LibGuides: Race & the Law: Topic Selection

Legal and General News Sources related to Race & the Law

Colorlines
Daily news site by Race Forward, an organization that advances racial justice.
Race and Inequity in the News from NYU Law

General Legal News Sources

JURIST This link opens in a new window
Legal News articles updated daily. Most articles contain links to court filings and decisions.

BNA United States Law Week via your Bloomberg login
This weekly publication covers litigation throughout the country. Try searching here for articles on particular state or federal litigation.
Additional Legal News Sources
Additional Legal News Sources are on Westlaw, Lexis, and other Law Databases accessible from the Villanova Law Databases page.

Reports and Studies

Congressional Research Service Reports via U. of North Texas Library This link opens in a new window
Over 15,000 CRS reports on a variety of subjects. These reports are usually well-researched with loads of references.
Congressional Research Reports in the Internet Archive This link opens in a new window

Consider Books and Browse Table of Contents

Race, Racism and American Law by Derrick A. Bell
Call Number: KF 4757 .B41 2008
ISBN: 9780735575745
Publication Date: 2008-07-23
The Sixth Edition of this innovative text written by Derrick Bell continues to provide students with insight into the issues surrounding race in America and an understanding of how the law interprets those issues as well as the factors that directly and indirectly influence the law. The first casebook published specifically for teaching race related law courses, Race, Racism, and American Law is engaging, offering hard-hitting enlightenment, and is an unparalleled teaching tool. Among the features that have made this text a success with both students and instructors through five editions over 35 years:

Derrick Bell's Race, Racism and American Law Table of Contents

Law Blogs

Law Blogs may discuss new and interesting topics in particular areas of law. Here are a few that may be helpful:

ABA Journal Blawg Directory by Topic This link opens in a new window
Directory of more than 4500 legal blogs. Browse by Topic, Author Type, Region, Law School affiliation or Courts covered. NOTE: no new blog sites have been added to the list since 2019 but the existing blogs themselves are likely still current.

Law Professor Blog Network
browse or search by topic to find a blog to read and follow.

Finding Law Review Articles

Want to see what has already been written on a particular topic? Want to read existing articles to get ideas for new or related topics? Have an idea for a unique topic and you want to do a pre-emption search? Or perhaps you want to find law review articles that discuss a particular statute or case? The following sources may be helpful:

Law & Race Commons
Over 1,000 full-text articles on a wide range of topics related to Law & Race. Hosted by the Digital Commons Network.
SSRN Discrimination, Law & Justice eJournal
Law professors often posted drafts of articles on SSRN. SSRN is a great source for articles that will be published in the next year or two (and that are not yet available on Lexis or Westlaw). Caution: check for the most recent version of an article. Drafts are not routinely removed from SSRN when the final published version is available.
SSRN Advanced Search
Try an advanced search on SSRN such as "critical race theory" in title,abstract, or keywords AND then scroll down to Network and select "Law."

Lexis Advance This link opens in a new window
Use Lexis Advance to find law review articles by searching directly for articles OR by Shepardizing a case or statute to find articles on that law.
Westlaw This link opens in a new window
Use Westlaw to find law review articles by searching directly for articles OR by KeyCiting a case or statute to find articles on that law.
HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
Diverse collection of databases including extensive law journals library, current and historical federal materials, specialized collections and more.
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Links to articles and abstracts of articles on HeinOnline, SelectedWorks and SSRN.

Example article: Different Script, Same Caste in the Use of Passive and Active Racism: A Critical Race Theory Analysis on the (Ab)use of House Rules in Race-Related Education Cases

Circuit Splits

US Law Week via BloombergLaw This link opens in a new window
In the first issue of each month, US Law Week lists cases under the heading CIRCUIT SPLITS. To access, search within U.S. Law Week for "circuit splits reported."

Seton Hall Circuit Review
Use for examples of Circuit splits, Each issue has a CURRENT CIRCUIT SPLITS section with brief descriptions of cases.Publication ceased in 2019.

Additional Resources

Subject Guide

Amy Spare

she/her

Email Me