Justice Faces reports on judges, courtroom proceedings, criminal cases, verdicts, and the legal issues behind important trials. This page is for readers who want to keep going after the article ends: to read a court’s own order, check a docket, look up a judge’s official record, or understand a term a lawyer used on the stand.
Each source below is described by what it is and who runs it. Courts and government agencies are labeled official. University projects, nonprofits, and private companies are labeled as such, because the difference matters when you decide how much weight a result deserves.
Court records are the best check on courtroom reporting, ours included. Headlines compress, clips lose context, and summaries can miss a detail. A court’s own docket, opinion, or judgment shows what a judge actually decided and when.
Last reviewed October 2026. Websites change, so confirm important details at the source.
How to Use These Legal Resources
- Start with the court that heard the case. Federal and state courts keep separate records, and the right website depends on which one you need.
- Prefer official sources. Use secondary research sites to find a case, then confirm the result against the court’s own material when it is available.
- Expect gaps. Not every case, filing, or hearing is online, and some records are sealed or restricted.
- Check the date. A ruling can be appealed, reversed, or superseded.
Official U.S. Supreme Court and Federal Court Resources
Supreme Court of the United States (official)
The Court’s website publishes opinions, case dockets, argument calendars, transcripts, and audio. Transcripts have been posted on the day of argument since the October 2006 Term, and audio of arguments has been posted free on the site since the October 2010 Term. Older recordings are held by the National Archives.
Best for: Reading what the Court decided and how arguments went.
Access: Free.
Visit the Supreme Court website | How transcripts and audio are made available
United States Courts (official)
The federal judiciary’s national website includes a Court Locator for finding any federal court’s own site, the current federal rules, court forms, a legal glossary, and educational material.
Best for: Finding the official website of a specific federal district or appeals court.
Access: Free.
Find a federal court
PACER (official)
Public Access to Court Electronic Records is the federal judiciary’s system for dockets and filings in district, appeals, and bankruptcy courts. You need an account. Access costs $0.10 per page, with a cap of $3.00 per document and a fee waiver when quarterly charges stay low. Courthouse terminals let you view records without a fee. Not every document is available, and sealed material is not public.
Best for: Reading a federal docket and the filings in it.
Access: Registration and per-page fees apply. Check the current fee schedule on the site.
Visit PACER
govinfo (official, U.S. Government Publishing Office)
A free source of authenticated federal publications, including the U.S. Code, the Federal Register, and the Code of Federal Regulations. It also hosts opinions from participating federal courts, though not every court contributes.
Best for: Official copies of federal laws, regulations, and many federal opinions.
Access: Free.
Visit govinfo | U.S. Courts opinions on govinfo
Federal Judicial Center (official research agency of the federal courts)
Its history pages include the Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, covering Supreme Court justices, appeals judges, and district judges appointed since 1789. Magistrate and bankruptcy judges are not included. See also the judge research section below.
Visit the Federal Judicial Center directory
State Courts and State Legal Resources
Most criminal trials in the United States happen in state courts, and each state runs its own system. Online access differs widely: some states offer statewide search portals, others leave records to individual counties, and some records are available only at the clerk’s office.
National Center for State Courts (independent nonprofit)
NCSC supports state court administration and maintains a hub of information, including links to state court websites.
Best for: Reaching a state’s judicial branch when you do not know the address.
Access: Free.
Visit the NCSC information hub
Texas Judicial Branch (official, state)
An example of what a state judicial site can offer: appellate case search, released orders and opinions, a judicial directory, and links to court video channels. Other states’ sites differ.
Visit the Texas Judicial Branch
How to find the right state court website
- Identify the state and county from the case coverage.
- Identify the court level: trial court, intermediate appeals court, or state supreme court.
- Start at the state’s judicial branch website, or use the NCSC hub to reach it.
- For trial court records, look for the county or district clerk, who often holds the file.
- Search by the party name, case number, or the name of the judge.
Jurisdiction matters. A Florida trial court, a Texas appeals court, and a federal district court follow different rules and keep records in different places.
Court Opinions and Case Law Research
A judicial opinion is a judge’s written explanation of a decision. These services help you find opinions. For anything you plan to rely on, confirm it against the court’s own publication.
CourtListener (nonprofit, Free Law Project; secondary source)
A free archive of opinions, oral argument audio, and judge information. Its RECAP Archive includes federal filings, but only documents that someone has already retrieved from PACER. Coverage varies by court and period, and the site publishes a coverage page.
Best for: Free searching of opinions and some federal dockets.
Access: Free.
See what CourtListener covers
Cornell Legal Information Institute (academic nonprofit; secondary source)
A free public-service project of Cornell Law School with Supreme Court decisions, federal and state law, and the Wex legal dictionary.
