Civil Rights and Liberties

• Legal Databases
  
• Reference Materials
• Secondary Sources
• Primary Sources
• Free Web Sites
• Citation Examples and Star Pagination

Rod Library home page

Ask a Librarian
This page provides information on how you can get in touch with the library for assistance. It includes a link to our chat reference service.

Legal Databases Available Through the Library

LexisNexis Academic
Accessible through the Databases A-Z link on the library's home page

Reference Materials

Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations 5th ed.
Reference KF246 .B46 2001

Black’s Law Dictionary
Reference Desk Cabinet KF156 .B53 2004

Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation 18th ed.
Reference Desk Cabinet KF245 .U5

Civil Rights in the United States
Reference E184.A1 C47 2000

Constitutional Civil Rights in a Nutshell
Reference KF4750 .V5 1998

Constitutional Law Dictionary
Reference KF4548.5 .C47 1985

Constitution of the United States: A Guide and Bibliography
Reference KF4546 .A1R4 1987

Encyclopedia of Constitutional Amendments, Proposed Amendments, and Amending Issues, 1789-1995
Reference KF4557 .V555 1996

Encyclopedia of the American Constitution
Reference KF4548 .E53 2000

Legal Information: How to Find it, How to Use it
Stacks KF240 .O365 1999

Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution
Stacks KF4550.Z9 M66 2003

Secondary Sources

American Jurisprudence 2d
Accessible through the Westlaw Campus database

American Law Reports
Accessible through the Westlaw Campus database

Law Review Articles
A large number of full text law review articles are available electronically through Westlaw Campus and LexisNexis Academic. The library also has some law review titles in print format in the periodicals collection. Consult UNISTAR or a reference librarian for more information.

Supreme Court Review
Periodicals K347.997 .S9
Also accessible electronically through LexisNexis Academic (1996+) and Academic OneFile Plus (1984+).

United States Law Week
Reference KF105 .U5 v. 55-
Stacks KF105 .U5 v. 36-54

West’s Encyclopedia of American Law
Reference KF154 .W47 1998

Primary Sources

Supreme Court Reporter
Accessible electronically through Westlaw Campus

United States Law Week
Reference KF105 .U5 v. 55-
Stacks KF105 .U5 v. 36-54

United States Reports
Stacks KF101 .S9 v. 108-

United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyer’s Edition
Reference KF101 .U5 v. 1-148
Accessible electronically through LexisNexis Academic

Free Web Sites

Constitutional Law and Constitutional History Resources (Northwestern University’s Pritzker Legal Research Center)
Links to texts and databases on Consitutional law, some of which are password protected.

Findlaw – Supreme Court Cases and Resources
Full text of Supreme Court opinions since 1893, briefs since 1997, docketing information, calendars, etc.

Introduction to Basic Legal Citation by Peter W. Martin
Provides instructions on how to cite legal materials and provides examples.

Northwestern University’s Oyez Project
Provides justice biographies, dockets, a virtual tour of the Supreme Court, case abstracts, and audio of oral arguments before the court (requires Real Player software).

Supreme Court of the United States
Official website of the court, it provides information about the court and how it functions, docketing information, the full text of recent opinions, rules and orders of the court, etc.

Citation Examples:

Court Cases

Lovell v. City of Griffin, 303 U.S. 444, 452 (1938).

Katz v. Carte Blanche Corp., 496 F.2d 747, 754 (3d Cir. 1974).

United States v. Grzeganek, 841 F. Supp. 1169, 1170 (S.D. Fl. 1993).

Law Review Articles

Stanley H. Friedelbaum, Traditional State Interests and Constitutional Norms: Impressive Cases in Conventional Settings, 64, Alb. L. Rev. 1245, 1259 (2001).

Elbert Lin, Prioritizing Privacy: A Constitutional Response to the Internet , 17 Berkeley Tech. L.J. 1085, 1090 n.18 (2002).

Star Pigination

In both the LexisNexis Academic and Westlaw Campus databases new page numbers within a court case are preceded by a series of asterisks. The number of asterisks preceding the page number indicates which of the three Supreme Court reporters the page number refers to. This is important because it tells you which reporter abbreviation/citation to use in your references. In both databases:

* = U.S. One asterisk indicates a new page within the U.S. Reports, which is the official Supreme Court reporter and the one you should cite to if possible.

** = S.Ct. Two asterisks indicate a new page within the Supreme Court Reporter.

*** = L.Ed. Three asterisks indicate a new page within the Lawyer's Edition.