POLS 024/105: Constitutional Law (SC): Research Example

This entry from the Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States defines affirmative action, discusses the historical development of this issue, gives an overview of relevant Congressional and Supreme Court decisions (including citations for cases), and discusses the impact of shifting Court composition on decisions pertaining to affirmative action.

This encyclopedia entry includes citations to relevant Supreme Court cases, including Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 and Gratz v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 244 (2003). With these citations on-hand, you can find the cases using HeinOnline.

To find the majority, dissenting, and/or concurring opinions for a particular Supreme Court case, use HeinOnline to find the case in United States Reports, the official reporter for SCOTUS.

In HeinOnline, select US Supreme Court Library and click the tab labeled Citation Navigator. Then paste the case citation into the search box: 539 U.S. 306.

You'll find a PDF document from United States Reports. It will include the syllabus (a summary, not officially part of the opinion), judges, opinion (majority), and dissent for the case.

The opinion will cite other cases as precedent for the decision on this case. (You can look up these cases in secondary sources, Hein, and LexisNexis.)

By finding briefs for the case, you'll get a better sense for the arguments made by each party to the case, as well as interested non-parties.

Use LexisNexis to find briefs. When briefs are submitted for a case, the case doesn't yet have an official United States Reports citation. You can use either the docket number (preferred) or the parties' names to find briefs.

For Grutter v. Bollinger, the docket number is 02-241. (Since this case was already decided by the Court, you can find the docket number listed on the opinion.)

In conjunction with secondary sources, you can use Shepard's Citations (part of LexisNexis) to find out which lower courts heard this case and what their decisions were. Search using the official citation for the Supreme Court case: 539 U.S. 306

By using Shepard's, you can find that this case was heard by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division in 2001.

Given the long path most cases take before reaching the Supreme Court, consult secondary sources whenever available to clarify the process. Since Grutter v. Bollinger is a well-known case, you can easily find information about it. For example, in The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States (2005).

Shepard's also shows subsequent history (appellate, cited as precedent).

You can find law review articles pertaining to a specific case, an issue or topic, or connections between them.

HeinOnline and LexisNexis both let you find articles published in law reviews. In either database, find articles discussing a specific case by searching for the name of the case enclosed in double quotes, for example:
"Grutter v. Bollinger"

With many Supreme Court cases, you'll encounter far too many search results to review. Here are some ways to narrow down your results:
-Use HeinOnline's "Most-Cited Law Journals"
-Review results from specific journals: for example, there are 726 articles mentioning Grutter v. Bollinger in Hein's Most-Cited Law Journals. 21 of those articles were published in Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review.
-Add keywords if there is a particular aspect of the issue you'd like to research.