For next week (Tuesday, Sept. 10th), you are to read two cases and write a page analysis of each case. Both cases will be located through the Lexus Nexus Academic Universe data base available (with a Rutgers computer or a Rutgers EDEN connection from home) from the Rutgers Library homepage (click on, in succession):

a. Indexes and Databases

b. (from the "By Title" List): Lexus Nexus Academic Universe

c. Legal Research (on the left side of screen)

d. "Get a Case"

e. "State Case Law"

f. "New Jersey"
 

This series of steps will get you to the search page for New Jersey (you obviously could go to a similar page for any state). Use the key "Search term" and "Narrow search" entries to locate your cases by name (example 1 below) or topic (example 2 below).
 

(1) Catherine Holsman and others vs. The Boiling Spring Bleaching Company, 14 New Jersey Equity 335 (1862)* -- a suit concerning the "pollution" of a privately enjoyed watercourse by a bleaching firm. [You can locate this case by using the parties as search words. Reset the date to 1862, or to 1860-1870, if you want to see cases where this is cited as well as the original.]
 

(2) A divorce case of your choice between 1820 and 1930. You will find the case by typing in "divorce" under "Search term", and then, if you wish, limiting your search by selecting a "Narrow search" keyword (for example, "adultery" or "desertion") and a time period (for example, from "1845" to "1860"). If you just type "divorce" and leave the date open, you'll get hundreds of cases.
 

For the Holsman case, in a one-page note, explain what was at issue in the case, what basic principle both sides were arguing for in the case, and how the court resolved the issue. Make a list of any terms you do not understand.
 

For the divorce case, assuming you have one in which the "story" of the party (ies) is clearly laid out, what are the most important personal themes in the story (ie, how does the party asking for the divorce present their petition? In what way do they picture their situation? Make a list of any terms you do not understand.
 

Experiment with the search engine. Type in some terms that might interest you as research subjects: murder, insanity, marriage, family, slavery, manusmission (or legal concepts, such as "fellow servant rule," "diminished responsibility," "environmental protection"). Working on using multiple keywords and dates to limit the number of cases you get.