Legal Studies
Local
Local Government
- City of IthacaThe central website for the City of Ithaca, this contains information about city government and its programs.
- Tompkins County, NYOnline resource for Tompkins County government. Includes an online maps page.
- New York Municipal Codes (Nexis Uni)via Nexis Uni.
Organizations
- National Association of Counties (NACO)Organization that publishes and disseminates information for and about counties.
- State of the Cities Data System (SOCDS)From HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research Information Service, this site provides data for individual Metropolitan Ares, Central Cities, and Suburbs.
- United States Conference of MayorsNon-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more.
State
Primary (Codes, Bills, Regulations)
- New York ConstitutionConstitution of the State of New York via Nexis Uni.
- New York State Legislature: Bills and LawsSearch bill text, status, summaries, sponsor memos, and floor vote. Links to search for NYS Legislative Bills, NYS Legislative Resolutions, and the Laws of New York (see also: Nexis Uni for Federal & State Codes - NY Consolidated Law Service).
- New York Consolidated Laws Service (Nexis Uni)NY Statutes via Nexis Uni.
- New York Codes, Rules and Regulations (NYCRR)An unofficial compilation of NY State agency administrative rules and regulations.
- New York Codes, Rules and Regulations (NYCRR) (Nexis Uni)New York State administrative regulations via Nexis Uni.
Primary (Cases, Decisions):
- NY Court of Appeals Cases (Nexis Uni)1794+ New York's highest court. Court of Appeals decisions from the State of New York. Also contains decisions from predecessor courts: The Court for the Correction of Errors; and the Supreme Court of Judicature.
- NY Supreme Court Cases - Appellate Division (Nexis Uni)1875+ Decisions from all four departments comprising the Supreme Court Appellate Division of the State of New York.
- NY Lower Courts - Trial Orders (Nexis Uni)1803+ Decisions from the Appellate Terms of the Supreme Court, and the lower courts of NY, including: The Supreme courts, County courts, Court of Claims, Family courts, Surrogate's courts, the District Court (Suffolk and Nassau counties), City courts, and the Town and Village Justice courts. Also includes decisions of the Civil Court of the City of NY, and the Criminal Court of the City of NY.
- NY Department of Environmental Conservation Decisions (Nexis Uni)Sept 1973+ (selected coverage from 1936-1973). Decisions of the Freshwater Wetlands Appeals Board are also included inthe file. The Department of Environmental Conservation was created on July 1, 1970 tobring together in a single agency all state programs directed toward protectingand enhancing the environment. NYDEC is responsible for administration and enforcement of the Environmental Conservation Law (NY CLS ECL @ 1-0101 et seq.)
- NY Department of Education Commissioners Decisions1991+ This annual reporter series, consisting of quarterly updates, contains decisions essential to New York education professionals and attorneys who keep up to date with the practical application of New York education law.
Books:
- The New York Red BookDirectory of who is who in New York government . Includes maps.
- Gibson's New York Legal Research GuidePrimer on conducting legal research in NY State.
- New York State & Federal Court Rules (Nexis Uni)Click the information button "i" in Nexis Uni for a full listing of included courts.
Websites:
- Council of State Governments (CSG)Organization founded in 1933 that serves all three branches of state government.
- National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)Gathers policy information state-by-state.
- National Governors Association (NGA)Collective voice of America's governors since 1908.
- New York Open GovernmentThe New York Open Government site is maintained by the Office of the Attorney General. It is a product of the aggregation of data from several New York State agencies, including data on campaign contributions and expenditures, lobbyist disclosures, government contracts, and registered charities.
- New York Redistricting (Interactive Feature, NYTimes.com)Published March 20, 2012 in the New York Times, this interactive map of Congressional Districts allows users to compare old and new districts by entering a zip code. By Jeremy White, Ford Fessenden and Matthew Ericson.
- New York StateOfficial website.
- New York Library: Digital CollectionsThe New York State Library began digitizing New York State government documents in 1995. Today the State Library's Digital Collections includes a substantial number of New York State publications, both contemporary materials from 1995 to the present and rare 18th and 19th century documents.
