May/June 2001

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF THE U.S. SUPREME COURT ON WESTLAW

Keep current with what the Supreme Court is saying

When you want to see what cases will be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, read briefs filed in a case, view transcripts of oral arguments, or locate Supreme Court opinions, you can rely on Westlaw for the latest information.

Note:  Clicking the database name before the  icon will take you to a free detailed description of the database on the Internet.

Clicking on the database idenitifier (e.g., AFJ) will take you to the query screen on westlaw.com so that you can enter a database search. 

Preview Supreme Court cases

You can read in-depth previews of cases orally argued before the Supreme Court in the Preview of U.S. Supreme Court Cases database (SCT-PREVIEW) . Previews are from the Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases published by the American Bar Association Public Education Division.

To search for a preview of cases pertaining to a particular topic, search for terms in the topic field (to). For example, to retrieve documents pertaining to the First Amendment, access the database and type a query such as the following: to("first amendment")

Retrieve the text of briefs filed in Supreme Court cases

The U.S. Supreme Court Briefs database (SCT-BRIEF) contains the full text of briefs for cases in which oral argument has been scheduled before the Supreme Court. The database contains the full text of merits briefs (petitioner's, respondent's, reply, and supplemental briefs) and amicus briefs filed for each case.

Coverage of merits briefs begins with the 1990–91 Supreme Court Term, while coverage of amicus briefs begins with the Court's 1995–96 Term. To retrieve briefs for a particular case, search for the case name in the title field (ti), e.g., ti("united international holdings").

View transcripts of oral arguments

You can easily view transcripts of oral arguments heard by the Supreme Court. Official transcripts are contained in the Transcripts of U.S. Supreme Court Oral Arguments database (SCT-ORALARG) . West Group editors add a digest section containing West topic and key numbers to the transcript documents. You can use these topic and key numbers to trace the same points of law in decided cases.

Get Supreme Court opinions within 30 minutes of decision

Supreme Court opinions are added to Westlaw within 30 minutes of when the Court announces its decision and can be viewed in the U.S. Supreme Court Cases database (SCT) .

If you know the docket number, you can use Find to quickly retrieve the opinion. At the tabbed Westlaw page, type dn followed by the docket number and court abbreviation in the Find this document by citation text box, e.g., dn 99-1379 (sct), and click GO. Note: If you use WestMate, access Find by clicking the Find a Document button at the left of the Welcome to Westlaw window or the Find button on the toolbar.

Research the current justices

The Supreme Court Justice Opinions & Papers databases provide a single source of documents related to a current justice. Each database includes the opinions joined or written by the justice, any lower court opinions or other government legal opinions written by the justice, and law review articles authored by the justice. A current résumé of the justice, as it appears in the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary database (AFJ) , is also included in the database.

The Supreme Court Justice Opinions & Papers database identifiers are

BREYER
GINSBURG
KENNEDY
OCONNOR
REHNQUIST
SCALIA
SOUTER
STEVENS
THOMAS