Cite Checker's Guide: Case Reporters

U.S. Reports, the Bluebook's preferred reporter for U.S. Supreme Court opinions, is available in PDF format from the following databases:

• HeinOnline (1754-2016)
• Supremecourt.gov (2016-present)

Note that bound volumes of U.S. Reports have not been published since 2016. Only "Preliminary Prints" of U.S. Reports are available from 2016 onward. Preliminary Prints indicate U.S. Reports page numbers, but may be subject to revision prior to publication of an official bound volume.

Recent Supreme Court cases may only be available as "slip opinions," which do not indicate U.S. Reports page numbers. 

All bound copies of the U.S. Reports, as well as Preliminary Prints and Slip Opinions, are also available in print, in the library's Federal section.

For all other reporters, follow the step indicated below.

The first step for cite checking cases is to determine which reporter to cite to. Cases are often published in multiple reporters, so the Bluebook will tell you which is the most authoritative. Check Table 1 at the back of the Bluebook to verify which case reporter you should be looking for. 

For example, this excerpt from the Bluebook indicates which California Court of Appeal reporter to cite to (depending on the date):

Once you have determined which case reporter to cite to, check Westlaw and Lexis for PDF scans of the reporter. Whether these services have a PDF scan of the exact reporter you are looking for will depend on the jurisdiction. The coverage tends to be better for more recent cases.

On Westlaw, you can find PDFs of reporters at the top of a case:

On Lexis, you can find reporter images under the heading "About This Document" on the right-hand sidebar.

Note that in these two examples, Westlaw and Lexis provide scans of different case reporters.

Harvard's Caselaw Access Project is a free resource with a comprehensive collection of scanned case reporters. This is often the best place to look for reporters not on Westlaw and Lexis (except for recent cases from the last couple years). Select a jurisdiction to see a list of viewable reporters.

HeinOnline and LLMC Digital are particularly useful resources for historical case reporters.

Resources on HeinOnline include:

• U.S. Reports (official reporter of the U.S. Supreme Court)
• State Reports: A Historical Archive

Resources on LLMC Digital Include:

• Various federal reporters
• Reporters for all states and territories (select your jurisdiction, then select "Judicial" materials)

The library has a limited collection of case reporters in print and on microfilm. Most of our print reporters are no longer updated.

You can search for reporters by name in our catalog.

Tips:

• Run an advanced search for the reporter. Try searching by title and forcing the catalog to search for the exact name of the reporter.
• After running a search in our catalog, you can use the right-hand sidebar to filter by location. Most of our reporters are located in our Federal collection, our State collection, our Regional collection, our Microfilm and Microfiche collections, or in storage. Try limiting to these locations.

The library cannot order case reporters via ILL. If you have gone through these steps and still aren't finding the case, please reach out to a librarian to discuss your options.

We're here to help. Contact a research librarian for help with an assignment, project, or resource. 

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