As the titles says, is there a website that tells you the docket of upcoming Supreme Court Cases? The Supreme Court’s website is ridiculously confusing. Everyone keeps buzzing about how this upcoming Supreme Court term is important because cases regard abortion and the death penalty will be heard. Where can I find the lower court’s ruling of these cases? More importantly, where can I find WHAT these cases are including the plaintiff(s) and defendant(s).
Thanks.
Honesty
P.S. I really hate the judicial branch sometimes. All of this information should readily be available for public consumption. :mad:
These look like the briefs in the cases the Court has accepted so far for the October term. They’ll probably put the calendar up on their website soon.
Good links, Captain Amazing. I’d also recommend Cornell’s Legal Information Institute. On that page, you’ll notice links to the decisions and orders of the Court. There’s also a link for case updates (previews from liibulletin). Obviously, these are from last term, but they’re a good snapshot of the question presented to the Court by the case.
If you’re a real go-getter, you can subscribe, and you’ll be emailed whenever the Court issues a decision. I did that in law school, and I have to admit (because I’m a dork) it was exciting to see a decision fresh from the Court.
Finally, I recommend How Appealing, one of the finest (and arguably the most influential) legal blogs out there. Its author does a good job of posting links to decisions as they come out, and not simply from the Supreme Court but from lower courts as well. The blog has a federal bias, but you’ll also see some state court decisions linked there. I don’t know your background (law student? interested member of the citizenry?), but I think his approach is quite good. He is very neutral in his presentation (i.e., he simply gives you access to the information), but you can see links to other legal blogs on his webpage that will provide opinions/analysis.
The one thing you’ve asked for that I’ve not answered is how to find the lower court opinions for the cases the Court has granted cert on. (And, yes, I recognize the utter foulness of that sentence. But it’s all I got right now, so we’ll all just have to lump it.) Your best bet there is to search Findlaw for those, as they should be there if not linked on How Appealing. I hope this helps.