State Court Reports and Legal Research Systems

Overview of State Court Reports

• State court decisions are reported in a manner very similar to federal court decisions.

• Typically, all decisions from the highest state court are published, while only selected cases from intermediate appellate and trial courts are documented.

• Historical Context of Publication:

  • Until recently, most states published official versions of court reports.

  • Official versions became less common as the cost of production became enormous.

  • States struggled to compete with unofficial versions, which offered two main advantages:

  • They appeared more quickly than official versions.

  • They contained more useful editorial information.

• Verifying Publication Status:

  • To determine which states currently publish official reports, researchers should consult The University of Chicago Manual of Legal Citation or The Bluebook.

  • There is a growing trend of states relying exclusively on the National Reporter System.

The National Reporter System

• Origin and Impact:

  • The system originated in 1879 when the West Publishing Company established the North West Reporter.

  • While it includes opinions from federal and special courts, its primary and most widespread use is as a source for state judicial decisions.

• Division of Regional Reporters:

  • West has divided state reporting into seven regional reporter units:

  • Atlantic (A., A2d): Includes Connecticut, Delaware, Washington, DC, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

  • North Eastern (N.E., N.E.2d): Includes Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio.

  • South Eastern (S.E., S.E.2d): Includes Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.

  • South Western (S.W., S.W.2d): Includes Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas.

  • Southern (So., So.2d): Includes Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

  • North Western (N.W., N.W.2d): Includes Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

  • Pacific (P., P.2d): Includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

• Individual State Reporters:

  • Three units cover individual states due to their size and the high volume of reported cases:

  • California Reporter

  • Illinois Reporter

  • New York Reporter

• Tools for Navigation:

  • West’s General Digest system is the primary tool for locating specific cases within the National Reporter System.

Annotated Law Reports (ALR)

• Comparison to West:

  • ALR does not include as many state cases as West’s National Reporter System.

• Content and Utility:

  • ALR publishes approximately 250 state court decisions annually.

  • Each case is accompanied by an annotation discussing the points of law raised.

  • Annotations provide histories of legal issues, current law status across most states, and probable future trends.

• Researcher Benefits:

  • Legal researchers favor ALR because an annotation for a case in one state can guide the researcher to applicable case law in other states.

  • ALR indexes case law by highly specific subtopics and by specific jurisdictions.

Computer-Assisted Legal Research (CALR)

• Major Platforms:

  • WESTLAW and LEXIS are the primary tools used for researching both state and federal court decisions.

• Advantages of Digital Research:

  • Speed: Cases are available much faster online than in any printed format.

  • Volume: A significantly larger number of cases are accessible via computer compared to print media.

Digests and the Key Numbering System

• Definition and Necessity:

  • Digests are indispensable tools for finding information; most state court decision searches begin with a digest.

  • West Publishing Company produces the most comprehensive subject-based digests.

• The American Digest System:

  • Used by West to provide access to state court decisions in regional reporters.

  • It gathers headnotes from advance sheets and arranges them alphabetically by subject.

• Key Numbering Mechanism:

  • Each legal topic and subtopic is assigned a specific "key topic" and "key number."

  • Under each key number, headnotes are arranged by jurisdiction.

  • Each headnote specifies the reporter where the full decision was published.

Structure of the American Digest System

• The system is divided into three distinct series based on timeline and volume:

• General Digest:

  • Gathers headnotes from advance sheets of all cases in regional reporters.

  • Published monthly.

  • Arranges headnotes under key numbers.

• Decennial Digest:

  • Serves to prevent the General Digest from becoming unmanageable.

  • Every five years, the headnotes from the General Digest are reorganized into this cumulative tool.

• Century Digest:

  • Covers cases reported between 1658 and 1896.

  • During this period, litigation volume was relatively low.

  • Uses a slightly different system than the other two series, though the topics are basically the same.

  • A bridge between the Century Digest and the newer systems is provided by an index in the First Decennial Digest.

• Cumulative Tables:

  • Occasionally, the General Digest provides cumulative tables indicating which key numbers appear in which specific volumes.

  • These tables are vital because not every key number appears in every volume; they allow researchers to skip unnecessary volumes.

Regional and State Digests

• Beyond the comprehensive General Digest, researchers often use specific digests for targeted research.

• Specific digests are available for particular regions of the National Reporter System and for individual states.

• Maintenance:

  • These specific digests are updated via "pocket parts."

  • They are considered the most useful tools when the researcher is only interested in cases from a particular jurisdiction.

• ALR Digests:

  • Cases in the ALR can be accessed through corresponding digests or the Index to Annotations.

  • These are also updated with pocket parts.

  • They are arranged alphabetically by annotation topic and broken down into smaller sections containing titles, case summaries, and reporter references.

Rules for Citing Regional and State Reporters

• State court cases may appear in multiple sources: official reporters, unofficial reporters, and annotated law reports.

• General Citation Rules:

  • Cite the specific source you are using (official or unofficial).

  • When submitting a document to a specific court, always cite the official report. If using an unofficial report, provide that citation as well.

• Required Components for State Court Citations:

  • Case name.

  • Volume number, reporter, and page number.

  • The court handing down the decision.

  • The state.

  • The year.

• Technical Exception:

  • If the case was decided by the highest court in the state, it is not necessary to include the name of the court in the citation.

• Reference: Always consult The Bluebook or The University of Chicago Manual of Legal Citation for clarification on citation format.