JSON API · Datatype

Cases

Court-case records (type: "case"). Unlike legislation and agitation, cases have no plain-language/analysis layering, so each is published as a single normalized file — no tiers.

A record, end to end

One real published case record, abridged. Every field is documented below.

cases/<id>.json

{
  "schema": "abhortion.org/case.v1/v1",
  "id": "dred-scott-v-sandford-1857",
  "type": "case",
  "case_name_short": "Dred Scott v. Sandford",
  "case_name_full": "Dred Scott v. John F.A. Sandford",
  "citation": "60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857)",
  "status": "Overruled by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments",
  "court": "U.S. Supreme Court",
  "date_argued": "1856-02-11 (reargued 1856-12-15)",
  "date_decided": "1857-03-06",
  "vote": "7-2",
  "question_presented": "Whether Dred Scott, a Black man born into slavery, could sue in federal court as a 'citizen' under Article II…",
  "holding": "Persons of African descent — whether enslaved or free — could never be 'citizens' under Article III and thus …",
  "reasoning_summary": "Chief Justice Taney's opinion held that Blacks were 'so far inferior that they had no rights which the white …",
  "practical_effect": "Widely considered one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in history. Contributed to the outbreak of the Civ…",
  "opinions": [
    {
      "role": "majority",
      "author": "Taney, C.J.",
      "joined_by": "Wayne, Catron, Daniel, Nelson, Grier, Campbell, JJ.",
      "summary": "Persons of African descent — whether enslaved or free — could never be 'citizens' under Article…"
    },
    "… +8 more items"
  ],
  "key_quotes": [
    {
      "quote": "[Blacks] had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and a…",
      "speaker": "Taney, C.J. (majority)",
      "location": "60 U.S. at 407"
    }
  ],
  "perspectives": {
    "abolitionist": "The central historical analogy in the modern Christian abolitionist movement. Both Dred Scott a…",
    "mainstream_prolife": "Also central to mainstream pro-life rhetoric — used by Reagan, Scalia, and many others.",
    "prochoice": "Advocates reject the analogy, arguing Dred Scott denied full personhood to already-born human b…"
  },
  "significance": {
    "overall": 9,
    "legal_precedential_weight": 10,
    "practical_impact_on_access": 0,
    "movement_relevance_abolitionist": 10,
    "enduring_relevance_2026": 9,
    "rationale": "Not an abortion case at all, but the most important historical/rhetorical analog for the Christ…"
  },
  "sources": {
    "primary": [
      {
        "name": "supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/60/393",
        "href": "https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/60/393/"
      }
    ],
    "secondary": [
      {
        "name": "digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi",
        "href": "https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1201&context=jgspl"
      }
    ]
  },
  "notes": "Included in this dataset not because Dred Scott concerns abortion, but because it is the single most importan…",
  "links": {
    "html": "https://www.abhortion.org/cases/dred-scott-v-sandford-1857.html",
    "markdown": "https://www.abhortion.org/cases/dred-scott-v-sandford-1857.md",
    "json": "https://www.abhortion.org/cases/dred-scott-v-sandford-1857.json"
  }
}

Lines in this colour are elisions made for this page, not part of the format.

Conventions

Minified	JSON is emitted minified (single line). Pretty-print it locally if you need to read it.
Single file	Cases have no summary/full/verbose tiers — one `/cases/<id>.json` per case holds everything.
Absent = not applicable	Empty values (`null`, `""`, `[]`, `{}`) are omitted. A missing key means "not present / not applicable".
Sources are `{ name, href }`	`sources.primary` and `sources.secondary` are arrays of `{ name, href }` objects — `name` is the publisher/host label, `href` the direct URL.
Absolute cross-links	The `links` block uses absolute `https://www.abhortion.org` URLs.

Files

Index: https://www.abhortion.org/cases.json
Per case: /cases/<id>.json

Index items carry id, no (chronological number), case_name_short, citation, court, date_decided, status, a truncated holding, and links.

Record fields

Field	Type	Description
`schema`	string	Always `abhortion.org/case/v1`.
`id`	string	Stable case identifier.
`type`	string	Always `case`.
`case_name_short`	string	Common short name.
`case_name_full`	string	Full official caption.
`citation`	string	Bluebook-style reporter citation.
`docket_number`	string	Supreme Court docket number where known.
`status`	string	Whether the case remains good law, was overruled, narrowed, or superseded (free text).
`court`	string	Deciding court.
`date_argued`	string (YYYY-MM-DD)	Argument date where known.
`date_decided`	string (YYYY-MM-DD)	Decision date.
`vote`	string	Vote breakdown (e.g. "6-3").
`question_presented`	string	The legal question(s) decided.
`holding`	string	The ruling, in plain language.
`reasoning_summary`	string	Concise summary of the majority reasoning.
`practical_effect`	string	What changed as a result.
`opinions`	array	Each: `role` (`majority` \| `concurrence` \| `dissent`), `author`, `joined_by`, `summary`.
`key_quotes`	array	Each: `quote`, `speaker`, `location`.
`perspectives`	object	Descriptive framings: `abolitionist`, `mainstream_prolife`, `prochoice`.
`significance`	object	Scores 1–10: `overall`, `legal_precedential_weight`, `practical_impact_on_access`, `movement_relevance_abolitionist`, `enduring_relevance_2026`, plus a `rationale` string.
`sources`	object	Arrays of `{ name, href }`: `primary` and `secondary`.
`related_cases`	object	Arrays of case ids: `cites_earlier` and `cited_by_later`.
`notes`	string	Editorial notes and known scholarly disputes.
`links`	object	Absolute URLs: `html`, `markdown`, `json`.