- U.S. State Policy (The Pew Charitable Trusts)Researches emerging topics and develops 50-state comparisons, (Pew)
- State & Local Government on the NetThe State and Local Government Internet directory provides convenient one-stop access to the websites of thousands of state agencies and city and county governments.
Federal
Primary (Codes, Bills, Regulations):
- GovInfoPortal to documents from the Government Publishing Office (budget, bills, hearings, Constitution, US Code, etc.). Formerly: FDsys, GPO Access
- Congress.govFind the status and history of bills in the current or prior legislature of Congress. Includes Committee Reports, Roll Call votes, Public Laws, U.S. Code, Congressional Record, etc.
- Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)Codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments and agencies of the Federal Government. The 50 subject matter titles contain one or more individual volumes, which are updated once each calendar year, on a staggered basis. Each title is divided into chapters, which usually bear the name of the issuing agency. Each chapter is further subdivided into parts that cover specific regulatory areas.
- Regulations.govFind and comment on Federal administrative regulations
- Legislative Histories (U. S. Department of Justice)Legislative histories for key Public Laws.
Primary (Cases):
- Nexis Uni (LexisNexis)
Contents: Full-text local, national, and international newspaper articles and legal resources.
Need search tips? See our guides for tips on Legal Searching and News Searching.
- Google Scholar: Case LawIf the cases and codes you need are found here, this search works well with Zotero (downloading into a bibliographic manager). The cases are not annotated with core terms, summary, headnotes, and treatment as are cases in Westlaw and LexisNexis.
News:
- Federal News Service (Nexis Uni)Nexis Uni file containing: White House briefings and Presidential statements. Includes some Congressional hearings, National Press Club Speeches and conferences when they address major topics of current interest
- National Journal Daily A.M. (ProQuest)Full text: Sep 9, 2009 - present. Covers Congress
- Military Education Research Library Network (MERLN)Database of defense-related U.S. policy statements.
Reference:
- Almanac of American Politics (Nexis Uni)he Almanac of American Politics analyzes elected political figures in theHouse and Senate, governors, big city mayors and the presidency.
- Congressional Directory (U.S. Congress)The Congressional Directory is the official directory of the U.S. Congress, prepared by the Joint Committee on Printing (JCP).
- CQ's Politics in AmericaCongress 106 (2000) - Current edition in Reference, previous editions in General Stacks
Websites:
- American Presidency ProjectA digital archive of the Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States from Hoover to Bush (1929 to present); see also IC Library stacks at: J80 .A283. The site also includes: inaugural addresses, radio addresses, fireside chats, debates, convention speeches, and party platforms.
- C-SPANNon-profit corporation funded by cable and satellite affiliates that provides public access to daily political events such as congressional debates.
- Government Accountability Office (GAO)The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress. Often called the "congressional watchdog," GAO investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars.
- GovtrackThis a free non-governmental website that is useful for tracking the status of federal legislation.
- Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) 1861-1960Digital facsimile of these government documents. Covers 1861-1960 with some gaps. Also available in print and microfiche at JX233.A3rn
- Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) 1961-1975Digital facsimile of these government documents See also IC Library stacks & microfiche at: JX233 .A3 for earlier volumes
- Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital ArchivesThe Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives were created by the Georgetown University Library in collaboration with Dr. Peter Krogh, Dean and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. The site includes more than two hundred episodes from three television series moderated by Dean Krogh between 1981 and 2005 (Digital Georgetown).
- National Security Archive (at George Washington University)Declassified documents pertaining to national security obtained by FOIA requests. Contains collections such as the Torture Archive (primary sources related to the detention and interrogation of individuals by the United States).
- Policy ArchiveA digital library of public policy research containing over 30,000 documents.
- Scripps Library and Multimedia ArchiveA research source on U.S. public policy. Includes White House recordings, Presidential interviews, and audio & video recordings of the Miller Center Forums.
- Statistical Abstract of the United States
Summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States.
Contents: Statistical tables.
- Wilson Center On DemandMultimedia programs on national and world affairs from the Wilson Center.