Case Law: Supreme Court Reporters

United States Reports is the official reporter for U.S. Supreme Court decisions. The United States Reports were first published in 1883; however, the United States Reports cover 1790-present because it republished the earlier unofficially reported cases. Consult the Nominal Reporter Table on this page for the nominative reporter names, corresponding nominative citation, corresponding United States Reports citation, and the corresponding dates.

West's Supreme Court Reporter is a commercial reporter that consists of U.S. Supreme Court decisions from the United States Supreme Court from 1882 through the present. 

• Includes editorial enhancements.
• Is a part of the West Key Number System.
• Starts with volume 106 of United States Reports (nominative reports are NOT included in print).
• Sample Citation: World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 100 S. Ct. 559 (1980).

The United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition is a commercial reporter published by LexisNexis that covers Supreme Court cases from 1790 through the present. 

• Includes editorial enhancements, such as Lexis Headnotes.
• Starts with volume 1 of United States Reports and nominative reports are included.
• Sample Citation: World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 62 L. Ed. 2d 490 (1980).

The first reports containing Supreme Court cases are referred to as "nominative" reporters because they are named for the court reporter who prepared them. There are seven nominative reporters listed in the table below. When citing Supreme Court cases from 1790-1874 it is appropriate to cite to the individual reporter from whom the case originated. For example, Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803). Cranch refers to the nominative reporter put together by William Cranch from 1801-1815. Consult Bluebook Table 1.1 for correct citation of a nominative reporter. Robert C. Berring & Elizabeth A. Edinger, Finding the Law 51 (12th ed. 2005).

The Supreme Court Website has current slip opinions, docket and calendar information, rules information, and PDF images of bound volumes from 1991 (volume 502) through 2007 (volume 554).

Oyez contains archived copies of many important Supreme Court oral arguments, transcripts, and audio files.

HeinOnline contains PDF scans of all of the U.S. Reports in their Supreme Court Library.   

Westlaw, Lexis, FastCase and Casemaker provide access to all U.S. Supreme Court Cases published beginning in 1790.

Google Scholar now provides access to cases reported in the United States Reports. Enter your search terms or case citation in the Google Scholar Search Box below.