Maine South Clinical Government Class

Helpful Websites:

Digital History: Landmark Court Decisions

Fedworld Supreme Court Decisions

Landmark Supreme Court Cases

LII (Legal Information Institute): Supreme Court Collection

Oyez Oyez Oyez: Cases, Justices and More: 

This website is useful because you can find cases and biographical information on the justices.  The biographical information is good because it lets you know the judges political leanings and their voting history.  You can either search the site if you know the name of the case you want to do or you can browse by case topics or justices. 

Let’s search for a case to look at examples of what you can find on this website.  In the upper right hand corner where it says “Search this Site”, type in Tinker or Tinker v. Des Moines.  The first result is the one we are looking for, so click onto its title.  The next page will give you some facts about the case and, towards the bottom, show you portraits of the justices who decided on the case.  The judge who wrote the opinion will be in green and any judges who voted against the decision will be grayed out.  The order the judges are in is by senority (how many years they served).  If you click on the link that says “Sort by Ideaology,” it will reshuffle the order.   In this case, from left to right is from most liberal to most conservative.  

Selected Historic Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court Historical Society

U.S. Supreme Court

Search Premium Resources on your topic that the library subscribes to.  You may use this search in the library, or from home by logging in with a Park Ridge Public Library card.  After you open the page, click in the box next to the heading Government/Supreme Court and search for your case.  By using these databases, you will be able to search for newspaper articles, magazine articles, biographical information, and editorial pieces all with one search.

  Books you can use or checkout

   Finding Editorials