Skip to Main Content

U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs

This research guide from the Law Library of Congress provides guidance on how to how to find briefs, oral argument transcripts, and docket information for cases considered by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).

Introduction

The Law Library of Congress is one of the nine depositories that maintains a print collection of U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs. The Law Library’s bound set begins with the January Term 1832 (6 Peters), when the Supreme Court first ordered that the records in cases before it be printed. Between 1832 and 1853, typically only the transcripts of records for a case were printed.  From 1854 to the present, records and briefs have been printed. The Law Library's collection also includes oral arguments in both print and microform, with dockets available from the Microform and Electronic Resources Center:

United States Supreme Court. 1950. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.