Define data requirements for research using the Integrated Database of Federal Supreme Court Cases (IDB), which is provided free of charge by the Federal Judicial Centre. The IDB has case data (not documents) for criminal, civil, appeal, and bankruptcy cases that can help researchers narrow down their queries. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. Courts below the federal level include the U.S. Court of Appeals, U.S. District Courts, U.S. Court of Claims, U.S. Court of International Trade, and U.S. bankruptcy courts. Federal courts hear cases involving matters related to the U.S. Constitution, other federal laws and regulations, and certain cases involving parties from different states or countries and numerous disputes.
Each state has its own judicial system, which includes courts of first instance and appeal. The highest court in each state is often referred to as the “Supreme Court,” although there are some exceptions to this rule, for example, the New York Court of Appeals or the Maryland Court of Appeals. State courts typically hear cases involving state constitutional cases, state laws, and regulations, although state courts can usually hear cases with federal laws as well. States also generally have courts that deal with only a certain subset of legal issues, such as family law and inheritance. The Cases and Codes section of FindLaw contains resources and links to state and federal laws. This includes resources related to constitutions, articles, business, etc. Search for case summaries or select a jurisdiction to search for applicable law. There are many up-to-date online legal research guides, many of which have been written by librarians at universities and public law libraries. In addition to the George Mason Law Library`s research guides, other recommended sources for research guides include: In general, a related case is one that the court has identified as being related to another case.
As a rule, these cases may involve identical, similar or related legal issues. If applicable, the affected cases appear in the Applied Case Selector field on the Send Document form. A bid may be submitted in all or some of the related cases listed. If all related cases are disabled, submission will only be forwarded to the main case. Tip: When you file an application, the cases to which the application applies are displayed on the application screens. Electronic access to the documents of the Social Security Administration case is limited to the parties to the case. In addition, documents relating to criminal cases filed before 1 November 2004 are accessible to the parties to the proceedings only by electronic means. Contact the clerk`s office for information on viewing copies. Criminal documents filed after November 1, 2004 are available electronically through PACER. Most records prepared prior to 1999 are kept only on paper. Access paper documents from the court where the case was filed or at one of the Federal Document Centres (RCFs). Contact the court where the case was filed for more information.
When hearing minutes are prepared, they are added to PACER 90 days later. Before a transcript is added to PACER, a copy is only available for inspection at the clerk`s office. Information on how to purchase a transcript from the court reporter or transcriber within 90 days may be provided by the court registry. There is no maximum fee for transcripts in PACER. If you have any questions, please contact the PACER Service Centre at pacer@psc.uscourts.gov or (800) 676-6856. These sources limit web search to legal resources. Users can register with the Bankruptcy Noticing Center (BNC) to receive bankruptcy notices electronically or consolidate all communications from the U.S. Postal Service into a single address. These communications are sent on the same day they are submitted to the court and are accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Court notices sent to multiple locations can be routed to a central address and then easily routed to interested parties. Jurisprudence, also known as precedent or common law, is the set of previous judicial decisions that guide judges in deciding the issues before them. Depending on the relationship between the deciding court and the previous one, case law may be binding or simply convincing.
For example, a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth District is binding on all federal district courts in the Fifth District, but a California court (whether a federal court or a state court) is not strictly bound to follow the previous decision of the Fifth District. Similarly, a decision of one New York district court is not binding on another district court, but the reasoning of the original court could help the second court make its decision.