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First Amendment Clinic Research Guide

This guide is for clinic students researching First Amendment issues.

Searching Cases

When searching for cases, you can use a couple of different approaches. Some terms are usually written together in an opinion, such as prior restraint. In this instance, you could search: (first or 1st) +1 amendment and "prior restraint", putting prior restraint in quotations. Other terms may be written in a variety of ways, such as viewpoint discrimination. For this, you could search (first or 1st) +1 amendment and viewpoint /3 discrimination

 

Westlaw

To search for federal cases, from the main search page, click on Federal Materials > Federal Cases. To search for state cases, from the main search page, click on State Materials > Georgia > All Georgia State Cases. After you run a search, you can filter by court, such as 11th Circuit. You can also search within results for the facts of your case such as cases that take place in a newspaper setting. 

When running a terms and connectors search in Westlaw, here are the most frequently used connectors:

Image of Westlaw connectors

 

Lexis

To search for federal case, from the main search page, click on Federal > All Federal Cases. To search for state cases, from the main search page, click on State > Georgia > Georgia State Cases, Combined. You can run your searches and then filter afterwards by court, such as 11th circuit. You can also search within results for the facts of your case, such as those that take place in the context of county governments. 

When running a terms and connectors search in Lexis, here are the most frequently used connectors:

 

Image of Lexis connectors

Searching Statutes

Georgia has both an Open Records Act, and an Open Meetings Act. You can search the Table of Contents of the Georgia Code (see below) for both acts. You can also use the annotations to the act, both case annotations and secondary sources annotations, for additional information.

 

Westlaw

From the main search page, click on State Materials > Georgia and then scroll to Georgia Statutes and Court Rules. In the right hand bar, scroll all the way to the end to Title Search, and you can search for Open Records Act or Open Meetings Act.

 

Lexis

From the main search page, click on State > Georgia and then scroll to Official Code of Georgia Annotated. Click the button for Table of Contents (TOC). Search for Open Records Act or Open Meetings Act.

 

How to Get from a Bill to a Code Section

For the most recent legislative session, go into Westlaw's Georgia Enacted Legislation (Sessions Laws) database, and find your bill or act number. Once you click on it, there will be a tab at the top of the screen for Statutes Affected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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