LibGuides: History: U.S. Government History &amp; Records

California State Legislature

The California State Legislature consists of two houses, the Assembly (80 members), and the Senate (40 members). Members of each house are elected by the people in the districts they represent and are held to term limits.

California Bill Serach (1999-Present)
Search for bills by number, year, house, or within the fill text. Includes analysis written by staff on how the bill will change law, who supports it, budget concerns, and arguments for and against.
California Bill Search (1993-1999)
The full text of bills, resolutions, and constitutional amendments, and their status, history, votes, analyses, and veto messages are available. Includes analysis written by staff on how the bill will change law, who supports it, budget concerns, and arguments for and against.
California State Assembly Journals (1849-2011)
Archived PDFs of the proceedings of the California State Assembly.
California State Assembly Website
Current information about the Assembly, including members, committees, hearings, and offices. Also includes an interactive map to find your representative .
Overview of the California Legislative Process
Glossary of Legislative Terms

California Ballot Initiatives

Ballot initiatives are legislation brought either by the legislature, or citizens (after gathering the required number of signatures), and voted on in statewide general elections.

Overview of Ballot Initiative Process
UC Hastings Law Library – California Ballot Measures Database
The California Ballot Measures Database is a comprehensive, searchable source of information on California ballot propositions and initiatives from 1911 to the present.
Secretary of State- California Initiatives Resources
Includes a history of initiatives from 1912 through 2017; County, City, School District & Ballot Measure Election Results; and Reports on County and Municipal Initiative Measures.

Court Records

WestlawNext Campus Research This link opens in a new window
Legal materials including cases, statutes, and regulations of the U.S. government and state governments as well as full text legal law reviews and journals, newspapers, encyclopedias, briefs, case summaries, treatises, and more.
It includes the legal encyclopedia American Jurisprudence 2nd and American Law Reports, as well as Black's Law Dictionary and Campus Research Legal Guides.

Primary legal information--Cases from courts in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and from the federal courts since 1789; reported and unpublished decisions; statutes and regulations from all 50 states and federal statues published in the United States Code Annotated (USCA); Federal regulations published in the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
Secondary sources--American Jurisprudence 2d, a comprehensive encyclopedia of state and federal law; American Law Reports (ALR) articles that summarize and analyze court decisions on a particular legal issue; hundreds of journals and law reviews from leading law schools
The database also covers news and business informaiton

GUIDES:

LA Law Library Legal Research
Resources from the Los Angeles Country Law Library.
California Courts Published Opinions
Official Reports Opinions (Searchable 1850-Present) of citable, published opinions that reflect post filing corrections.
Famous Trials
Primary sources related to famous trials such as the Lizzie Borden trial, Al Capone, Emit Till, and many more.

United States Congress

Congressional Publications This link opens in a new window
Historical and current Congressional information and publications on all aspects of legislation from 1789 to the present. Provides full-text documents and reports, hearings, legislative histories, congressional working papers and bills, the Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, and the U.S. Code. It also includes member biographical and committee assignment information, voting records, and financial data.
Provides full-text for Congressional Committee Prints, House and Senate Documents and Reports (Congressional Serial Set), Hearings, and Legislative Histories. It also covers full text of congressional working papers and bills, as well as the Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, and the U.S. Code. It provides access to a wide variety of additional information, including member biographical and committee assignment information, voting records, and financial data.

Supreme Court

Supreme Court Historical Society
The Society, a private non-profit organization, is dedicated to the collection and preservation of the history of the Supreme Court of the United States. Incorporated in the District of Columbia in 1974, it was founded by Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, who served as its first honorary chairman.
Supreme Court Case Doctuments (2001-)
Documents including Dockets (2001-), Orders of the Court (2010-), Orders by Circuit (2010-), Granted Cases (2007-), and The Journal of the Supreme Court of the United States (1989-)
The Federal Judicial Center
The Center conducts research and produces resources on the history of the judicial branch of the federal government. These resources include compilations of historical data on the courts, information about judges and judicial administration, as well as publications on federal judicial history. The Center also maintains a biographical directory of Article III judges from 1789 to the present, engages in outreach and education on federal judicial history, and works to promote the preservation of the history of the judicial branch.
More Perfect Podcast
Radiolab's first ever spin-off series, More Perfect, connects you to the decisions made inside the court's hallowed halls, and explains what those rulings mean for "we the people" who exist far from the bench. More Perfect bypasses the wonkiness and tells stories behind some of the court's biggest rulings.

General Resources for Gov't Docs

HathiTrust United States Government Documents Registry
The HathiTrust US Federal Government Documents Registry is a database of metadata intended to represent the comprehensive corpus of U.S. federal documents produced from 1789 to the present.
National Archives and Records Administration
Investigative journalism center, research institute on international affairs, library and archive of declassified U.S. documents.
GovINFO
Digitized materials from all three branches of government.
Federal Depository Library Program Web Archive
Harvested by: Library Services and Content Management, U.S. Government Publishing Office.The Federal Depository Library Program, FDLP, was established by Congress in 1895 to provide free, permanent public access to Federal government information. The US Government Publishing Office administers the FDLP on behalf of the participating libraries and the American people.