available in publications or video varies by topic). National Juvenile Justice Network

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1 List of Useful Free Links for New York Free Legal Research Legal Information Institute (LII) - Search by topic or citation or browse for Federal statutes, rules, regulations and Constitution U.S. Supreme Court decisions 1990 present, link to briefs site at ABA New York statutes, constitutions, bills, regulations and case law Criminal Law web links: SUNY Buffalo (this is aging, so you need to update, but it s a comprehensive survey and contains a good deal of analysis and lots of links to full text of state statutes and court opinions) Penal Law Web Introduction and User s Guide Penal Law Web Cover page County Law Libraries Each county has a physical library; a few of them maintain a webpage. Some of these have useful material accessible to the public. See, for example: Erie County (Buffalo) Most useful is their Great Big List of Legal Websites; other links merely lead to indexes or lists of what would be in print at the physical library. Organizations National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) _Home (some helpful publications that can be downloaded full text. Good site to explore) National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) (This national organization engages in advocacy in various states. The website includes under the Resources Tab, a brief and motion bank with documents that can be downloaded and tailored to your jurisdiction and client needs. There is an ethics hotline and bank of ethics opinions. And an A- Z list of topics that is only accessible by members. There is also a list of related links and an experts database.) New York State Defenders Association Public Defense Backup Center (somewhat helpful links, resources on a variety of topics; worth exploring) Children s Defense Fund priorities/juvenile- justice/juvenile- justice.html (great link collection, national in scope) New York Juvenile Justice Corps york- juvenile- justice- corps (covers a wide variety of topics, and what is available in publications or video varies by topic). National Juvenile Justice Network

2 Correctional Association of New York, Juvenile Justice Coalition New York State Juvenile Justice Advisory Group justice- links.html Federal and General Links Justia (Federal & State Statutes, Federal Regulations, Federal court decisions, U.S. Constitution. Browse and a simple search. Test the search function before assuming you have found everything it s simpler and you need to know how all the search engines work on the free websites!) Public Library of Law (Federal court cases; state court decisions from all 50 states ONLY back to 1997; Federal and state statutes, federal regulations and court rules, state court rules as posted to the web, legal forms that can be ordered via e- mail.) USA.gov (portal for federal government agencies, state, local and tribal government websites) GPO FedSys government printing office OpenCongress (non- partisan, non- profit bill tracker that also tracks the money & influence in Congress) Google Scholar (Including their legal button; now to get their Advanced Search, there are 3 paths: a) google Google Scholar and choose Advanced Search from the results; b) at the Google Scholar site, select the old venerable look from the bottom left corner, and then Advanced Search is an option to the right of the search button; or c) at the modern Google Scholar site, select the arrow in the search box next to the magnifying glass icon, and you will have the Advanced Search option.) Council of State Governments (A regional multi- state organization serving all 3 branches of state government helping them shape policy and solve problems. An excellent resource for reports and data.) National Conference of State Legislatures (A bi- partisan organization that serves all 50 states legislators by providing technical assistance and research on a variety of issues. An excellent resource for legal researchers as well.) SCRIBD (Can be a great resource for full text of recent hot opinions and briefs, sometimes for memos and other court documents as well, especially in high profile cases. If you post something yourself to the world s largest online library, you are entitled to download stuff.) PACER and RECAP (Firefox required for RECAP) (PACER is the official way to access the docket and filings for federal courts. It costs per page, and it is not hugely expensive, but can add up for a large document. Look first to see if some kind person

3 has posted the document you want to the RECAP archives. Be a good web citizen, and any time you use PACER yourself to download a document, donate a copy to the RECAP archives!) Free Tutorial on How to do Legal Research Online: The Law Student Guide to Free Legal Research on the Internet ( )

4 Searching the Hidden Web The Hidden Web includes white papers, reports or databases created by special interest organizations often the best information sources for specific topics. However, these materials often cannot be reached by search engines. Instead, you can find these terrific resources by visiting the organization s website and using menus, search boxes or the website s own site map. Your task is to identify the organizations that create or collect such resources! Brainstorm likely organizations! Wikipedia often lists organizations in articles. lists advocacy and lobbying groups; look first at the ones that have been recently both rated and reported. Visit the organizations webpages. Look for publications and databases, or links to other organizations which might have either. EXAMPLE: Environmental issues search I searched environmentalism on Wikipedia, and found a section titled Organizations and Conferences. This list includes many fundraising and lobbying groups, which do little or no research, but also some organizations and sites with excellent legal and topical information. Wikipedia s links lead to other articles describing the organizations, but I can copy and paste the organization names to Google and search for their websites (in a separate browser window, so I can keep the original list). National Resource Defense Fund Policy Wilderness Society issues (Issues, and a link to their policy papers) Friends of the Earth (Publications, includes a magazine, in- depth analyses, fact sheets, outreach, brochures) United Nations Environment Programme (LOTS of sub- divisions with reports, databases, etc. of their own explore!) Environment America ( (Check out their Issues section.) League of Conservation Voters (Tracks elections and explain issues on state and federal levels) Sierra Club Environment Law Program (This organization seems to do much less litigation and lots more press release type work. Good for basic information and hints what to search for elsewhere, but not good for briefs and legal records.) See, by contrast, GLAD and ACLU (Excellent complete lists of briefs and court records in 2 non- environmental advocacy organizations.)

5 And a few more free resources: Do not overlook the value of local public library! Boston Public Library encourages anybody who lives in the Commonwealth, or works here to get a library card. You can get a special e- card online. With either type of card, you have access to their fabulous collection of online resources. Among their other specialized branches, a lawyer will want to know about the Kirstein Business Library, which has its own list of online business databases, and business websites. Supreme Court Decisions with extras: SCOTUS blog one of the best legal blogs, following the U.S. Supreme Court, with expert commentary and links to full opinions, orders and briefs. Track the cases or pop in and search the blog. Not an excellent research tool for past cases, but it works. Oyez Project an unusual website that publishes not only the decisions, but analyzes the court and how the justices decided each case. It provides a recording of the oral arguments for all cases since 1968, and selected cases before. The search for the cases is a bit clunky, being either by docket number or by topic grouping. CrimProf Blog a joint blog by a number of law professors at the LawProf Blog site. Interesting and thoughtful commentary on wide- ranging criminal law issues, usually on federal issues, often Supreme Court level. Court Review annual Selected Criminal Law Cases in the United States Supreme Court and a Look Ahead, See 2011 s issue on SSRN, for example, by Charles D. Weissleberg: The abstract says, with a particular focus on those decisions of most interest to state court judges and practitioners. FindLaw Findlaw New York Criminal Law collection Some entries are better than others. It s not encyclopedic, either. If they have your topic, some entries have a quick thumbnail with the citation, key information and a summary of the penalties. Others are less useful. Best tend to be drug, OUI entries.