Skip to Main Content
Main Library & McBay Science Library
Display of Opening hours
Hours
Main Library 7:30am – 2:00am
Circulation Desk 7:30am – 2:00am
Digital Humanities Lab 7:30am – 2:00am
Interlibrary Loan Office 8:00am – 5:00pm
Reference Desk 9:00am – 10:00pm
View all Hours
All Library Hours
Search Borrow & Request Research & Teaching Support Services Libraries & Collections Study Spaces & Tech About Ask Us! Chat & More ☰

SOWK 7121: Social Welfare Policies, Programs, and Issues

Supreme Court Resources - Current docket

To find information about current Supreme Court cases, SCOTUSBlog is an easy site to navigate which contains the current docket.  

https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/terms/october-term-2021/

  • Where you will go to get information about the current docket.  You will choose your case from this site.  Click on the citation number to access the briefs.
  • A brief is a written legal document that is presented to the court arguing why a party to the case should have a decision in their favor.
    • Amicus curiae briefs ("friend of the court") are filed by persons/groups not directly affilated with the case. These groups/persons often have an invested interest in the outcome.
    • Merit briefs are filed disclosing the facts and legal arguments of a case.  These are normally filed by the parties to the case.

Current Docket - Commentary

For analysis of the current docket, here are some good news sources.  Not all Supreme Court reporting is the same, and, due to its complexity, relying on the reporting from individuals with experience is useful.  Here are some sources with proven track records.

SCOTUS Blog

  • Insightful Supreme Court information and commentary.
  • Adds additional research to cases for context of issues.

Amicus

  • Podcast by Slate's Dahlia Lithwick.

NPR's Nina Tottenberg

  • Award winning legal affairs correspondent.