Court & Legal ResearchNov. 12, 2013

http://craft1research-fall.2013.journalism.cuny.edu/

Court & Legal Research“It is a well-established principle that court records are presumed to be open to the public. Courts

in the United States have recognized both a common law

right and a First Amendment right to judicial records of court

proceedings.”The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

http://www.rcfp.org/rcfp/orders/docs/EACR.pdf

Basics of Legal Research: Cornell University Law

Library http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/library/whatwedo/researchguides/basics.cfm#questions

Articulate the legal issue. What jurisdiction is involved? Federal or state? Is this a civil or criminal matter? Who are the parties and what relief is sought?

How the Criminal Justice System Works: Arrest to

SentenceThe New York County District Attorney’s Office

: http://manhattanda.org/criminal-justice-system-how-it-works?s=37&page=1

Manhattan man booted from public library for body odor sues for $5.5M

New York Post, Oct. 21, 2012http://nypost.com/2012/10/21/manhattan-

man-booted-from-public-library-for-body-odor-sues-for-5-5m/

SCROLL: http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/iscroll/

http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/iscroll/

Supreme Court Records Online Library

New York State Supreme Court and the County Clerk of New York  The Supreme Court, Civil Branch, New York County handles civil

cases (those not involving criminal offenses).

The Supreme Court, Civil Branch, New York County is a trial-level court, the highest such court for civil cases in the state court system in New York County

  Located in the New York County Courthouse, the Supreme Court's

main courthouse at 60 Centre Street

WebCrims: NY State Unified Court System

Cold Case Solved: Baby HopeWho is Conrado Juarez?

New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/nyregion/baby-hope.html?_r=0

Visiting 60 Centre Street: New York County Court Guide

http://www.courts.state.ny.us/litigants/courtguides/1stJD_newyork.pdf

Federal Cases

Justice Department Website: Press releasesi.e. Johnson & Johnson

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2013/November/13-ag-1170.html

Bureau of Prisons: Inmate Locatorie. Bernard MadoffFor court documents, do a google

search :”bernard madoff and site: .gov and court documents”

First result takes you to the Justice Dept website, which attaches all court documents for his case

LexisNexis

LexisNexis has case information for the most jurisdictions–federal, state and local–but not all of it is available in the academic version universally accessible to CUNY students. 

 Lexis has published opinions of the courts. i.e. Roe v

Wade or landmark cases LexisNexis Video Tutorial: On YouTube.com; Looking

up a Legal Case Search Lexis Academic

PACER

Public Access to Electronic Court Records  Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) is an

electronic public access service that allows users to obtain case and docket information from federal appellate, district and bankruptcy courts, and the PACER Case Locator via the Internet. PACER is provided by the federal Judiciary in keeping with its commitment to providing public access to court information via a centralized service.

  Video Tutorial: http://www.pacer.gov/training/display.html  Court Information Tutorial:

http://www.pacer.gov/training/display.html#myplayer

USCourts.gov

Journalist’s Guide to the Federal CourtsWebsite:

http://www.uscourts.gov/News/JournalistsGuide.aspx

Understanding the Federal CourtsWebsite:

http://www.uscourts.gov/FederalCourts.aspx

Research Guides

Court Records ResearchLink:

http://researchcenter.journalism.cuny.edu/research-guides/craft-resources/court-records-research/

Cops & Crime ResearchLink:

http://researchcenter.journalism.cuny.edu/research-guides/craft-resources/cops-crime-research/

Cops & Crime Essentials CheatsheetLink:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OC9aYrWLwQ8Y48BTOc3ba4sXlCnQzxOSRPNWxMC_508/edit?pli=1

Finding LawyersLLRX

LegalDockets  

Martindale.com

Legal Blogs: Keeping on top of the industry

Law 360@Law360

Above the Law@atlblog  The Crime Report@thecrimereport  The Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog@WSJlawblog  ScotusBlog@SCOTUSblog

Any Questions?Class Blog Link:

http://craft1research-fall.2013.journalism.cuny.edu/Feel free to post your questions on the class blog.