Recording and dissemination of a Supreme Court ruling.
The opinion of the Supreme Court is one of the most complete records of the work of any of the policy-making units of U.S. government. The opinion not only describes the fate of the litigants in the case at hand and the reasons for the Court’s decision but also sets guidelines for the resolution of any future disputes arising in the lower courts of the United States that are similar to the case under consideration. The reporting of these decisions, then, is an essential part of the Court’s policy-making process and an integral means by which to gain and maintain effect.
Once the Court reaches its decision in a given case and opinion drafts have been circulated, signed, and finalized, the decision is announced in open court. The author of the majority opinion typically reads a portion of it, and the other justices occasionally offer comment. The dissenters may also read portions of their opinions, although Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist reportedly limited the availability of this outlet. Cases take some time to be reported from their date of public announcement, but usually no more than a year.
After the public announcement of the Court’s decision, the opinion goes through a final edit in the office of the reporter of decisions. The reporter
The clerk’s office provides the press with advance copies of the opinions, and the opinions appear in full form a day or so later in United States Law Week
Private organizations also report the decisions of the Court, most of the time with less turnaround time than the Government Printing Office. The West Publishing Company began publishing the Supreme Court Reporter in 1883, and the Lawyers Cooperative Company began its United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers’ Edition in 1901. The Lawyers’ Edition contains decisions from the Court’s beginning, and the Supreme Court Reporter begins with the October, 1882, term. These private publishers print the opinions issued by the justices verbatim, adding classifications and notes that aid users in placing the opinions in a larger context. West has a key number system in which cases are classified by subject, allowing for ease in legal research. Supreme Court decisions also appear on several on-line computer services such as WESTLAW and LEXIS-NEXIS (which require purchase to use), where they are published virtually simultaneously with their announcement, as well as on several privately run Web sites including The Legal Information Institute at Cornell University (http://supct .law.cornell.edu), FindLaw Internet Legal Resources (http://www.caselaw.findlaw .com), and Rominger Legal (http://www.romin gerlegal.com/supreme.htm), all of whichare free to the user. All have search engines allowing for easy retrieval of Court case law relevant to any legal inquiry. Many of these report decisions of the lower courts as well.
Baum, Lawrence. The Supreme Court. 8th ed. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2004. Blanc, D. Ellsworth. The Supreme Court: Issues and Opinions. Huntington, N.Y.: Nova Science Publishers, 2001. Epstein, Lee, et al. The Supreme Court Compendium: Data, Decisions, and Developments. 3d ed. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2003. Melone, Albert P. Researching Constitutional Law. Carbondale, Ill.: HarperCollins, 1990. Stern, Robert L., Eugene Gressman, Stephen M. Shapiro, and Kenneth S. Geller. Supreme Court Practice: For Practice in the Supreme Court of the United States. 7th ed. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Affairs, 1993. Van Geel, Tyll. Understanding Supreme Court Opinions. 4th ed. New York: Longman, 2005.
Concurring opinions
Dissents
News media coverage
Opinions, writing of
Reporters, Supreme Court
Supreme Court Reporter
United States Law Week
United States Reports