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Prior to the United States Reports becoming the official reporter of the United
States Supreme Court, court decisions were compiled from notes and observations
of the court clerks. These individual reporters were named after the official
court reporter and are still cited by their names. These "nominative" reporters
make up the first ninety volumes of the United States Reports. The individual's
ownership of the nominative reporters ended in 1834 due to a copyright decision,
which is when the United States Reports became the official reporter.
While it may not happen very often, you may still need to verify a citation
from one of the nominative reporters. The following is a list of those reporters,
available in the Wirtz Labor Law Library, that should assist you in this task:
- Vols. 1-4 Dallas (Dall.) 1790-1800 (U.S. Reports vols. 1-4)
- Vols. 1-9 Cranch (Cranch) 1801-1815 (U.S. Reports vols. 5-13)
- Vols. 1-12 Wheaton (Wheat.) 1816-1827 (U.S. Reports vols. 14-25)
- Vols. 1-16 Peters (Pet.) 1828-1842 (U.S. Reports vols. 26-41)
- Vols. 1-24 Howard (How.) 1843-1860 (U.S. Reports vols. 42-65)
- Vols. 1-2 Black (Black) 1862-1862 (U.S. Reports vols. 66-67)
- Vols. 1-23 Wallace (Wall.) 1863-1874 (U.S. Reports vols. 68-90)
You can also search for historical Supreme Court cases on Westlaw in the U.S. Supreme Court Cases - before 1945
database (SCT-OLD) and in HeinOnline's Supreme Court Library
(see the U.S. Reports collection).
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