Jenkins On Your Desktop: U.S. Supreme Court Opinions on HeinOnline

The Supreme Court of the United States begins a new term on the first Monday of each October. To celebrate the start of the Court's 2014 term, check out Hein's collection of U.S. Supreme Court opinions. HeinOnline's U.S. Supreme Court Library includes PDFs of the official U.S. Reports plus Slip Opinions and Preliminary Prints.

Opinions from the U.S. Supreme Court are first issued as Bench Opinions and then printed as Slip Opinions. These are later replaced by the Preliminary Prints, which are essentially "advance pamphlets" of the U.S. Reports. The final opinion is published in the United States Reports, the official reporter of the United States Supreme Court. There is usually a delay by a few years between when the opinion is first issued and its final publication in the U.S. Reports. There may be a delay between when recent slip opinions are available on the Supreme Court's website and when they are available on HeinOnline. For more information about U.S. Supreme Court opinions and publishing schedules, see http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/info_opinions.aspx.

To access the opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court on HeinOnline, use your last name and member number to log into Jenkins' website. From either the Member Center or the list of Member Databases, select HeinOnline. Once in Hein, from the Subscribed Libraries list on the left side select U.S. Supreme Court Library.

Hein defaults to a browsing option for opinions. Hein gives the dates available for the Preliminary Prints, the Slip Opinions, and the U.S. Reports. Slip opinions are listed by issue date in reverse chronological order.

To search this collection, click on the Search tab below the HeinOnline logo. The search box will appear on the left side of the screen. This basic search will search all materials included in the U.S. Supreme Court Library, including the Preliminary Prints, the Slip Opinions, the U.S. Reports, as well as a selection of books and periodicals about the court. The basic search can be refined by document type, date, and more after the initial search has been conducted by checking the boxes listed on the left side of the results list.

To search just the opinions, click on either "Advanced Search" or "Field Search" found under the basic search box and select "Official Reports" from the "Document Type" menu. A "Field Search" will allow you to search either by case title or within the text of the document. The search can also be restricted by date.

For more search tips and instructions on using the U.S. Supreme Court Library, see HeinOnline's U.S. Supreme Court Library Training Videos and Frequently Asked Questions.

HeinOnline is a membership resource available to most Jenkins' members.

To keep up with the latest news from the U.S. Supreme Court, check out the SCOTUS blog.