The last issue of Document Tidbits focused on statutory and administrative law at the federal, state, and municipal level. This issue will focus on case law.
Case law is the collection of published legal decisions of the courts.
In other words, the rule is not in the statutory or administrative law books, but can be found as a principle of law established by a judge in some recorded case. Recently, many courts have made their opinions available to the public via the Internet. In some cases there is a fee associated with retrieving cases. The web sites discussed below can all be accessed free of charge. The entire collection of Supreme Court decisions since 1893 are available via the Internet.