Author: Jack Barnett at ~Internet Date: 3/11/97 08:19 PM Priority: Normal BCC: CITATION at AO-OCPPO TO: citation@ao.uscourts.gov at ~Internet Subject: West Publishing Message Contents I find it absolutely scandalous that West Publishing should be able to hold public information such as court records and judicial decisions hostage to a copyrighted indexing system. The following excerpt from C/Net's news.com article made my blood boil: "In a March 5 special report the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that many top judges, including seven Supreme Court justices, had accepted trips to exotic locales plus cash prizes from West executives. Five court cases appealed to the Supreme Court in previous years had been denied review, the paper reported. Also, judges who had jurisdiction over West copyright cases accepted freebies from the company, with one taking a $15,000 prize while sitting on an a panel preparing an opinion in a West copyright challenge, according to the Star Tribune. "In its defense, a West spokeswoman told the newspaper the company has done nothing illegal or improper and that its competitors offer similar perks to judges, although the newspaper wrote it could find no other company that sponsored cash awards." These allegations, if true, amount to graft, fraud and the embezzlement of the American system of justice, by the very people in which we must place our confidence that the law is upheld! I think "treason", "traitor" and "treachery" would have their place in this case if the above statements are true. I strenuously urge all involved parties to work to adopt the public domain citation system proposed by the American Bar Association, or some other open, non-proprietary system with all deliberate haste. I feel that to do otherwise is to further erode the American people's confidence and faith in our system of justice. Without the people's confidence, there can be no justice; without their consent, there can be no governance. Jackson W. Barnett Lake Pleasant, MA