Subject: Public Access Citations are needed. 

Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 13:07:01 -0600 

From: Blau Zahl <alspehr@midway.uchicago.edu> 

To: citation@teo.uscourts.gov 

     First of all, it is inappropriate for a private entity (West 
Publishing) to "own" citations to government documents. 

     As a student, public access to court opinions is useful in doing 
research. Also, it generally benefits the public to have better 
access to legal information, since they are expected to follow the 
law. 

     A public access system (as opposed to the current monopoly) for 
legal citations is likely to increase competition among legal 
publishers, and lower prices for all consumers (such as the 
government, students, teachers, citizens, etc.). 

     Therefore, the courts should make all federal court opinions 
available on the Internet, with citations that will permit the public 
to uniquely identify and cite an opinion. 

A. Spehr