Research, Citation, & Class Guides: Political Science 418: Legal Research & Writing: Home

Legal Research Database

Andersen Library provides access to the legal research database Nexis Uni. Users must login with a UWW Net-ID.

It contains primary and secondary legal sources: federal & state appellate court cases, statutes, and regulatory (administrative) law; American Jurisprudence 2d legal encyclopedia; and law reviews. For federal and state court case updating, Nexis Uni provides Shepard’s.

Note: UW-Whitewater libraries' Westlaw subscription ended on Sept. 1, 2020.

Suggested Sources for Biographies of Judges

American Bench, 24th ed. (Reference Collection, 2d fl., KF8700.A19 A44 2014)

Biography Reference Bank database (Search for judges by name)

Search the library's article databases for judges using their names as subjects, e.g., searching all EBSCOhost databases simultaneously will include Biography Reference Bank results--Click Continue, Go to the advanced search to put the name in the top search box and select the field "SU Subject Terms."

Guide to the U.S. Supreme Court (2011 ed.: see chapter 22; 1990 ed. in 3rd-floor Main Collection at KF8742 .W567 1990)

The Supreme Court A to Z (Reference Collection, 2d fl., KF8742 .A35 S8 2007)

Search Research@UWW's "Books, Media and more (UW Whitewater)" for books, using the person’s name in subject (last name first) in and Advanced Search, or try these keyword "in subject" searches:

Judges AND "United States" AND Biography
Judges AND "United States" AND History
"United States Supreme Court" AND History

Search the ProQuest Congressional database for confirmation hearings, as well as CRS reports, on nominated justices. An alternative for finding confirmation hearings is Research@UWW's "Books media and more (UW Whitewater)." Example search: nomin* AND kagan AND supreme

Search Nexis Uni for case opinions they have written. (See screenshot at right)

Click "Advanced Search," then "Legal," "Cases," and finally "US Cases". Use the "All Fields" drop down to select written by, opinion by, dissent by, or concurrence by and enter the justice's last name. Along the left side of the result list, select the court.

You can find many majority opinions written by a current U.S. Supreme Court justice with:

"<last name> delivered", e.g., "kavanaugh delivered", or
<last name> /1 delivered, e.g., kavanaugh /1 delivered

Select the court if needed. When looking at a case, use "Go to" to move quickly to different parts of the case, such as the majority opinion.

See the bios on the U.S. Supreme Court web site and the SCOTUSblog site, as well as on the Oyez site.

The Library of Congress provides a research guide for sources of information about U.S. Supreme Court Nominations (since 2005).

Login to Access Library Resources

Licensed resources require login with a UWW Net-ID (same as UWW e-mail & Canvas login). The Troubleshooting page may help with any difficulties.

More Legal Research Help

There are plenty of academic libraries and law school libraries with legal research guides if you want more help! I recommend: First Year Legal Research Guide (Loyola) and Law Library guides from the LiIbrary of Congress.