1. Court & Legal Research
Nov. 12, 2013
http://craft1research-fall.2013.journalism.cuny.edu/
2. Court a well-established principle
“It is & Legal Research
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
3. Basics of Legal Research:
Cornell University Law
Library
http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/library/whatwedo/researchguides/basics.cfm#q
uestions
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?
4. How the Criminal Justice
System Works: Arrest to
Sentence
The New York County District Attorney’s Office
: http://manhattanda.org/criminal-justice-system-how-itworks?s=37&page=1
5. New York Post, Oct. 21, 2012
http://nypost.com/2012/10/21/manhatta
n-man-booted-from-public-library-forbody-odor-sues-for-5-5m/
Manhattan man booted from
public library for body odor sues
for $5.5M
6.
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
SCROLL:
http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/is
croll/
7. Cold Case Solved: Baby Hope
Who is Conrado Juarez?
New York Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/nyr
egion/baby-hope.html?_r=0
WebCrims: NY State Unified Court
System
8. Visiting 60 Centre Street:
New York County Court
Guide
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/litigants/courtguides/
1stJD_newyork.pdf
9. Justice Department Website: Press releases
i.e. Johnson & Johnson
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2013/November/
13-ag-1170.html
Bureau of Prisons: Inmate Locator
ie. Bernard Madoff
For court documents, do a google search
:”bernardmadoff and site: .gov and court
documents”
First result takes you to the Justice Dept website,
which attaches all court documents for his case
Federal Cases
10.
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
LexisNexis
11.
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
PACER
12. Journalist’s Guide to the Federal Courts
Website:
http://www.uscourts.gov/News/Journalist
sGuide.aspx
Understanding the Federal Courts
Website:
http://www.uscourts.gov/FederalCourts.a
spx
USCourts.gov
13. Court Records Research
Link: http://researchcenter.journalism.cuny.edu/researchguides/craft-resources/court-records-research/
Cops & Crime Research
Link: http://researchcenter.journalism.cuny.edu/researchguides/craft-resources/cops-crime-research/
Cops & Crime Essentials Cheatsheet
Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OC9aYrWLwQ8Y48BTOc3b
a4sXlCnQzxOSRPNWxMC_508/edit?pli=1
Research Guides
15. Law 360
@Law360
Above the Law
@atlblog
The Crime Report
@thecrimereport
The Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog
@WSJlawblog
ScotusBlog
@SCOTUSblog
Legal Blogs: Keeping on top of the
industry
16. Any Questions?
Class Blog Link:
http://craft1research-fall.2013.journalism.cuny.edu/
Feel free to post your questions on the class blog.
