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Supreme Court

Supreme Court History
When the Supreme Court was unveiled on February 2, 1790, six justices shared the bench. Which events helped shape the court and transform it into one of the more respected branches of goverment? Read article.

Features

Landmark Decisions: A Century of Change (1856-1955). The Century of Change witnessed a dramatic transformation in American society and in the nation's high court. Track the Supreme Court decisions that reflected American's changing attitudes towards race in Landmark Decisions.

Supreme Court Center. This section consolidates all the Supreme Court resources for the most recent term. Here, you will find a case index as well as court briefs, dockets, decisions, guides, orders, rules and schedules.

Briefs. Before oral argument, counsel for both sides will prepare a legal brief summarizing the facts of the case as well as the legal reasoning behind their argument. Read the legal briefs submitted by the parties and friends of the court for cases granted certiorari.

Case Index. Find an index of current term cases here grouped by topic.

Court Rules. Should counsel assume that all Justices have read the briefs before oral argument? Should the oral argument be read from a prepared text? Find out the answers to these and other Supreme Court question in the court rules.

Supreme Court Decisions. Search FindLaw's database for U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 1893. User may browse cases by year or U.S. Reports volume number, or search for decisions by citation, case title or full text.

Docket. The Docket section provides a list of cases which have been granted certiorari, as well as their scheduled oral argument date, subject matter, question presented, and related documents.

Filing Guides. Read the Memorandum to Those Intending to Prepare a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari and Pay the $300 Docket Fee. For indigent petitioners, the Guide for Prospective Indigent Petitioners for Writs of Certiorari is also available.

Orders. The Orders section includes all the Supreme Court orders issued during the current term.

Schedule. The schedule of oral arguments, conference days, non-argument sessions and holidays during the 1999-2000 term.

Supreme Court Justices. Since 1789, 17 Chief Justices and over 100 Associate Justices have served on the United States Supreme Court. This section features a selection of biographies from past and present Supreme Court Justices.