Criminal law is governed by an interesting mix of constitutional, statutory, and case law on both the federal and state levels. Additionally, there may be administrative regulations that are relevant in a given situation. The following checklist can be a good starting point:
- Identify your jurisdiction: does your research project involve a state criminal issue, federal, or both?
- Use a secondary source like a treatise to help pinpoint relevant constitutional and/or statutory provisions and interpretive case law that govern in your jurisdiction (e.g., to identify and explain the armed burglary statute, M.G.L. 266 c. 14, if you are prosecuting or defending someone for that offense in Massachusetts).
- Use an annotated version of the appropriate statutory code to read the relevant statutory or constitutional provisions and to lead you to pertinent notes of decisions or secondary sources.
- Expand case law search beyond what you've found via the secondary source(s) and annotated statutory code(s) by using headnotes from known cases or running keyword searches in the relevant case law database.
- Use a citator such as KeyCite or Shepard's to update and verify your research.
- Use a secondary source for forms to help draft appropriate pleadings, motions, responsive filings, etc.
- Keep an eye on current awareness tools, such as blogs, legal newsletters and newspapers, and law review articles to stay up-to-date on developments in the world of criminal law and procedure.
