Race, Subordination & Citizenship Seminar

You may contact Bill Sleeman, the course liaison, for research-related questions at bsleeman@law.umaryland.edu.

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, books and government documents 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.

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.

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, please check the library's collection of electronic journals or ask a librarian for help.

Databases

The Thurgood Marshall Law Library provides access to a number of different databases that cover the topic of election law and related political science and public policy topics. Researchers will find that these databases are valuable tools for conducting research during the introductory stage of a project as well as for locating more specialized resources.

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.
CQ Researcher. Contains original reporting on complex and controversial current events and social, political, economic, and international issues.
HeinOnline. 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. MdUSA access via HeinOnline.
Index to Legal Periodicals and Books. Full-text, bibliographic database that cites articles from legal periodicals and indexes law books. Includes full-text coverage for selected periodicals. Password required for off-campus access.
LEXIS. Database of legal and nonlegal information. Requires valid Lexis password.
LexisNexis Primary Sources in U.S. History: Primary Sources in African American History. Access to primary source material, some full text. Includes major federal legislation, Supreme Court decisions, scholarly articles, photographs, autobiographies and manuscript materials.
Westlaw. Database of legal and nonlegal information. Requires valid Westlaw password.

Primary Authorities

"Primary authorities 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).

Legislative Materials

Thomas
United States Code(searchable full text)
Congressional Record (searchable full text)

Administrative Materials

Code of Federal Regulations (searchable full text)
List of Sections Affected
Federal Register (searchable full text)

Judicial Materials

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

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.

Secondary Authorities

"Secondary authority is anything other than primary authority [law] 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.

Agencies, Associations, and Non-Governmental Organizations

Government agencies, think-tanks, scholarly Internet sites, non-profit organizations and blogs may all be sources of valuable background information. When using any of these sites it is important to keep in mind the orientation or affiliation of the resource creator.

Baltimore Chinatown Project. Historical project about the legal and social status of Chinese immigrants who settled and operated businesses in Baltimore during the 20th century before the 1960s.
Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services
Civil Rights law and history electronic books (via Netlibrary)
Department of Homeland Security
- Immigration and Borders
Department of Justice
- Immigration Research Center Virtual Law Library
FirstGov
GPO Access
Historical Publications of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Browse historical documents from the United States Commission on Civil Rights (1957- ).
United States Commission on Civil Rights

Brief Bibliography

The following is a partial list of the Race, Subordination & Citizenship Seminar related materials available in the Thurgood Marshall Law Library. For additional sources on this topic, please check the library's Catalog.

Abrams, K.
Hybridizing citizenship.
University of Richmond Law Review v. 37 no. 4 (May 2003) p. 935-58

Aleinikoff, T. Alexander, et. al. (Ed.)
Citizenship today: global perspectives and practices.
Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, c2001.
K3224.C568 2001

Baubick, Rainer.
Transnational citizenship: membership and rights in international migration.
Aldershot: Edward Elgar, c1994.
K3224.B38 1994

Bosniak, L.
Citizenship and Work.
The North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation v. 27 no. 3 (Spring 2002) p. 497-506

Chlopak, E.
Mandatory Motherhood and Frustrated Fatherhood: The Supreme Court's Preservation of Gender Discrimination in American Citizenship Law.
The American University Law Review v. 51 no. 5 (June 2002) p. 967-98

Council of Europe.
Nationality of spouses of different nationalities and nationality of children born in wedlock: resolutions (77) 12 and (77) 13 adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 27 May 1977 and explanatory memoranda.
Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 1977.
K3230.W6

Barrett, J.
Nguyen v. INS: are sex-based classifications in citizenship laws really constitutional?.
Temple International and Comparative Law Journal v. 16 no. 2 (Fall 2002) p. 391-409

Demuth, S.
The Effect of Citizenship Status on Sentencing Outcomes in Drug Cases.
Federal Sentencing Reporter v. 14 no. 5 (March/April 2002) p. 271-5

Edwards, B.
Let Your Yea Be Yea: The Citizenship Oath, the Charter, and the Conscientious Objector.
University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review v. 60 no. 2 (Spring 2002) p. 39-83

Fernandez, M.
Title 8 U.S.C. {Section} 1409 of the United States Immigration and Nationality Act--Children Born Out of Wedlock: Undermining Fathers' Rights and Perpetuating Gendered Parenthood in Citizenship Law.
Florida Law Review v. 54 no. 5 (December 2002) p. 949-77

Fiss, Owen.
History of the United States Supreme Court: troubled beginnings of the modern state, 1880-1910. Chapter 10: The Chinese Cases: citizenship and the claims of procedure.
New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993.
KF8742.A45 H55 v.8

Franck, Thomas M.
The empowered self: law and society in the age of individualism.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
JC571.F6423 1999

Freeberg, Ellen M.
Regarding equality: rethinking contemporary theories of citizenship, freedom, and the limits of moral pluralism.
Lanham, MD. : Lexington Books, c2002.
JC575.F68 2002

Goldberg, C.
Members only? Designing citizenship requirements for Indian nations.
The University of Kansas Law Review v. 50 no. 3 (April 2002) p. 437-71

Grawert, Rolf.
Staat und StaatsangehÃrigkeit; verfassungsgeschichtliche Untersuchung zur Entstehung der StaatsangehÃrigkeit.
Berlin, Duncker & Humblot [1973].
JF801.G84 1973

Howell, Roger.
The privileges and immunities of state citizenship.
Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins Press, 1918.
JK1756.H8

Jacobson, David.
Rights across borders: immigration and the decline of citizenship.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, c1996.
JF801.J34 1996

Janoski, Thomas.
Citizenship and civil society: a framework of rights and obligations in liberal, traditional, and social democratic regimes.
New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
JC336.J35 1998

Kutz, C.
The Collective Work of Citizenship.
Legal Theory v. 8 no. 4 (December 2002) p. 471-94

Michaels, J.D.
To promote the general welfare: the republican imperative to enhance citizenship welfare rights.
The Yale Law Journal v. 111 no. 6 (April 2002) p. 1457-98

Ritter, G.
Jury Service and Women's Citizenship before and after the Nineteenth Amendment.
Law and History Review v. 20 no. 3 (Fall 2002) p. 479-515

Shevtsov, S. & Viktor Sergeevich.
Citizenship of the USSR: (a legal study) / V. Shevtsov; translated from the Russian by Lenina Ilitskaya].
Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1979.
KLA3.S5 1979

Spectar, J.M.
To ban or not to ban an American Taliban? Revocation of citizenship & statelessness in a state centric system.
California Western Law Review v. 39 no. 2 (Spring 2003) p. 263-302

Tsosie, R.
The challenge of "differentiated citizenship": can state constitutions protect tribal rights?.
Montana Law Review v. 64 no. 1 (Winter 2003) p. 199-244

United Nations. Legal Dept.
Laws concerning nationality. [Prepared by the Division for the Development and Codification of International Law]
New York, United Nations, 1954.
JX1977.A2 L2

United States. Supreme Court.
A report of the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, and the opinions of the judges thereof, in the case of Dred Scott versus John F.A. Sandford. December term, 1856.
New York: Gryphon, c1995.
KF4545.S5 U5 1995b

Van Dyne, Frederick.
Citizenship of the United States.
Rochester, N. Y., The Lawyers' Co-operative Publishing Co., 1904.
KF4700.V3

Walzer, Michael.
Obligations; essays on disobedience, war, and citizenship.
Cambridge, Harvard Univ. Press, 1970.
JC328.3 .W34