LibGuides: Free Legal Web Resources: Federal Research

Federal Judicial Branch

U.S. Courts This link opens in a new window
Official directory of the United States courts. Researchers will find a Court Locator, caseload statistics and a biographical directory of Federal Judges, among other information.

Federal Judicial Center
The Federal Judicial Center is the research and education agency of the federal judicial system. All Federal Judicial Center Annual Reports from 1968 to the present are available in PDF format.

Supreme Court of the United States This link opens in a new window
This site provides Supreme Court opinions in PDF format and oral argument transcripts for the last several terms.

United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California
Researchers can find the Local Bankruptcy Rules, Forms, and Court Manual, all in PDF. Selected Bankruptcy Court and District Court Orders are also available in PDF.
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
This site provides the text of decisions, court rules, and other helpful information about the federal courts serving nine western States and two Pacific Island jurisdictions.
United States District Court for the Central District of California
This site contains court rules and forms as well as selected recent opinions for Western Division (Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties), Southern Division (Orange County) and, Eastern Division (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties).

Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Google Scholar allows users to search for federal and state case law. There are basic and advanced search functions.
Oyez This link opens in a new window
The Oyez Project provides a multimedia archive for the U.S. Supreme Court. It aims to be a complete and authoritative source for all audio recorded in the Court since 1955. The Project also provides authoritative information on all justices and offers a virtual reality tour of portions of the Supreme Court building, including the chambers of some of the justices.

Federal Legislative Branch

U.S. House of Representatives
Researchers will find a directory of United States Representatives, a list of the current leadership, a list of all the House's Committees, and the schedule for legislative activity.
U.S. Senate
The U.S. Senate website provides biographical and statistical information on United States Senators, in addition to a list of Committees and Caucuses. Recent Floor Activity is also included.

Congress.gov This link opens in a new window
Legislative information from the Library of Congress includes the full text of all versions of House and Senate bills, the Congressional Record, digests and legislative history of bills and amendments, Congressional Reports, Public Laws, and House and Senate Committee Schedules, Hearings, and Oversight Plans.
GovInfo This link opens in a new window
The official website of the Government Publishing Office (GPO) provides permanent access to federal government information with authenticated documents. Access to Congressional materials, Public Laws and the United States Code is provided. GovInfo was formerly called Federal Digital System (FDsys).

Office of the Law Revision Counsel
The Office of the Law Revision Counsel is an independent, nonpartisan office in the U.S. House of Representatives under the authority of the Speaker of the House that prepares and publishes the United States Code.

Century of Lawmaking This link opens in a new window
This website offers access to historical documents like Statutes at Large, American State Papers, the U.S. Serial Set, and House and Senate Journals, and documents from the Continental Congress.

Federal Executive Branch

American Presidency Project This link opens in a new window
The American Presidency Project has consolidated, coded, and organized a variety of published presidential documents into one searchable database. Coverage includes the Weekly Compilation of Presidential documents from 1977, the Daily Compilation for the current president, and Public Papers of the Presidents from 1929.
Congress.gov This link opens in a new window
Allows searching of U.S. Treaties by Congress, by Date transmitted to the Senate or by type of Treaty starting with the 90th Congress (1967-1968).
GovInfo This link opens in a new window
The official website of the Government Publishing Office (GPO) provides permanent access to federal executive materials like the Federal Register, the C.F.R., and presidential documents.
National Archives and Records Administration This link opens in a new window
NARA provides archival access to billions of government documents including maps, charts, drawings, photographs, film, and videotapes. It keeps only those Federal records that are judged to have continuing value. NARA is also the official repository for records of all of the United States military branches and many other government agencies.
Regulations.gov This link opens in a new window
Regulations.gov has U.S. government regulations from nearly 300 Federal agencies. Researchers can search for a proposed rule, a final rule or a Federal Register notice.
USA.gov This link opens in a new window
This is the Official Web Portal of the U.S. Government - the home page for all government transactions, services, and information. It contains an A-Z index of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies and an extensive Topic list, starting with Benefits and ending with Voting.

White House
The White House provides timely and accurate information about the President's latest events and public statements. Here you'll find photos, video, and blogs, as well as proclamations, executive orders, and press releases. These appear under the Briefing Room tab, along with Pending, Signed and Vetoed Legislation.

Other Websites

Cornell Legal Information Institute This link opens in a new window
The Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School provides access to the U.S. Code, the C.F.R., Supreme Court cases, and federal rules.
FindLaw This link opens in a new window
FindLaw offers free legal information ranging from case law to legal news.

Jurist
Jurist is a legal news website offered by the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
Justia
Justia provides access to a variety of federal and state information (free case law, codes, regulations, legal articles) including summaries of federal dockets.

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Federal Judicial Branch

Federal Legislative Branch

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