Legal information is crucial in criminal justice research because so many of the subject areas within criminal justice -- law enforcement, courts, corrections-- are controlled by statutes and court decisions. Many criminal justice research papers involve discussions of law or, more generally, of government policy.
Note: For accessing any of the databases below, go to Database Finder. Type the name of the database in the center of screen.
The 4 main categories of legal research material are:
1. Court Cases-
Known court cases can be found by their citation ( 514 U.S. 549) or the title (United States v.Lopez). See Finding a Law Case from a Known Citation.Court cases on a particular topic can be found through searching database services like Westlaw or LexisNexis Academic. They may also be found through journal articles (law reviews have particularly useful overview articles), digests, or legal encyclopedias.
2. Laws-
Known federal laws can be found through their public law number (PL 101-647) or from their citation (U.S. Code). State laws can also be tracked this way. See Case Reporters and Statutory Law Services.Laws (also known as statutes) may be found through database services like Westlaw, LexisNexis Congressional or LexisNexis State Capital, and through legal encyclopedias and journal articles. There are also indexes to laws at the end of sets of statutes.
3. Regulations-
Both federal and state regulations are generally found in codes (arranged by subject or title and then by number). Federal regulations are published annually with daily updates.4. Discussions and Explanations of Court Cases, Laws and Regulations
Encyclopedias, books, and articles can all be useful in explaining laws in terms of their policy or legal context. This type of book or article can be found by using the following databases:
