Since 1817, the United States Reports has been the official reporter of the United States Supreme Court. This series is published by the United States Government Printing Office. Due to lengthy publishing delays at the Government Printing Office, the bound volumes of the United States Reports are published four to five years after the opinions are issued by the United States Supreme Court. Due to this delay, several private companies publish Supreme Court decisions in a more timely manner.
The Supreme Court Reporter, published by West Publishing, provides the text of the Supreme Court decisions together with traditional West headnotes (corresponding to the West key number system) and other editorial enhancements. The Supreme Court Reporter begins in 1882.
United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers’ Edition, now published by LexisNexis, provides complete coverage of the United States Supreme Court decisions. The LexisNexis edition of Supreme Court opinions incorporates editorial enhancements as well. For selected cases, United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers’ Edition, provides summaries of the briefs submitted to the Supreme Court together with articles written by the editorial staff discussing the important legal issues presented.
Due to the editorial enhancements and timely publications schedules, most researchers prefer either the Supreme Court Reporter or United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers’ Edition to the official United States Reports.
Recent opinions and orders of the United States Supreme Court are available from the Court's website at http://www.supremecourtus.gov/. Historical Supreme Court opinions are available through the Cornell Legal Information Institute (http://straylight.law.cornell.edu/supct/index.html), Findlaw (http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/supreme_court/resources.html), and LexisOne (http://www.lexisone.com/).
The Federal Reporter, published by West Publishing, began in 1880 and, since 1932, has contained only decisions of the United States courts of appeals. Prior to 1932, the Federal Reporter also contained decisions of federal district courts. The Federal Reporter is in three series: the first series ended in 1924 with Volume 300; the second series reported cases from 1924 to 1993 in Volumes 1-999; and the third series began in the fall of 1993. Only those opinions ordered by the federal courts of appeals to be published are included in the Federal Reporter.
Selected recent opinions of the federal courts of appeal may be available through individual court websites accessible through the federal judiciary website (http://www.uscourts.gov/courtlinks/index.cfm).
In 1932, West Publishing issued the first volume of the Federal Supplement, a reporter containing decisions of the federal district courts. Only a very small percentage of cases decided in federal district court are reported in the Federal Supplement (as determined by the district court judges). The Federal Supplement is in two series: the first series ended in 1998 with Volumes 999, and the second series began in 1998.
Selected recent opinions of the federal district courts may be available through individual court websites accessible through the federal judiciary website (http://www.uscourts.gov/courtlinks/index.cfm).
The Federal Rules Decisions, first published by West Publishing in 1939, reports federal district court cases construing the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Cases published in Federal Rules Decisions have not been published in the Federal Supplement.
Selected recent opinions of the federal district courts may be available through individual court websites accessible through the federal judiciary website (http://www.uscourts.gov/courtlinks/index.cfm).