Supreme Court & State Law Library
Schedule Group Tours
This is the oldest law library in Alabama, and the second oldest library in the state, dating from 1828 when it was located in the capitol in Tuscaloosa. It contains all appellate cases in the United States (in books); all the laws passed by legislatures of the 50 states and the District of Columbia; Acts of Congress; the United States Code; and federal agency regulations. An excellent collection of legal treatises is available, including scholarly works, works for the legal practitioner, and works for the lay person.
The law library subscribes to more than 900 legal journals and law reviews, making this one of the finest collections of legal periodicals in the state. Computers are available for library research, both on CD-ROM and online, and to use for word processing for preparing briefs and legal memoranda.
Display Cases in Entrance:
As you enter the Library, the first display case houses various works of early Alabama history such as Statutes of the Mississippi Territory (Harry Toulmin), 1807; Acts of the General Assembly of the Alabama Territory, St. Stephens, 1818; The Constitution of the State of Alabama, Cahawba, 1820; First Supreme Court Reporter 1829 (Henry Minor, Reporter of Decisions); Rules of the Court, Cahawba, 1820; Digest of the Laws of the State of Alabama (Harry Toulmin), 1823; and Acts of the Tenth...General Assembly of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, 1829.
The second display case houses works such as Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi (Hon. Joseph Glover Baldwin), 1853; Digest of the Law of Alabama (Clement Comer Clay), 1845; First Catalogue of the Holdings of the Supreme Court Library (Junius Moore Riggs), 1882; Alabama Justice of the Peace, Henry Hitchcock, Cahawba, 1822 (first book, as opposed to pamphlets, published in Alabama); Reports and Decisions of the Supreme Court of Alabma 1838 ("Tuskaloosa"); and information about the Great Fire of 1849 and the rebuilding of the State Law Library holdings.
The Rare Book Room houses books dealing with not only Alabama law, but also with 17th and 18th century English law as well. The Library owns many rare books, including books dating back to the Old Cahawba days and all the way back to the Alabama Territory. This room houses a 1765 First Edition of Blackstone's Commentary. There are also 17th Century English and Scottish law books, and Journals of the Continental Congress. We also have a letter from the Mayor of Washington, D.C., dated 1843 in which he enclosed a resolution dated 1839 designatingthat the Legislature of Alabama be sent a map of the City of Washington, D.C., and plans of the squares for that city dated 1790.
The Library is open to the public during regular business hours Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
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