Research Guides: Primary Sources: Law and Crime

Primary Sources on Law, Crime, and Criminal Justice

FBI Records: The Vault
The Vault is our new FOIA Library, containing 6,700 documents and other media that have been scanned from paper into digital copies so you can read them in the comfort of your home or office.

Included here are many new FBI files that have been released to the public but never added to this website; dozens of records previously posted on our site but removed as requests diminished; files from our previous FOIA Library, and new, previously unreleased files.
Lloyd Sealy Library Digital Collections
Offers access to sources focusing on the topic of criminal justice offering primary source material on organized crime as well as the working of the U.S. justice system. Collection highlights include criminal justice pamphlets as well as full New York Criminal Trial transcripts.

London Low Life: Street Culture, Social Reform and the Victorian Underworld

Color digital images of rare books, ephemera, maps and other materials relating to 19th and early 20th century London. Also includes secondary sources such as maps and essays.

Of Monkeys and Men: Public and Private Views from the Scopes Trial
This digital collection consists of selected documents and photographs from the Sue K. Hicks Papers and the W.C. Robinson Collection of Scopes Trial Photographs. Sue K. Hicks, a Dayton lawyer, was a member of the Scopes prosecution team. The digital collection includes letters, notes, and other documents assembled by Hicks during the trial.

Avalon Project
Digital documents relevant to the fields of law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy and government from ancient times to the 21st century.
Crime Documents from Estes Kefauver Collection
Includes press releases, speeches, article drafts, and government publications penned by Estes Kefauver and colleagues on the organized crime and juvenile delinquency commissions. Subjects include the causes and prevention of organized crime, gambling, and juvenile delinquency during the 1950s and early 1960s.
Nexis Uni
Provides content from US and international magazines, journals, newspapers, television and radio broadcasts dating back mostly from the 1990s with some content from the 1970s. Also includes legal research sources and business information for US and international companies.
ProQuest Congressional (1789-Present)
Comprehensive index to the U.S. Congress. Provides full-text of congressional publications including bills, laws, hearings, transcripts, regulations, political news, and analytical reports. Formerly called: LexisNexis Congressional