Important Documents

The Magna Carta (translated)

• The Magna Carta and its American Legacy
• View an image of the Magna Carta

The Declaration of Independence

• The History of the Declaration of Independence
• View an image of the original Declaration of Independence

The Constitution of the United States

• The Preamble
• The Creation of the Constitution
• Biographies of the Constitutional Framers
• View images of the four pages of the original Constitution (1-2-3-4)

The Bill of Rights

• View an image of the original Bill of Rights

Subsequent Amendments to the Constitution

Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

• View an image of the two pages of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (1-2)
• View the only known photograph of Lincoln at Gettysburg

Criminal Procedure

Atwater v. City of Lago Vista, Texas, Supreme Court of the United States No. 99 -- 1408 (2001)

(syllabus - opinion [Souter]- dissent [O'Connor])

• Background on the case from the National Law Journal
• A story about the Supreme Court's decision from Texas Lawyer
• An editorial about the state of Fourth Amendment jurisprudence from the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin

Reports on corruption in the Rampart Division of the L.A.P.D. from the Los Angeles Times
 

Report on police seizure of property from National Public Radio