Macdonald-Kelce Library: Law &amp; Legal Studies: Primary Authority

Search Legal Databases for Annotated Primary Materials

Westlaw Campus Research This link opens in a new window
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Provides access to the entire United States Code, federal regulations, federal and state case law, statutes, etc.
Westlaw Classic Training - Videos (Note: do not click login on training area)
Westlaw Classic Complete Training PDF
There is also a large body of content for news that is organized by geographical location and by topic all gathered from the vast Reuters news organization.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
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Full-text news, business, and legal sources including deep archives and up-to-the-minute reports on international, national, and regional news services. Also contains company financial information and Shephard's Citations.
Nexis Uni Search Training

A selection of free online sources for primary authority - constitutions, statutes, regulations, court rules, and case law.

Constitution

Constitution of the United States
Provides the original text of the Constitution with changed or amended words and passages italicized. Includes a link to the Constitution Annotated.

Statutes

U.S. Code - LII - Cornell
U.S. Code from LII.
U.S. Statutes at Large
Statutes at Large, 1789 (Vol. 1, 1st Congress) to Present
FindLaw's Cases and Codes
Contains resources and links for both state and federal laws. This includes resources pertaining to constitutions, statutes, cases and more.

Regulations

Code of Federal Regulations
The e-CFR is an editorial compilation of CFR material and Federal Register amendments produced by the National Archives and Records Administration's Office of the Federal Register (OFR) and the Government Publishing Office. The OFR updates the material in the e-CFR on a daily basis. The current update status appears at the top of all e-CFR web pages
Federal Register
The daily journal of the U.S. Government. The Office of the Federal Register informs citizens of their rights and obligations, documents the actions of Federal agencies, and provides a forum for public participation in the democratic process.
Regulations.gov
Regulations.gov is a source of information on the development of Federal regulations and other related documents issued by the U.S. government. Through the site, you can find, read, and comment on regulatory issues.

Court Rules

Current Rules of Practice & Procedure - U.S. Courts
Provides links to the national federal rules and forms in effect, as well as local rules (which are required to be consistent with the national rules) prescribed by district courts and courts of appeal.

Case Law

Caselaw Access Project - CAP - Harvard Law School
The Caselaw Access Project (“CAP”) expands public access to U.S. law. The CAP scanned the entirety of the Harvard Law School Library's physical collection of American case law and made it machine-readable in a consistent format available online.
CourtListener
Free legal research website containing millions of legal opinions from federal and state courts.
Justia US Law
Free site with US Law, Case Law, Codes, Statutes & Regulations.

A selection of free online sources for primary authority - constitutions, statutes, regulations, municipal codes, court rules, and case law.

Constitution

Florida Constitution
Constitution of the State of Florida. Published online by the Florida Legislature.
Florida's Historic Constitutions
Included are the original manuscripts or contemporary copies of each of Florida's 19th century constitutions, plus the 1812 constitution of the short-lived Republic of East Florida and the state's 1861 Ordinance of Secession.

Statutes

Florida Statutes
Statutes of the State of of Florida. Published online by the Florida Legislature.
Laws of Florida
A verbatim publication of the general and special laws enacted by the Florida Legislature in a given year and published each year following the regular session of the legislature. It presents the laws in the order in which they are numbered by the Secretary of State, as well as resolutions and memorials passed by the legislature.
Laws of Florida - Historical
Scanned copies of the Laws of Florida beginning with the 1st Session in 1845 through 1996.

Regulations

Florida Administrative Code & Florida Administrative Register
The Department of State’s Administrative Code, Register and Laws Section is the filing point for rules promulgated by state regulatory agencies. The mission of the section is to file, preserve and make available to the public the rules and other public records it receives.

Municipal Codes

Municode - Florida
Municipal codes in the state of Florida, published by MunicodeNEXT.

Court Rules

Case Law

Florida Courts: Docket Search
Provides links to the Online Public Dockets for the: Supreme Court, First District Court of Appeal, Second District Court of Appeal, Third District Court of Appeal, Fourth District Court of Appeal, Fifth District Court of Appeal, Sixth District Court of Appeal

Open Google Scholar and select Case Law

Google Scholar
A great place to start research that includes many UTampa databases. (PDF Handout Notes)