Now that I'm somewhat settled into my new position at Yale, I hope to begin posting again on a regular basis...

AltLaw, a joint project between Columbia University and the University of Colorado, offers users free access to U.S. Supreme Court and Circuit Court of Appeals decisions. Best of all, the site includes full text search functionality. Here's what the developers have to say about the database on the site's "About" page:

The law is meant to belong to the people, but it can be surprisingly hard to find. Case reports, a major part of the laws of the United States, are hard to get at, and even when on the Internet, rarely searchable. To get full access you generally need either a library of law reports, or an expensive subscription to an online database, which can cost hundreds of dollars per hour.

AltLaw is a small effort to change that—to make the common law a bit more common. AltLaw provides the first free, full-text searchable database of Supreme Court and Federal Appellate case reports. It is a resource for attorneys, legal scholars, and the general public.

Thus far, the coverage is not much better than other free online resources, most notably FindLaw. For most jurisdictions, AltLaw only goes back to about the early 1990's. This includes the U.S. Supreme Court, which includes cases dating back to May 1991. The site notes that cases are being added daily, and with the database still in beta status, there is certainly hope for more comprehensive coverage. In addition, work is apparently in progress to add West Reporter citations, a vital feature missing from just about every free case law resource on the web.

[via Law Librarian Blog]