Cornell
University Legal Information Institute, Rules
of the Supreme Court of the United States
(visited Dec. 1, 1999) www.law.cornell.edu/rules/supct/overview.html
The
New York Law Publishing Company, Law Journal
Extra! (visited Dec. 1, 1999) www.ljextra.com/courthouse/rules/suprules.html
United
States Reports (United States Government Printing
Office 1754 - present)
Both
the Legal Information Institute ("LII")
and Law Journal Extra! provide the full
text of the current Rules of the Supreme Court
Rules ("the Supreme Court Rules.")
The Supreme Court Rules provide practical information
for individuals with business before the Supreme
Court. For example, the Supreme Court Rules
provide information ranging from the time restrictions
at oral argument, to the requirements of a Supreme
Court brief, to information about the filing
and service of documents. [47] The Supreme Court
adopted the most recent set of Supreme Court
Rules on January 11, 1999, and these Rules became
effective on May 3, 1999. [48]
The
Legal Information Institute ("LII")
provides a searchable set of the Supreme Court
Rules at a Web site hosted by Cornell University.
The Supreme Court Rules are currently divided
into the following parts: (a) the Supreme Court,
(b) attorneys and counselors, (c) jurisdiction
on writ of certiorari, (d) other jurisdiction,
(e) motions and applications, (f) briefs on
the merits and oral argument, (g) practice and
procedure, (h) disposition of cases, and (i)
definitions and effective date. [49] The LII
Web site lists the Rules by part and provides
a link to the text of each Rule. [50]
Like
the LII, Law Journal Extra! also provides
the Supreme Court Rules online. [51] The Law
Journal Extra! Web site divides the Rules
numerically and provides a hypertext link to
the text of each Rule. [52] While LII has a
search engine at its Web site, Law Journal
Extra! provides the Clerk’s Comments
to the Supreme Court Rules. [53]
The
Clerk’s Comments to the Supreme Court Rules
often indicate how a new Rule differs from its
predecessor. [54] Furthermore, the Clerk’s
Comments often provide information about the
intent or purpose behind a Supreme Court Rule.
[55] Unlike the Federal Rules of Evidence or
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, for example,
few documents provide commentary on the Supreme
Court Rules. Thus, the Law Journal
Extra! Web site may represent a particularly
useful source of information because the Web
site provides the Clerk’s Comments to the
Supreme Court Rules.
The
United States Reports also provide the
full text of the Supreme Court Rules. [56] The
Supreme Court Rules appear in the back of the
bound volumes, and the U.S Reports include
a table of contents to the Supreme Court Rules.
[57]
The Supreme Court Rules do not appear in every
bound volume of the U.S. Reports. Rather,
the U.S. Reports publish the Rules in
the volume that corresponds to the Term in which
the Supreme Court adopted and enacted the Rules.
[58] As previously mentioned in the Tributes
to the Justices section, the disadvantage with
the U.S. Reports is that the series is
published approximately four years after the
Term concludes. Thus, the U.S. Reports
may not be the best resource for finding current
Supreme Court Rules. However, the U.S. Reports
may be particularly helpful to an individual
who is looking for the text of an older Supreme
Court Rule. The U.S. Reports may also
be useful to an individual who is looking for
the text of a Supreme Court Rule that was repealed.
[59]
