Oyez: U.S. Supreme Court Multimedia

When U.S. Supreme Court decisions are announced, the news is abuzz with the latest on controversial political topics. This site presents thousands of primary sources that give depth to that media coverage.

Features include audio files, abstracts, transcriptions of oral arguments, and written opinions from more than 3,300 Supreme Court cases. The site provides more than 2,000 hours, in audio, of oral arguments from selected cases going back to 1955 and all cases since 1995. Users can access cases through keyword searches or a list of 14 broad categories, including civil rights, due process, first amendment, judicial power, privacy, and unions. The site also provides easy access to the 20 “most popular cases”—such as Roe v. Wade (abortion), Gideon v. Wainwright (right to counsel), Plessy v. Ferguson (segregation), Grutter v. Bollinger (racial preferences in school admissions decisions), and Bush v. Gore. Additional resources include “The Pending Docket,” case highlights, voting records, and a forum for discussing recent cases.

Read a more in-depth review written by Melvin I. Urofsky of Virginia Commonwealth University at http://historymatters.gmu.edu.

Or, explore other website reviews at http://historymatters.gmu.edu.