This is a very important message. For the first time the federal courts are
taking notice of the ABA-endorsed new citation system. This could be the
beginning of the end of West's monopoly over federal case reporters. The US
Judicial Conference is the board of directors for the federal judiciary. They
need to hear from lawyers, librarians, businesses, bar associations, trade
associations and every consumer in this country who will benefit from having
price and product competition for federal case reporters. Currently for the
trial and appellate courts there is no choice. You pay West their monopoly
rate ( recent annual increases are 9-10 percent per year) or you do not
purchase a federal case reporter. For Supreme Court reporters, there is some
choice, since the U.S. Reports exists, but it is published 2-3 years after a
decision is made. Consumers wanting immediate access must purchase the more
expensive publications of West or Thomson with the choice soon changing to W/T
or Lexis. The availability of immediate permanent citations for Supreme Court
cases would increase competition in that market also, since other publishers
would produce competiting case reporters.
On 2-21-97 the Judicial Conference of the United States published a notice in
The Federal Register at pages 8037-8038 requesting comment on the ABA uniform
citation proposal. The comments should address the following two issues:
1. whether or not the federal courts should adopt the form of official
citation and
2. the costs and benefits such a decision would have on the courts, the bar
and the public.
Comments are due by 14 March 1997 and can be sent via e-mail to
citation@ao.uscourts.gov
and should be to the attention of Joan Countryman. TIME IS SHORT. PLEASE ACT
NOW. PLEASE TELL THE JUDICIAL CONFERENCE HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS IMPORTANT
ISSUE.
Comments can also be sent via fax and by mail. Electronic comments
in ascii or wordperfect 6.1 are preferred.
A copy of the full Fed Reg notice follows. You can also obtain a pdf
formated version by going to the gpo site. I am attaching a pdf
formated copy to this e-mail message.
________________________________________________
[Federal Register: February 21, 1997 (Volume 62, Number 35)]
[Notices]
[Page 8037-8038]
>From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
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=
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JUDICIAL CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED STATES
Committee on Automation and Technology; Notice of Opportunity To
Comment and of Public Hearing on the ABA Citation Resolution
AGENCY: Judicial Conference of the United States, Committee on
Automation and Technology.
ACTION: Notice of opportunity to comment and of public hearing on the
ABA Citation Resolution.
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-
In August 1996, the American Bar Association (ABA) approved a
resolution made by its Special Committee on Citation Issues calling
for state and federal courts to develop a standard citation system and
recommending a format that could be used by state and federal courts.
That resolution calls for courts to identify the citation on each
decision at the time it is made available to the public. The ABA
resolution is available through the Internet (http://www.ABANET.ORG/
citation/home.html).
The federal judiciary seeks written public comments from judges,
court personnel, the bar, and the public as to:
(1) Whether the federal courts should adopt the form of official
citation for court decisions recommended by the ABA resolution; and,
(2) The costs and benefits such a decision would have on the
courts, the bar, and the public.
In addition, a public hearing will be held on Thursday, April 3,
beginning at 9 a.m. in the ceremonial courtroom of the U.S. District
Court for the District of Columbia, 3rd and Constitution Ave., N.W.,
Washington, D.C. to address issues (1) and (2) stated above.
Persons and organizations wishing to submit written comments
should
do so by sending them to: Appellate Court and Circuit Administration
Division, ATTN: ABA Citation Resolution, Suite 4-512, Administrative
Office of the U.S. Courts, Washington, D.C. 20544, Fax (202) 273-1555.
Internet address: citation@ao.uscourts.gov.
Submission of written comments is preferred in electronic form and
should be sent to citation@ao.uscourts.gov in ASCII or WordPerfect 6.1
or earlier versions. Alternatively, comments may be submitted in
printed form through mail or facsimile. Persons without access to
Internet may send a diskette. If printed comments are submitted, ten
copies should be provided. Written comments are due no later than
Friday, March 14, 1997. All comments received will be considered
public information.
Anyone submitting written comments who also is interested in
testifying at the
[[Page 8038]]
public hearing should submit a written request to the above address no
later than Friday, March 14, 1997. Since it is expected that only a
limited number of requests can be granted, the request should set
forth reasons why an oral presentation in addition to written comments
would be helpful to consideration of these issues. The request should
identify the persons who wish to testify, the subjects to be
addressed, the estimated amount of time desired (the maximum is 15
minutes), and the organization represented, phone number, and fax
number. If possible, advance copies of testimony should be submitted.
Any questions about this notice may be directed to Joan Countryman
at (202) 273-1543.
Dated: February 12, 1997.
Leonidas Ralph Mecham,
Director, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
[FR Doc. 97-4230 Filed 2-20-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 2210-01-P
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