The opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States are published officially in the United States Reports. See 28 U. S. C. §411. In addition to the Court’s opinions, a volume of the U. S. Reports usually contains a roster of Justices and officers of the Court during the Term; an allotment of Justices by circuit; announcements of Justices’ investitures and retirements; memorial proceedings for deceased Justices; a cumulative table of cases reported; orders in cases decided in summary fashion; reprints of amendments to the Supreme Court’s Rules and the various sets of Federal Rules of Procedure; a topical index; and a statistical table summarizing case activity for the past three Court Terms. Prior to final publication in the U. S. Reports, the Court releases soft-cover “preliminary prints” that contain the same materials and features as the U. S. Reports. Two or three preliminary prints will eventually be combined into a single bound U. S. Reports volume. Each preliminary print includes a volume number and a part number, e.g., Volume 577, Part 1.

The U. S. Reports is compiled and published for the Court by the Reporter of Decisions. See 28 U. S. C. §673(c). Page proofs prepared by the Court are reproduced, printed, and bound in coordination with the U. S. Government Publishing Office (GPO). Bound volumes of the U. S. Reports are available for purchase from GPO.

The U. S. Reports volumes available for free download on this website consist of volumes 502 et seq., which covers the 1991 Term and subsequent Terms. Starting with the Court’s 2022 Term, PDFs of the U. S. Reports (in both preliminary print and bound volume format) will be posted to this website as they become available. PDFs of volumes not yet officially published and available for purchase from GPO will be posted bearing a “page proof” watermark.

For earlier volumes of the U.S. Reports, the Library of Congress maintains an online digital collection of the U.S. Reports covering the years 1754-2012. The Library of Congress provides information on additional free online resources for case law, including decisions of the Supreme Court, in this guide: How To Find Free Case Law Online.

Explanatory material on the dates of early Supreme Court decisions and arguments from 1791-1882 is available here.