High Court Weighs Distributing Decisions Instantly by Computer

Citing its “unique position in the American judicial system,” the Supreme Court announced Friday that it would consider ways to make its opinions more readily accessible to the public by distributing them via computer.

James R. Donovan, the court’s director of data systems, invited news wires, legal publishers and legal research data base providers to submit proposals outlining how they would handle the electronic distribution of the court’s decisions.

“The court recognizes its unique position in the American judicial system and the unique nature of its product,” Donovan said in announcing the project.

“The court tentatively contemplates a one- to three-year experiment with the period of review based in part on the outside entity’s investment,” he said. “In addition, the court anticipates expending only a minimal amount of government funds, if any, on the project.”

Slow to Embrace Computers

The court has been reluctant to enter the computer age. It was not until 1981 that the justices switched from typewriters to word processors for writing their opinions.

Currently, the only way members of the public may obtain an opinion on the day of its release is to go to the court and pick one up. Wire services report on the opinions the moment they are issued, but the complete text of the decisions are only made available by various legal publishers a week or so after their release.

The court issues approximately 150 opinions a year and prints about 5,000 copies of them.

Donovan said he envisioned a system that would make opinions available via computer at the same time they are issued, or within minutes.