Search Help

SEARCH LOGIC - NEW SEARCH ENGINE

To start your search (accessible by clicking on "Search Opinions" in the menu to the left):

1. To retrieve opinions including ALL of your terms.

To retrieve opinions that include ALL of your search terms, list your search terms with spaces between them in the search box.

Example: A search for MUSIC ORCHESTRA retrieves opinions that include both the term “music” and the term “orchestra.”

Caution: Do not enter words such as “NEAR” or “NOT” unless you want to retrieve opinions that include those specific words.

2. To retrieve opinions including ANY of your terms.

To retrieve opinions that include ANY of your search terms, use the "pipe symbol" (|) between them. 

Example: A search for MUSIC | ORCHESTRA retrieves opinions that include the term “music” or “orchestra.”

Note: This is a vertical bar, not a letter of the alphabet.  Look for this symbol on your keyboard, just above the ENTER key.  You may need to hold down the SHIFT key to access the pipe symbol, if it is on the same key with the backslash symbol.

3. To retrieve opinions that EXCLUDE one or more terms.

To retrieve opinions that exclude certain terms, insert a hyphen (-) before each term you want to exclude.

Example: A search for MUSIC -ORCHESTRA retrieves opinions that include the term “music”, as well as some variations on that word and some synonyms, but not the term “orchestra”.

4. To retrieve opinions that include WORD VARIANTS.

To retrieve opinions that include all forms of a root word, append an asterisk (*) to the end of the root.

Example: A search for DISQUAL* retrieves opinions containing words that start with “disqual,” such as “disqualification,” “disqualified,” “disqualifies,” “disqualify,” “disqualifying” etc.

5. To retrieve opinions that include an OPINION NUMBER or an EXACT PHRASE.

To retrieve opinions that include an opinion number or an exact phrase, enclose the opinion number or phrase in quotation marks.

Example 1: A search for "11-125" retrieves Opinion 11-125 and the 50+ other opinions that mention or cite it.
Example 2: A search for "ORIGINAL LYRICS" retrieves the one opinion containing that phrase.

 

ADDITIONAL HINTS

1. To search for an opinion and all opinions that cite it, simply enter the opinion number in quotation marks.

2. Check your spelling.

3. Capitalization is irrelevant.

4. Each word you type in is a search term.  This includes small words such as "AND," "OR," "NOT," "NEAR," and so forth.  This is not a natural language search, so type in only the specific words you expect to see in the opinion. 

5. Avoid overly common words.  Words such as "JUDGE" or "COURT" are seldom helpful as standalone search terms, since the vast majority of our opinions include one or both of them.  

6. Consider multiple searches using synonyms.  For example, our opinions may use the word disqualification (which appears in the Rules) and/or the word recusal (which does not appear in the Rules).  A judge's child might be referred to as a first-degree relative, child, son, or daughter.