Asian / Pacific Americans and the Law Seminar

Getting Started | Journals and Law Reviews | Databases | Agencies, Associations, and Non-Governmental Organizations | Additional Electronic Resources | Bibliography | Legal Resources

Getting Started

As in all projects, unless you are already knowledgeable about the topic area, it is best to start with introductory resources and then to consult more focused works; moving from secondary to primary resources.

Articles and books can provide you with an overview of your topic and help you think of search terms that you might not have thought of otherwise. They will also cite primary authorities such as statutes and case law. You can then use the primary sources cited in the secondary sources as a jumping off point to find other primary sources.

  • Shepardize or KeyCite them to see what other sources have cited them;
  • Read cases to see what other sources they cite;
  • On Westlaw or in West Digests, look up the topics and key numbers in the cases you've already read to find other cases that address the same issues;
  • On Lexis, use "More Like This" to find other sources with wording or citation patterns similar to the document you started with;
  • Read annotations to statutes to find cross references to cases that have analyzed them or regulations that have been issued under their authority.

Journals and Law Reviews

The two main indexes to law journals are LegalTrac and Index to Legal Periodicals & Books (which includes books as well). These indexes include references to many journals not included in Westlaw or Lexis databases and in some cases provide access to the full text electronically. Each of these two online indexes has a parallel print version: the Current Law Index (K33 .C87), and the Index to Legal Periodicals (K9 .N32) are shelved near the print journals on level 1. The Index to Legal Periodicals is particularly helpful if you need to find articles published prior to 1980. Another very important and useful tool for locating articles in law reviews and bar association journals is HeinOnline. A full-text, image-based collection of more than 260 legal periodical titles. Coverage for each journal starts at its inception and continues to the most current volume allowed under contract between Hein and the journal. Hein-On-Line also includes coverage of the Federal Register from 1967 to 1980. .

Additionally, many journals not subscribed to directly in a print version are available in electronic form via one of the library's databases. The list below of subscription databases should help you get started in locating these resources.

Most print journals are shelved on level 1 of the library, in alphabetical order by journal title. Many of these titles also have an electronic version. To find out if the library has a particular journal title in electronic format, first check the Full Text Citation Linker (be aware that the Linker does not offer full coverage of all online full text at the library, and requires a Blackboard login, journal title, and year), or ask a librarian for help.

Electronic Journals


Subscription Databases

The databases below will provide access to a variety of primary and secondary sources made available in electronic form.

  • Academic Search Premier. A general academic tool offering indexing and abstracts for more than 4,500 journals, including access to the full text of more than 3,600 journals.
  • HeinOnline. Full-text, image-based collection of more than 700 legal periodical titles. Coverage for each journal starts at its inception and continues to the most current volume allowed under contract between Hein and the journal. Hein-On-Line also includes coverage of the Federal Register from 1936 to 1980.
  • LexisNexis. Database of legal and nonlegal information. Requires valid Lexis password.
  • LLMC Digital (Law Library Microform Consortium). This is the digital version of the LLMC microfilm collection, which consists primarily of historic government documents. An excellent resource for federal laws, administrative regulations and administrative decisions.
  • U.S. Law Week/Supreme Court Today (Tracks every Supreme Court petition and case on the docket, from filing to final disposition and highlights important federal and state legal developments, non-decisional and pre-decisional, across specialized fields).
  • Westlaw. Database of legal and nonlegal information. Requires valid Westlaw password.

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Agencies, Associations, and Non-Governmental Organizations

Additional Electronic Resources

Select Bibliography

The following is a partial list of materials available in the Thurgood Marshall Law Library. For additional sources on this topic, please check the library's Catalog or check with a librarian.


Ancheta, Angelo N. Race, rights, and the Asian American experience (2nd ed.). New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2006. Library - KF4757.A75 A53 2006.

