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Sunday, January 21, 2007

Courts - More on: Indiana appeals court now a leader in making all rulings accessible to public

This ILB entry from Jan. 6th noted Howard Bashman's column headlined "It's Time to Abolish 'Invisible' State Appellate Court Rulings" and then pointed out that Indiana had taken that step forward last August.

This week an attorney in Madison County, Illinois writes in the Madison Record (apparently a legal newspaper focusing only on Madison County) that it is time for Illinois to post both its precedential and non-precedential opinions online. A quote:

In Illinois' Fifth District Appellate Court, the number of decisions posted online is dwarfed by the number of cases actually disposed.

For instance, in 2004 there were approximately 77 opinions made available on the court's website, yet 812 cases - criminal and civil -- were disposed of that year. In 2005, approximately 56 opinions were posted online compared to 751 disposed of criminal and civil cases. The number of cases disposed of in 2006 is not available on the court's website, however approximately 67 opinions were issued online last year.

Fifth District Appellate Court Clerk Louis Costa said court opinions are written and available for public view. By specifying a particular case, those not posted on the Internet may be obtained from the clerk's office at a cost of 25 cents per page, he said.

BTW, this Sept. 20, 2004 ILB entry begins: "A 'plaintiff's paradise' is how Madison County Illinois has been described."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 21, 2007 12:16 PM
Posted to Courts in general