Legal Definitions - Shepard's Citations

Shepard's Citations is a crucial legal research tool that allows legal professionals to understand the history and current status of legal authorities such as judicial decisions, statutes, and law review articles.

Think of Shepard's as a comprehensive tracking system. When a lawyer or researcher uses Shepard's, they can see a detailed record of every time a particular case, statute, or article has been cited by other courts, legislatures, or legal scholars. This record indicates not only *when* it was cited but also *how* it was treated – for example, whether a court case was followed, distinguished, criticized, or even overturned by a later decision. This information is vital for ensuring that the legal authority being relied upon is still valid and relevant.

Here are a few examples of how Shepard's Citations might be used:

• Imagine a lawyer preparing a brief for a client. They plan to rely heavily on a landmark Supreme Court case from the 1980s to support their argument. Before submitting the brief, the lawyer would use Shepard's Citations to check the status of that Supreme Court case. Shepard's would reveal if any subsequent Supreme Court decisions have overturned, limited, or significantly reinterpreted the original case, ensuring the lawyer doesn't base their argument on outdated or invalid precedent.

  This example illustrates how Shepard's helps determine if a judicial decision is still "good law" by showing its subsequent treatment by other courts.

• Consider a legal scholar writing an academic paper on the evolution of environmental law. They want to analyze the impact of a specific federal statute passed in the 1970s. The scholar would use Shepard's Citations to find all the court cases that have interpreted that statute, as well as any law review articles that have discussed its provisions. This allows the scholar to trace how the statute has been applied, challenged, and understood over time by both the judiciary and legal academia.

  This demonstrates how Shepard's tracks the interpretation and influence of a statute and its related scholarly discussion.

• Suppose a state legislature is considering amending a particular section of its criminal code. Before proposing changes, legislative staff would use Shepard's Citations to review the history of that specific code section. They would look for any appellate court decisions that have interpreted or applied the section, as well as any prior legislative attempts to amend it. This research helps them understand the current legal landscape surrounding the statute and anticipate potential challenges or unintended consequences of new amendments.

  This shows Shepard's utility in understanding the judicial history and legislative context surrounding a specific statutory provision.