WESTLAWNEXTConstitutional Law – Cosgrove Militano

This is what you see when youfirst open WestlawNext!

The search box is designed like Googlefor simplicity.

24/7 assistance

The U.S. Constitution is

found in “Statutes and Court Rules.”

For example, 4th

Amendment

Here you have the text of the 4th Amendment, AND case law

interpreting the 4th Amendment. Click on any of these links.

Click here for case law on these topics.

Case law explaining this aspect of the 4th Amendment: seizure

of persons generally

In Westlaw, whatever court you are in, you will retrieve the ten most recent cases

decided by that court.

We obtained 22 U.S. Supreme Court cases.

Select “Most Detail” to get a

view of how your search

terms are used in the cases.

Your search terms are

highlighted with sufficient detail to help

you determine which case you should

select.

Secondary sources to help you

interpret the cases and

legal concepts

The search results default to the most

relevant first.

You can sort by date so

that the most recent cases

(within the past 5 years) appear first in

the list.

Let’s pick the Windsor

case.

Initial summary with background information and

holding(s)written by Westlaw

attorney-editors to help you

understand the official opinion

1. A court issues an opinion in a case.

2. A copy of the case is obtained by West, where attorney-editors read the cases and pick out the points of law or legal issues in the case.

3. These legal issues or points of law are summarized in a “headnote”.

The actual official opinion of the Court

comes after the Westlaw-

attorney written summary.

The print options screen will default to printing ALL of the pages in the case.

QUESTIONS?Contact Val Waldin at v.waldin@hvcc.edu or 518.629.7319 or Ask a Librarian !