Grand Juries: A Legal Research Guide

Jenkins recently acquired the newest title by renowned legal research scholar and law librarian, Dr. Joel Fishman: Grand Juries: A Legal Research Guide. Fishman is a specialist in Pennsylvania legal history and has authored over 300 publications, including the Pennsylvania Legal Research Handbook. 

In the introduction to Grand Juries, Fishman writes that the “grand jury has a distinguished history in Anglo-American legal history”, from the reign of King Henry II to the adoption of the Grand Jury Clause in the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Bill of Rights and beyond. As noted in the introduction, the role of grand juries has changed dramatically in the past decade due to “a significant move toward use and derivative use immunity” at the state level, a series of Supreme Court rulings regarding federal grand jury practice and challenges to the selection of jurors, new or amended statutes, and contentions around failed indictments related to police violence.      

Published by Hein in 2020, Grand Juries: A Legal Research Guide assembles both primary and secondary sources to assist attorneys and researchers in analyzing the topic. At the Federal level, Fishman identifies relevant Constitutional material as well as statutes, regulations, court rules, and Congressional documents. State primary content includes applicable Constitutions, statutes, codes, and court rules.   

Fishman also dedicates separate chapters to cases, digests and citators, American Law Reports (A.L.R.s), legal encyclopedias, treatises, practice books, legal periodicals, legal newspapers, and websites for further research. 

If you’re interested in researching grand juries and their evolving roles in various jurisdictions, consider this as your next title to borrow via curbside pickup!