A list of web resources for fast, thorough legal research I put together for Introduction to Law. It was more than a little disturbing to me as a former librarian and FOIA officer that the state of Colorado farms its public statutes out to LexisNexis rather than managing their own website. The heavy reliance on the three dominant legal research companies (Lexis, Westlaw, and Loislaw) also made me uneasy. Call me a hippie or a hacker but I do believe that some information is meant to be free-as-in-beer and free-as-in-speech.
Primary Sources
Citation Web Location
State statute (CCR, CRS, COR) Colorado Constitution, Court Rules, Revised Statutes
United States Code (USC) United States Code
Cornell University browsable USC
Government Printing Office prior year codes
United States Code – Annotated (USCA) Westlaw signin
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Annualized GPO edition
Local ordinance El Paso County ordinances
Secondary Sources
Citation Web Location
State digest Colorado Law Digest purchase page
Federal digest US Federal Law Digest purchase page
American Law Reports Lexis signin
Encyclopedia Wex, Legal Information Institute free encyclopedia
State LoisLaw Connect federal + one state ordering page
Corpus Juris Secundum Westlaw signin
Periodicals & treatises Hein Online signin
University of Colorado Law Review
Legal (Para)Eagle: Kimberley Hoff's legal blog 