges once the page view total cost reaches $15.00. This resets quarterly. See alternatives below.
RECAP Archive
RECAP is a browser extension (https://www.recapthelaw.org/) that identifies other, free places where PACER documents are avaiable. Additionally, RECAP allows PACER users who do pay for documents to save those documents in an archive so future users do not have to work through PACER. This link is for their archive.
Internet Archive RECAP
Archive of RECAP documents mined from PACER. Hosted by the Internet Archive.

Judicial Sources

Supremecourt.gov
Official source for all things SCOTUS.
US Courts
Provides access to electronic materials (forms, fee information, schedules, rules of procedure) from District Courts, Courts of Appeal, Bankruptcy Courts, and Courts of Special Jurisdiction.
SCOTUSblog
Commentary, announcements, statistics, articles, and other information about Supreme Court decisions.
Oyez from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law
Oyez (pronounced oh-yay), a free law project at Chicago-Kent, is a multimedia archive devoted to making the Supreme Court of the United States accessible to everyone
Law Library of Congress
The Federal Court System and Decisions
Lexis Nexis Federal and State Cases
Narrow your search using Advanced Options to get Federal and State case law. Some law journals available. UNet login required.
Legal Information Institute
A not-for-profit group that believes everyone should be able to read and understand the laws that govern them, without cost.
Table of Popular Names
Laws have official names, but also popular names (Affordable Care Act = Obamacare). This table can help decipher which law is actually which.

Law Journals

Law journals and law reviews are collections of articles written by law scholars, lawyers, and students on a specific topic. Not only do they provide analysis of issues, but the citation list and referenced works may provide you with additional direction as you research. It's important to note, however, that many law review articles are written and edited by law students who may lack first-hand experience that practicing law brings.

Lexis Nexis Law Reviews
Search through articles appearing in hundreds of law reviews. UNet login and password required.
Hein Online Law Journals
Search hundreds of law journals, both US and International. UNet ID and passcode required.

State Information

State Statutes and Regulations from Lexis Nexis
Search by state or across states for information on statutes, regulations and constitutions via Lexis Nexis. UNet Login required.
State Constitutions and Statutes
From the Legal Information Institute, Cornell University.
State Statutes Archive (Hein Online)
Includes superseded state statutes for all fifty states. Search the statutes by state, date, description and text. Coverage goes back to 1717. DOES NOT include current statutes. UNet Login and Passcode required.
State Court Websites
Judicial branch links for each state, focusing on the administrative office of the courts, the court of last resort, any intermediate appellate courts, and each trial court level. From the National Center for State Courts.
State Agency Database
Lists individual state databases on a variety of topics including information on businesses, licensed professionals, plots of land, even dates of fish stocking.
National Conference of State Legislatures
Information on state legislative bodies from all 50 states from non-partisan NCSL.
National Governors Association
Find information on the governor for each state.

Massachusetts Government Information

Mass.gov
Official website for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Includes links to agencies, the legislature, bill tracking, A-Z list of subjects and links to policies and press releases.
List of State Agencies
Alphabetical listing by keyword of branches of government, Constitutional offices, and the departments under them, and provides links to those with websites.
Massachusetts Legislative Tracker
Find state legislators, search bills and laws and find other goings on in the state legislature. 2010 - Present.
State Library of Massachusetts
Digital archive of state information, including Acts and Resolves, 1692 - 2010.
Code of Massachusetts Regulations
Search the current code for Massachusetts through Lexis Nexis. UN Login required.
Case and Legal Resources - Massachusetts
Gateway to Massachusetts cases in progress, recently published court opinions, sources on Massachusetts law, rules or guidelines governing court practice and more.
Primary Sources for Massachusetts from the Library of Congress
The extensive collections at the Library of Congress contain historic artifacts and cultural materials from across the U.S. The list below is just a sample of the many Massachusetts resources available for free on the Library's Web site.