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Jessie Ball duPont Library

Rhetoric 101: Public Speaking

A guide for research and sources to support the speeches in Public Speaking 101

Searching for Info on Court Cases

When searching for a particular government or related sources discussing the document, you should start with a basic title search. 

Court cases, especially prominent ones, use a shorthand name for the case referencing the defendants vs claimants and the docket number followed by year. You will often find that this shorthand can be searched as a phrase.

When searching for court case transcripts or case related documents, consider this:

  1. In which course system was this case tried? For this assignment, these are cases reviewed by the United States Supreme court, which are typically much easier to access copies of.
    1. Try a basic google search of the Case Name and Docket Number: "Schenck v. United States" or "249 U.S. 47(1919)"
      1. Look for sources like Oyez, Gov.Info, Justia.com, Library of Congress, etc. These are sources that have a history of ethical and credible preserving and enabling access of relevant documents.

When searching for articles or books that mention a court case, try:

  1. Create a basic search strategy using the Case Name and Docket Number, for example "Schenk v. United States" or "249 U.S. 47(1919)"
  2. Search that on the Library's Tigersearch, JSTOR, GoogleScholar, and potentially other sources if needed. 
  3. After reviewing the results, you might find that the case is referred to with another shorthand or nickname - you can add that to the search string above.

Locating Court Documents & Transcripts

Locating court documents can be tricky at times, but luckily we have some resources to get you started. If you are struggling to find a specific document related to your chosen court case, reach out to the librarians!