All federal courts of appeal are online but the case law only goes back a few years, in the best of situations. Interestingly, the federal government has all of this historical case law available, 1930-present, to place on the Internet, and is still weighing the decision. About 30 states have their case opinions on the Web and, like federal appellate cases, they go back one year. A Bulletin Board System run by the State Bar has the court opinions 1977-1991. Let's hope that they will make this database available on the Web.
Significant drawbacks weigh down the utility of court opinions.
Also, Shepards Citations, to check other uses of a case, are not free on the Internet, though the service is available for a paid subscription. For the prosecutor doing legal research, use the Internet to search statutes and recent case law. Use Westlaw, Lexis or a CD-ROM to search historical case law and Shepardize cases. For example, for a case handed down yesterday by the Supreme Court, try the Internet. Until some additional problems are solved in case law on the Net, public lawyers are advised to use a combination of old and new approaches to legal research.