ToldYouSo
10-27-2013, 2:24 PM
Reading the posts in this forum since joining a little while ago it became more than obvious that there are more than a few zealous posters who pontificate on the law having themselves never studied law or even knowing how to look-up, let alone cite, a case in support of their personal opinions.
And so I propose making this thread a "Sticky" and a resource for those who would like to educate themselves in the hope of one day having an informed legal discussion.
I'll start with a couple of the basics:
1) There are a couple of particularly important links at the US Supreme Court website:
a) "Opinions" which contain various links to opinions from the court -> http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/opinions.aspx and
b) "Bound Volumes" which contain the full text of Supreme Court decisions going back to 1991 -> http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/boundvolumes.aspx
2) Published and unpublished decisions of the California Courts of Appeal including the California Supreme Court going back to 1850 are here -> http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions.htm The "searchable reports" are via a free LexisNexis access thereby saving one from several thousand dollars in subscriptions or a trip to the nearest law library.
3) A century of state court decisions on self-defense and the right to keep and bear arms is available at GunCite -> http://www.guncite.com/court/state/
4) Google Books has a free, searchable on-line site which contains scans of many legal books published before 1923 and snippets of more current books -> http://books.google.com/
a) For example, one of the books is "The general laws of the State of California, from 1850 to 1864, inclusive..." A search of the term "concealed weapons" reveals that on February 14, 1870 the legislature repealed it's blanket ban on the possession of concealed weapons that was enacted in 1863 (the ban exempted only travelers while on a journey and did not provide for permits).
5) Google Scholar is the poor man's WestLaw but an otherwise excellent free database of state and Federal court decisions -> http://scholar.google.com/
6) Essential reference books:
a) "Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts" by US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia -> http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Law-Interpretation-Legal-Texts/dp/031427555X/
b) "Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges" by US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia -> http://www.amazon.com/Making-Your-Case-Persuading-Judges/dp/0314184716/
c) "A Matter of Interpretation: Federal Courts and the Law" by US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia -> http://www.amazon.com/Matter-Interpretation-Federal-Courts-University/dp/0691004005/
7) FindLaw - a free database of case law from the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, as well as several state supreme courts -> http://lp.findlaw.com/
8) Justia - offers cases from the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, and U.S. District Courts, also free -> http://law.justia.com/cases/
9) The Public Library of Law - requires registration to see the full text of decisions, otherwise its free -> http://www.plol.org/Pages/Search.aspx
10) Stanford Law School online -> http://scocal.stanford.edu/opinions
11) LEAGLE - free online database of caselaw -> http://leagle.com/
12) OpenJurist - a bit top heavy with adds but otherwise free -> http://openjurist.org/
13) Definition and examples of legal citations from UCLA School of Law -> http://libguides.law.ucla.edu/citations
And so I propose making this thread a "Sticky" and a resource for those who would like to educate themselves in the hope of one day having an informed legal discussion.
I'll start with a couple of the basics:
1) There are a couple of particularly important links at the US Supreme Court website:
a) "Opinions" which contain various links to opinions from the court -> http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/opinions.aspx and
b) "Bound Volumes" which contain the full text of Supreme Court decisions going back to 1991 -> http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/boundvolumes.aspx
2) Published and unpublished decisions of the California Courts of Appeal including the California Supreme Court going back to 1850 are here -> http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions.htm The "searchable reports" are via a free LexisNexis access thereby saving one from several thousand dollars in subscriptions or a trip to the nearest law library.
3) A century of state court decisions on self-defense and the right to keep and bear arms is available at GunCite -> http://www.guncite.com/court/state/
4) Google Books has a free, searchable on-line site which contains scans of many legal books published before 1923 and snippets of more current books -> http://books.google.com/
a) For example, one of the books is "The general laws of the State of California, from 1850 to 1864, inclusive..." A search of the term "concealed weapons" reveals that on February 14, 1870 the legislature repealed it's blanket ban on the possession of concealed weapons that was enacted in 1863 (the ban exempted only travelers while on a journey and did not provide for permits).
5) Google Scholar is the poor man's WestLaw but an otherwise excellent free database of state and Federal court decisions -> http://scholar.google.com/
6) Essential reference books:
a) "Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts" by US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia -> http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Law-Interpretation-Legal-Texts/dp/031427555X/
b) "Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges" by US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia -> http://www.amazon.com/Making-Your-Case-Persuading-Judges/dp/0314184716/
c) "A Matter of Interpretation: Federal Courts and the Law" by US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia -> http://www.amazon.com/Matter-Interpretation-Federal-Courts-University/dp/0691004005/
7) FindLaw - a free database of case law from the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, as well as several state supreme courts -> http://lp.findlaw.com/
8) Justia - offers cases from the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, and U.S. District Courts, also free -> http://law.justia.com/cases/
9) The Public Library of Law - requires registration to see the full text of decisions, otherwise its free -> http://www.plol.org/Pages/Search.aspx
10) Stanford Law School online -> http://scocal.stanford.edu/opinions
11) LEAGLE - free online database of caselaw -> http://leagle.com/
12) OpenJurist - a bit top heavy with adds but otherwise free -> http://openjurist.org/
13) Definition and examples of legal citations from UCLA School of Law -> http://libguides.law.ucla.edu/citations