While there are several grants available through the federal government via the Department of Justice for expanded law enforcement operations and incarceration, there are comparably few grants for researchers studying the history or efficacy of American law.
However, one grant which is available at the federal level for such research is the National Archives Reference Services-Historical Research Grant Program under the National Archives and Records Administration.
This program is intended to back researchers who are acting as intermediaries between the public or government agencies conducting legal or historical research. Under the program, researchers are also allowed access to records housed withing the National Archives-- including legislative, judicial and presidential records.
There are restrictions on the type of information available to researchers however and these restrictions are essentially the same as they would be if the researcher were to request documents through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). These restrictions may apply to any documents which have been classified as matters of national security, or whether an agency has placed a hold on a document for other reasons. A common example of such an exemption would be if the agency believes the document contains "trade secrets," as might communications between an agency and a private contractor.
There are no set guidelines or restrictions on who may apply to this program, though researchers must complete and file and application with the National Archives and Records Administration for consideration.
One private sector grant legal researchers may want to apply for is the Littleton-Griswold Research Grant or Research in U.S. Legal History offered by the American Historical Association (AHA).
This grant, like the National Archives grant and as the name suggests, is intended for legal researchers studying the the history of U.S. law. There are some limitations on this grant. For one, applicants must be AHA members. Secondly, no successful applicant may receive more than $1,000 from the Littleton-Griswold Grant within a five year period.
Applications are generally due in February each year and must include (in addition to the application form, available through AHA) an estimated budget for the proposed project, a three to five page curriculum vitae, a 750 word project description and a one page bibliography of recent secondary works relevant to your project/project thesis.
Another private sector source of funding that researchers may want to apply for is the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) Research Grant Program. Unlike the retrospective nature of the Littleton-Griswold and National Archives grants, the LSAC program funds more forward-thinking research in the areas of legal education and practice.
Also unlike many grant programs out there, awards under the LSAC program can chalk up to a considerable sum--as much as $200,000 per project. LSAC project proposal are not bound by a tight set of application criteria. Legal research projects which are eligible for these awards may fall under several classes of methodology, including: criminology, anthropology, economics, demographics and history.
Applications are accepted by LSAC from any and all countries. Grant awards are not given to individuals, but rather to the Universities in which the projects are being conducted. Because these are law research grants the principal investigator of any project receiving funding needs to be based out of an accredited law school.
There are two LSAC grant review periods per year and two deadlines: September 1 and February 1. Proposals submitted to LSAC for consideration must include: a cover page, summary, project description, work plan, budget, timetable and curriculum vitae.