Best for: Readable access to law with plain-language explanations.
Access: Free.
Visit LII Wex
Justia (private legal portal; secondary source)
Free federal and state case law and codes. It also offers select federal dockets and filings. Selection is partial, and a docket sheet is a record of filings, not a finding about anyone’s conduct.
Access: Free.
Visit Justia U.S. Law
Google Scholar, Case Law option (secondary source)
Select “Case law” under the search box to search opinions from federal and many state courts. “How cited” links show later opinions that mention a case, but Scholar is not a citator, so it will not tell you reliably whether a decision is still good law.
Access: Free.
Visit Google Scholar
Caselaw Access Project (Harvard Law School Library Innovation Lab; secondary source)
A digitized collection of more than 6.7 million published U.S. court decisions from Harvard’s library, spanning about 360 years. It is a historical collection, so use it for older decisions rather than recent ones.
Access: Free.
Visit the Caselaw Access Project
Criminal Case Records and Court Dockets
Learn the vocabulary before you search:
- Docket: the running list of filings and events in a case. It shows what was filed, not whether the claims in it are true.
- Charging document: the paper that starts a prosecution, such as a complaint, information, or indictment. It is an accusation.
- Filed document: any motion, brief, or exhibit in the case file.
- Opinion or order: a judge’s written ruling on a question in the case.
- Verdict: the jury’s or judge’s decision on a charge.
- Final judgment: the court’s formal decision ending the case in the trial court, including sentence where one applies. An appeal can follow.
An arrest is not a charge, a charge is not a conviction, and an indictment is not a finding of guilt. A prosecutor’s press release is one party’s account, not a court finding.
Where to look
- Federal cases: the court’s own site and PACER. CourtListener’s RECAP Archive may have free copies of some documents.
- State cases: the state judicial branch or county clerk site, found through the NCSC hub.
- Appeals: the appellate court’s own site, which publishes opinions and often case status.
Records access varies by state, county, and document type. Sealed records, juvenile records, and protected information may not be available to the public, and some cases cannot be researched online at all.
Official Courtroom Videos and Hearing Recordings
Know what kind of recording you are watching:
- Official court recording: produced or posted by the court itself.
- Authorized livestream: a broadcast the court permits, often by a court or a licensed news pool.
- News organization coverage: a media outlet’s recording or footage, shaped by that outlet’s editorial choices.
- Third-party upload: a clip posted by an individual or channel. Check where it came from before treating it as official.
Not every trial is recorded or livestreamed. Federal trial courts generally do not allow cameras, though courts of appeals may provide audio or video of appellate hearings. State rules vary by state and court.
Supreme Court argument audio and transcripts (official)
Audio and transcripts are posted on the Court’s site under Oral Arguments. See How transcripts and audio are made available.
Oyez (university-based project; unofficial)
A free multimedia archive for the Supreme Court run through Chicago-Kent College of Law, with audio, case summaries, and decision information.
Visit Oyez
CourtListener oral argument collection (nonprofit; third-party aggregator)
Hosts a large collection of argument audio. Verify against the court if the recording’s origin matters.
See CourtListener coverage
State court channels
Some state judiciaries publish hearings. The Texas Judicial Branch lists court video channels. For other states, start at the judicial branch site.
Researching Judges and Judicial History
Match the question to the source:
| Question | Best starting source |
|---|---|
| Which federal judges served, when, and on which court? | Federal Judicial Center directory |
| What is a judge’s current court assignment? | The court’s own official site |
| How was a federal judge confirmed? | Congress.gov nomination records |
| How is a state judge selected and when did they win election? | State judicial branch and the official state election office |
| Has a judge faced discipline? | The state’s judicial conduct commission, where one exists (see the Texas Judicial Branch site for its commission) |
| What is the broader context of judicial selection and elections? | Ballotpedia (nonprofit, nonpartisan, unofficial; confirm key details against official sources) |
Do not rely on an unofficial biography as the sole source for a disputed career detail. A judge’s public profile also does not tell you what the judge thought in any particular case. Only the written ruling does.
Many names on TV court shows are arbitrators or retired judges working in a private or entertainment setting, not sitting judges. Our explainer on how TV court shows work legally covers the difference.
U.S. Laws, Statutes, and Court Rules
In plain terms:
- Constitution: the supreme law, setting out government powers and individual rights.
- Statute: a law passed by a legislature.
- Regulation: a rule issued by an executive agency under authority from a statute.
- Court rule: procedures a court adopts for how cases are handled.
- Judicial opinion: a judge’s decision applying and interpreting the above.
United States Code (official, House Office of the Law Revision Counsel)
The official codification of general and permanent federal statutes. Third-party sites may lag behind it, so check here for the current text.
