Posted: 11/2/2007 12:08:14 PM EDT
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Right now I'm working on a paper about the special needs exception to the Fourth Amendment. I have a few cases that cite the concept that I would like to examine, but I am having a hard time locating them. If I know the name of the case and the citation info, where is a good place to find it? For example, here is one such case: United States v. Albarado, 495 F.2d 799 I am trying to find the full-text decision of the case. I have tried plugging the info into Google and the only thing I get are other cases that cite this case 
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www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.htmlwww.findlaw.com Should be able to find SCOTUS decisions by citation there. Now if you are actually looking for other cases then you may need to go down to a law library and pull out some digests, reporters and Shepard's for a long night of fun. |
I've tried search on there but the search feature is about as intuitive as a brick wall. |
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westlaw.com, if you know someone who has an account, possibly a law student might have a free one, get you addicted first, then make you pay. possibly a lexis-nexis search, might be able to at a public library. These are definitely the best ways for citation and case updates as well as journal articles and such. |
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With Lexis-Nexis, there is a way to look up by citation. I don't remember the exact procedure, but try looking above the search box to see if one of the options is by citation. If not, you may need to ask a reference librarian. There is a way to do it via LexisNexis that will save you time, I just have not used the program in awhile so I don't remember off the top of my head. If you have access to that, it is probably the best database to use. |
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One thing to remember is that Lexis =/= Lexis-Nexis. If you have a login to www.lexis.com then you should have a space on one of the first pages called find by citation. For doing this kind of research one of the best things to do is research by key number. All of the legal topics have a specific key number. When a case addresses a particular topic it is coded into that key number and reported on the case. If you have that key number all you have to do is take that to the correct digest and look at the other cases that are found under that key number. As a example, under the heading of "Searches and Seizures 349" key number 72 you will find cases that deal with airport and boarding searches. Using the digests will allow you to see what subjects are available and what the relevant holdings are in the case without actually reading hundreds of cases. |
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If there's a law school in your area, go to their law library. You might be able to log onto a computer there that has access to Lexis Nexis or Westlaw; failing that you can get one of the librarians to show you how to find your cases the old fashioned way, i.e., in the reporters. Also, I think findlaw.com is public / no charge, and you can probably find a lot of cases online in various places, including on the websites of the larger law schools. Oh, and you might want to post this in the legal section, too. |