Chang, Robert S. Disoriented: Asian Americans, Law and the Nation State [Electronic Book]. New York: New York University Press, 1999. Access via the library catalog.

Chin, Gabriel J., The Civil Rights Revolution Comes to Immigration Law: The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, 75 North Carolina Law Review 273 (1996).

Chou, Rosalind. The myth of the model minority: Asian Americans facing racism. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers, c2008. Library - E184.A75 C515 2008.

Cox, Ted W. The Toledo incident of 1925: three days that made history in Toledo, Oregon: the true story of an angry mob, the Japanese -Asians they forced out of town, and the lawsuit that followed. Corvallis, Or. : Old World Publications, c2005. Library - F884.T65 C68 2005.

Da, X. S., Education and Labor Relations: Asian Americans and Blacks as Pawns in the Furtherance of White Hegemony. 13 Michigan Journal of Race & Law 309 (Fall 2007).

Di Pasquale, Cynthia. Upholding the Rights of Citizens, JD Alumni Magazine, Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 8 (2006). - in Digital Commons.

Gee, H., Asian Americans and Citizenship Rights. 8 Rutgers Race and the Law Review 51 (2006).

Hiraldo, C., Frito with Salsa: Asian Latinos and the Future of the United States. 15 Asian American Law Journal 47 (May 2008).

Hong, K. N. S., Understanding Native Hawaiian Rights: Mistakes and Consequences of Rice v. Cayetano. 15 Asian American Law Journal 9 (May 2008).

Howard, John. Concentration camps on the home front: Japanese Americans in the house of Jim Crow. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008. Library - D769.8.A6 H69 2008.

Hwang, R, Killing Spawned Asian American Civil Rights Movement. 88 The Michigan Bar Journal 30 (May 2009).

Jung, Moon-Ho. Coolies and cane: race, labor, and sugar in the age of emancipation. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. Library - F380.C5 J865 2006.

Kibria, Nazli, Contested Meanings of "Asian American": Racial Dilemmas in the Contemporary US, 21 Racial and Ethnic Studies 939 (1998).

Kuo, Joyce, Excluded, Segregated and Forgotten: A Historical View of the Discrimination of Chinese Americans in Public Schools, 5 Asian Law Journal 181 (1998).

Lau, H., Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity: American Law in Light of East Asian Developments. 31 Harvard Journal of Law & Gender 67 (Winter 2008).

Lee, S., The De-Minoritization of Asian Americans: A Historical Examination of the Representations of Asian Americans in Affirmative Action Admissions Policies at the University of California. 15 Asian American Law Journal 129 (May 2008).

McClain, Charles J., The Chinese Struggle for Civil Rights in Nineteenth-Century America, 1850-1870, 72 California Law Review 529 (1984).

Monahan, J. L., Asian-Americans and Bar Diversity Efforts. 53 Louisiana Bar Journal 120/1 (August/September 2005).

Muller, Eric L. American inquisition: the hunt for Japanese American disloyalty in World War II. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, c2007. Library - D769.8.A6 M85 2007.

Romero, V. C., Asians, Gay Marriage, and Immigration: Family Unification at a Crossroads. 15 Indiana International & Comparative Law Review 337 (2005).

Stevens, Todd, Tender Ties: Husbands' Rights and Racial Exclusion in Chinese Marriage Cases, 1882-1924, 27 Law & Social Inquiry 271 (2002).

United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Latin Americans of Japanese Descent Act : report of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, United States Senate to accompany S. 381, to establish a fact-finding commission to extend the study of a prior commission to investigate and determine facts and circumstances surrounding the relocation, internment, and deportation to Axis countries of Latin Americans of Japanese descent from December 1941 through February 1948, and the impact of those actions by the United States, and to recommend appropriate remedies, and for other purposes. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 2008. Access via GPO.

United States. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Asian American and Pacific Islander Work Group. Asian American and Pacific Islander Work Group report to the chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. [Washington, D.C.] : U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, [2008?] - access via GPO.

