OpenJurist

OpenJurist is an online repository of United States legal opinions that provides free access to decisions issued by federal courts, including the Supreme Court, the Courts of Appeals, and the District Courts. The site aggregates a broad range of federal decisions and presents them in a searchable, readable format.

The platform offers full-text search, browseable indices by court and year, and filters by topic or citation. Each entry typically includes the opinion text along with standard metadata such as decision date, court of origin, and official citation. The goal is to facilitate efficient access to primary legal materials for research and study.

OpenJurist positions itself as a resource that supports open access to legal information for researchers, students, practitioners, and the general public. Content is generally drawn from official court opinions and other public-domain sources, organized to enable straightforward retrieval and comparison of cases.

As with any legal research tool, users should verify critical citations against official reporters and consider cross-referencing multiple sources to ensure completeness and accuracy. Coverage can vary across courts and time periods, and updates may depend on ongoing data integration efforts by the site’s maintainers.

Overall, OpenJurist serves as a publicly accessible alternative or supplement to paid legal databases, contributing to the broader ecosystem of free-law resources that emerged to improve access to judicial decisions.