Visit the U.S. Code
Constitution Annotated (official, Library of Congress)
The Constitution with analysis and the Supreme Court decisions interpreting each provision, prepared by the Congressional Research Service.
Visit the Constitution Annotated
Federal rules (official, U.S. Courts)
The national rules of criminal procedure, evidence, appellate procedure, and civil procedure.
Visit the current federal rules
For federal regulations, use govinfo. For state laws and court rules, use the state legislature’s and judicial branch’s own sites. A general legal information site may not carry the most recent official version, so confirm anything you plan to rely on.
Two Justice Faces explainers connect to these resources: your rights during a traffic stop and when police can search without a warrant.
Legal Terms and Courtroom Procedures
Cornell’s Wex is a free legal dictionary and encyclopedia drafted under LII supervision by Cornell Law students and graduates. Browse Wex. The U.S. Courts site also publishes a legal glossary and educational material, and Oyez explains Supreme Court cases.
A few terms that trip up readers (procedures differ by state and by federal court):
- Arraignment: the hearing where a defendant is formally told the charges and enters a plea.
- Indictment: a formal accusation, often issued by a grand jury. It is not evidence of guilt.
- Motion to suppress: a request to exclude evidence on the ground it was obtained unlawfully.
- Sustained or overruled: the judge agrees or disagrees with an objection.
- Hearsay: a statement made outside court and offered to prove its truth. Many exceptions apply.
- Beyond a reasonable doubt: the standard the prosecution must meet in a criminal case.
- Mistrial: a trial ended without a verdict.
- Acquittal and conviction: a not-guilty verdict ends that charge, while a guilty verdict or plea leads to sentencing.
- Probation and parole: probation is a sentence served under supervision in the community. Parole is supervised release after part of a prison term.
For a Texas example involving deferred adjudication, see our felony case study before Judge Stephanie Boyd.
Legal Journalism, Court Access, and Reporting Ethics
A Journalist’s Guide to the Federal Courts (official, U.S. Courts)
A guide for reporters on federal court access, court documents, and what may and may not be recorded. It is a reference, not a statement of Judicial Conduct policy.
Read the guide
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (nonprofit)
Publishes court access guidance and operates a legal hotline for journalists.
Visit RCFP
Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics (professional association)
A widely used code covering accuracy, fairness, and accountability. It is voluntary and is not law.
Read the SPJ Code of Ethics
Check each court’s own rules on recording, devices, and conduct before attending or reporting on a hearing.
How to Verify Courtroom Claims and Legal Information
- Identify the court and jurisdiction. Federal or state? Which county or district? A ruling means little without the court that issued it.
- Find the court’s official website. Use the federal Court Locator or the NCSC hub.
- Search for the case or docket, where public access exists. Use the party name, case number, or judge’s name.
- Find the underlying order, opinion, or judgment. A docket entry confirms something was filed. The order or judgment confirms what was decided.
- Check the date and procedural status. Is the case pending, decided, or on appeal?
- Separate allegation from finding. Arrest, charge, indictment, verdict, and sentence are different stages. Do not treat an earlier stage as a later one.
- Look for appeals or later rulings. A decision can be affirmed, reversed, or superseded.
- Compare the report to the primary source. Check names, dates, counts, and quotes against the record, including ours.
Federal and state procedures differ, and not every case has an online docket. Some filings require fees or are not public. When the record is not available, say so rather than filling the gap with a secondary account.
Our coverage tries to follow this approach. The Caylen Deller trial article separates what prosecutors alleged from what the jury decided, and the Timothy Hauschultz trial coverage shows how a case in progress is reported before a verdict. The Judge Joe Brown law license explainer walks through a 2014 contempt case and the questions it raised.
More Courtroom Reporting from Justice Faces
- Trials and verdicts: Caylen Deller trial, Timothy Hauschultz trial, and the Faith Hedgepeth murder trial.
- Sentencing: Mark Daniel Lewis sentencing before Judge Boyd and Judge Jeannine Pratt’s Caleb Flynn rulings.
- Judges: Judge Stephanie Boyd’s biography and Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s biography. Browse all judge profiles.
- Categories: Court Cases and Legal Basics.
Important Disclaimer
This page is an educational and informational directory. Justice Faces is not a law firm and does not provide legal representation or legal advice through this page. It is not a substitute for advice from a qualified attorney. External websites are run by their own owners, and Justice Faces does not control their accuracy, availability, or continued operation. Verify important information against current official sources. See our full Disclaimer.
Contact Justice Faces
Spotted a broken link, an outdated description, or a resource we should add? Contact us. We also welcome suggestions for judges and cases to cover.