Volpp, Leti, Divesting Citizenship: On Asian American History and the Loss of Citizenship Through Marriage. 53 UCLA Law Review 405 (December 2005).

Volpp, Leti, "Obnoxious to Their Very Nature": Asian Americans and Constitutional Citizenship, 8 ASIAN LAW JOURNAL 71 (2001).

WTVS/Detroit. Who Killed Vincent Chin? [videorecording] . New York, N.Y. : Filmakers Library, c1988. Library - Video HT1521 .W4 1988.

Wu, Frank H. Yellow: race in America beyond Black and white. New York: Basic Books, c2002. Library - E184.O6 W84 2002.

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Legal Resources

Primary Authorities

"Primary authorities [law] are authorized statements of the law by governmental institutions. Such documents include the written opinions of courts (case law); constitutions; legislation; rules of court and the rules, regulations and opinions of administrative agencies." An Introduction to Legal Research. Jacobsten, Merskey and Dunn (1998).

Federal Legislative Materials

Federal Administrative Materials

Judicial Materials

NOTE: for both more comprehensive and more precise case law searches be sure to check either Lexis or Westlaw.

Lexis Tip: If you find one good case on Lexis, you may be able to find others by identifying the headnote that best describes the issue of interest to you, then clicking "More Like This Headnote," or by Shepardizing the case to find other cases that have cited it for the issue represented by the headnote.

Westlaw Tip: If you find one good case on Westlaw, you may be able to find others by identifying the headnote(s) that best describes the issue of interest to you, then clicking "Most Cited Cases" for that headnote. You could also try clicking "KeyCite Notes" to fine other cases that have cited your case for the issue represented by that headnote.

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Secondary Authorities

"Secondary authority is anything other than primary authority that a court could use as a basis for decision, should the matter you are researching come before a court...Secondary authority includes commentary sources...treatises, periodicals, dictionaries, and encyclopedias of various sorts." The Process of Legal Research: Successful Strategies. Kunz, Schmedemann, et al. (1992).

Legal Encyclopedias

Legal encyclopedias are a secondary source for understanding the law. They are an excellent resource for starting research particularly in an unfamiliar area of the law. Usually arranged alphabetically by subject the brief articles will contain citations to case law and statutes relevant to the topic.

  • West's Maryland Law Encyclopedia (KFM1265.W3)

Two other, more general, legal encyclopedias are:

  • Corpus Juris Secundum [commonly referred to as CJS] ( KF154 .C57)
  • American Jurisprudence [commonly referred to as AMJUR] (KF154 .A51)

Commentaries

Like legal encyclopedias commentaries are a secondary source that can provide valuable background when approaching a topic area that may be new to the researcher. There are a number of commentary types available although almost all share some basic features - detailed analysis of the issues represented by a particular case or series of cases; annotations to case law and relevant statutes; and some type of internal finding aid or index. The American Law Reports is one of the most frequently consulted type of commentary.

  • ALR (American Law Reports) (REF KF132.L2)

Additional sources of secondary material: hornbooks, nutshells, treatises, and restatements can be located by using the library's catalog.

Maryland Materials

General

Researching Maryland Law - A comprehensive guide to locating Maryland legal resources.

Ghost Hunting: Searching for Maryland Legislative History - (courtesy the author, Michael S. Miller, Director of the Maryland State Law Library, 1977-2005)

Judiciary

Records and Briefs (KFM1248.9)
The Thurgood Marshall Law Library receives the records and briefs of reported cases from both the Court of Appeals and the Court of Special Appeals. The earlier ones, from 1948 for the Court of Appeals and from 1967 for the Court of Special Appeals are in paper format and are shelved in the Maryland Collection on level two. The later ones, from the October 1979 term, are on microfiche are are filed on level one.

 

2009. You may contact Bill Sleeman, the course liaison, for research-related questions.

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