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The first screen of a case has a lot of information. 1.If you click on either of the yellow flags, you will see a list of cases that have cited this case. 2.Clicking on Graphical View will show you a flowchart of the case going through the court system (see second to last picture below). 3.Clicking on either Briefs and Other Related Documents or Petitions, Briefs & Filings will take you to the end of the opinion where you will see a list of links to briefs and other documents (see last picture below). 4.The name of the case, citation, and date will appear on every screen. Notice that this section also tells you how long the case is if you want to print it (29 pages). 5.The parallel citations for this case. 6.The name of the case, the decision date, and the beginning of a summary supplied by Westlaw. The summary is not official language from the Court. |
Please note that the images below omit the left-hand menu bar and show only the right-hand frame. |
| 1.At the end of the summary you will see the
Court's decision (holding). In Kelo, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the Connecticut Supreme Court decision.
2.Some opinions contain multiple opinions within them ("opinion" is both the name for the entire document and for component sections). Here there are 4 separate opinions contained within the Kelo opinion: The majority opinion written by Justice John Paul Stevens, a concurring opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, a dissent written by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and another dissent written by Justice Clarence Thomas. They will appear in the order listed. |
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West Headnotes comprise an indexing system West uses to organize cases on similar issues. If you click on a headnote, you will get a list of cases that addressed that topic. If you click on 148, for example, you'll get other cases about eminent domain. Headnotes often occupy several screens of a case in Westlaw. |
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| Notice the *469. In print, this case
begins on page 469 of U.S. Reports, the offical reporter of the Supreme Court.
The ** number refers to pagination in
Supreme Court Reports (S.Ct.), the West commerical reporter. If you quote from the case and need to give the page number in your footnote, endnote, parenthetical, bibliography, or works cited, use the *number that appears BEFORE the language you quoted. In print the page number would be at the top of the page. Syllabus is another summary of the case, but this one appears in the official reporter. It is not part of the official opinion, but from the Syllabus on, the text of Kelo, no matter where you find it, will be the same. Note the links to precendents (cases the Court cites as reasons for their decision). Links are also provided for pertinent statutes and other material, so you can easily follow up a point of interest. |
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| This screen, which comes between the syllabus and the majority opinion, repeats some information we saw at the very beginning-- the holding of the Court, the number and author of the included opinions--and also gives the names of the lawyers who argued the case. |  |
| And here it is, the beginning of the official majority opinion
of the Supreme Court. In print, this text would appear on page 472 of volume 545
of U.S. Reports.
Concurring and dissenting opinions will follow immediately after the end of the majority. |
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| If you click the Graphical View link on the left of the screen (see the first image above for a view of the entire screen), you'll see a flowchart of the case's history. |  |
| If you click on the Briefs and Other Related Documents link or the Petitions, Filings, and Briefs link (see the first image above), you'll get a list of links to documents filed in the case. Briefs contain the arguments presented by the lawyers. |  |
Susan Clerc
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