MEDIA LAW (JOUR 3633)
As we discussed in class, there are two separate court systems in the
United States. Your case may come from either, at nearly any level.
The way you find out is to look at your case citation.
Consider this citation for Posadas de Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Co.:
478 U.S. 328 (1986)
The parts of the citation are
Vol. Reporter Page Date of Decision
478 U.S. 328 (1986)
So, when you go to the law library to find this case, you would look for Volume 478 of the United States Reports, the official reporter for decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. Go to page 328 and that's where your case begins.
Supreme Court Reporters -- U.S. and S.Ct.
The fact that the case was in U.S. means that it was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the decision was made in 1986.
However, if your citation looks like this -- 113 S.Ct. 2696 (1993) -- it too is a case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. This is the abbreviation for the Supreme Court Reporter, the reporter published by West Publishing. Opinons are published earlier in S.Ct. than in U.S.
Another thing you know when you find out your case is a Supreme
Court case is that it was heard by nine justices (unless there was a
vacancy or abstention). It also is the law of the land and cannot be
appealed further.
Federal Reporters -- F.3d and F.2d
If your case has not made it to the U.S. Supreme Court (or certiorari was denied), and it began in federal court, the citation will look something like this:
107 F.3d 1328 (9th Cir. 1997)
Your case will be found the third series of Federal Reporter, in Volume 107, beginning on page 1328. (Some cases you run into might come from the second series, and the abbreviation would be F.2d.)
The case above was heard in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appeals courts in the western United States. (See page 9 in your textbook for a map of Circuit Courts and which states they cover.) The court's decision was made in 1997.
Courts of Appeals decisions are usually made by three judges.
The citation may contain even more information:
32 F.3d 733 (1994), cert. denied 115 S.Ct. 897 (1995).
This lets you know that the case has definitely stopped at the
Court of Appeals level. One of the parties tried to have the
case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, but certiorari was denied. When
you look up a case like this, you will want to read the case in the
Federal Reporter, because the Supreme Court Reporter will say only
that cert was denied. No details of the case will be given.
Federal Supplement -- F.Supp.
If your case has not made it to the appeals stage but has been heard only by one court at the trial level, its citation will look something like this:
723 F.Supp. 1347 (W.D. Mo. 1989).
This citation tells you to look for Volume 723 of the Federal Supplement and turn to page 1347. The citation also tells you that the case was heard in the Federal Court of the Western District of Missouri and was decided in 1989.
Usually only one judge hears a district court case, so there will
not be any concurrences or dissents.
State Courts of Appeal -- Regional Reporters
If yours is a state case, your citation may refer to a regional reporter. (West's Regional Reporter System is shown on page 625 in your textbook.) Your citation might look like this:
678 P.2d 431 (1984)
This case is reported in Volume 678 of the second series of the Pacific Reporter, the largest of the regional reporters. The case will begin on page 431 and the decision was made in 1984. How many judges hear the appeal depends on what that state's law dictates.
Again, the citation may tell you that the case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Remember that a case may go to the U.S. Supreme Court either through the federal system or from the highest court of appeals in a state system. A citation like this:
340 So. 2d 914 (Fla. 1976), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 930 (1977).
tells you that the case was heard by the Florida Supreme Court,
and the U.S. Supreme Court did not accept it for review.
State Courts of Appeal -- State Reporters
Your state case on appeal may have been reported in an official State Reporter. If so, your citation will look like this:
293 Ark. 26 (1987)
Again, the decision may have been appealed and denied. If so,
cert. denied will be added onto the end of the citation, with
a U.S. citation of its own.
(Additional information is in Appendix A, Finding and Reading the
Law, in the optional textbook: Middleton, )