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INFORMATION ABOUT OPINIONS
In General. The opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States are published officially in a set of law books called the United States Reports. See 42 U. S. C. §411. At the beginning of October Term 2000, the U. S. Reports consisted of 523 bound volumes and soft-cover "pre-liminary prints" of an additional 4 volumes; a final 3 volumes' worth of opinions also existed in individual "slip opinion" form. Volumes are added to the set at the rate of three to five per Term; they are generally between 800 and 1,200 pages long. In addition to all of the opinions issued during a particular period, a volume may contain a roster of Justices and Court officers during that period; an allotment of Justices by Federal Circuit; announcements of Justices' investitures and retirements; memorial proceedings for deceased Justices; a cumulative table of cases reported; orders in cases decided in summary fashion; reprints of amendments to the Supreme Court's Rules and the various sets of Federal Rules of Procedure; a topical index; and a statistical table summarizing case activity for the past three Court Terms. The U. S. Reports are compiled and published for the Court by the Reporter of Decisions. See 42 U. S. C. §673(c). Page proofs prepared by the Court's Publications Unit are reproduced, printed, and bound by private firms under contract with the U. S. Government Printing Office (GPO). The Court's Publications Officer acts as liaison between the Court and the GPO. Generations of Opinions. The Supreme Court's opinions and related materials are dis-seminated to the public by means of four printed publications and two computerized services. Prior to the issuance of (1) bound volumes of the U. S. Reports, the Court's official decisions appear in three temporary printed forms: (2) bench opinions (which are transmitted electronically to subscribers over the Court's Project Hermes service); (3) slip opinions (which are posted on this Website); and (4) preliminary prints. 1. Bench Opinions. On days that opinions are announced by the Court from the bench, the text of each opinion is made available immediately to the public and the press in a printed form called a "bench opinion." The bench opinion pamphlet for each case consists of the majority or plurality opinion, any concurring or dissenting opinions written by the Justices, and a prefatory syllabus prepared by the Reporter's office that provides a synopsis of the decision. Bench opinions are printed at the Court in 51/2"´81/2" self-cover pamphlets. They are made available to the public by the Court's Public Information Office. The text of each bench opinion is also disseminated electronically via Project Hermes, one of the Court's two opinion dissemination systems (this Website is the other). The Hermes system is basically a file server linked by modem to paying subscribers, who include universities, news media, publishing companies, and other private organizations. A number of these organizations provide on-line access to the bench opinions, either directly or via the Internet, within hours after they are released by the Court. Hermes subscribers who redisseminate bench opinions to the general public are identified in the file entitled "Where to Obtain Supreme Court Opinions," included elsewhere on this Website. Caution: In case of discrepancies between the print and electronic versions of a bench opinion, the print version controls. Moreover, bench opinions are replaced on this Website, generally within hours, by slip opinion pamphlets and, in case of discrepancies between the bench and slip opinions, the slip opinion controls. 2. Slip Opinions. Several days after an opinion is announced by the Court, it is printed in a 6"´9" self-cover pamphlet called a "slip opinion." Each slip opinion consists of the majority or plurality opinion, any concurring or dissenting opinions, and the syllabus. It may contain corrections not appearing in the bench opinion. Slip opinion page proofs are sent to a com-mercial printing company under contract with the GPO, and the company prints the slip opinions in accordance with the Court's specifications. The slip opinion pamphlets are distributed free of charge, while supplies last, by the Court's Public Information Office. They are also sold by the Office of the Superintendent of Documents at the GPO, and can be purchased either through annual subscription or over the counter at GPO regional bookstores. The text of each slip opinion is also disseminated electronically via posting on this Website, usually within hours after the opinion is announced. The number of slip opinions published each Term has varied over the years from as few as 75 to as many as 150. Caution: In case of discrepancies between the print and electronic versions of a slip opinion, the print version controls. Moreover, individual slip opinions are cumulated and replaced within months by preliminary print pamphlets and, in case of discrepancies between the slip opinion and preliminary print version of a case, the preliminary print controls. 3. Preliminary Prints. The preliminary prints of the U. S. Reports constitute the third genera-tion of opinion publication and dissemination. These are brown, soft-cover "advance pamphlets" that contain, in addition to the opinions themselves, all of the announcements, tables, indexes, and other features that make up the U. S. Reports. The contents of two, or in some instances three, preliminary prints will eventually be combined into a single bound volume. Thus, the title of each preliminary print includes a part number, e.g., Preliminary Print, Volume 530, Part 1. Prior to publication, all of the materials that go into a preliminary print undergo an extensive editing and indexing process, and permanent page numbers are assigned that will carry over into the bound volume. Copies of the page proofs to be published in a preliminary print are sent to a commercial printing company under contract with the GPO, and that company prints the pamphlets in accordance with the Court's specifications. Official versions of pre-liminary prints are made available to the public by the Office of the Superintendent of Docu-ments at the GPO, and can be purchased either through annual subscription or over the counter at GPO regional bookstores. The number of preliminary prints published for each Term varies from as few as 8 to as many as 12 separate issues, depending on the number of opinions issued during the Term. Caution: Individual preliminary prints are cumulated and replaced about a year later by bound volumes and, in case of discrepancies between the preliminary print and bound volume versions of a case, the bound volume controls. 4. Bound Volumes. The fourth and final generation of opinion publication is the case-bound set of law books entitled United States Reports. The opinions and other materials contained in the preliminary prints are published in this series of books. Prior to publication, all of the opinions and other materials that make up each volume undergo a final editing and indexing process. The materials are then sent to a commercial printing company under contract with the GPO, and that company prints the books in accordance with the Court's specifications. The official bound volumes are sold by the Superintendent of Documents at the GPO, and can be purchased over the counter at GPO regional bookstores. The number of bound volumes published each Term varies from as few as three to as many as five, depending on the number of opinions issued during the Term. Electronic versions of bound volumes issued for October Term 1991 and sub-sequent years will be posted on this Website after the printed bound volumes have been issued. Caution: In case of discrepancies between the print and electronic versions of these bound volume materials, the print versions control. In addition, GPO Access includes, as a con-venience to users, a database of unofficial versions of bound volume opinions issued between 1937 and 1975. This database was created by the Air Force and is made available as a finding aid only. Caution: Because neither GPO nor the Court has performed costly validation processes, the authenticity or completeness of the data cannot be verified. Only the bound volumes of the United States Reports contain the final, official text of the opinions of the Supreme Court. Where to Obtain Opinions. Apart from the various print and electronic versions of the opinions and other materials published in the official U. S. Reports, a number of private companies sell unofficial versions of the opinions in print, microform, CD-ROM, and on-line formats. For information as to all official and unofficial sources of opinions, see the file entitled "Where to Obtain Supreme Court Opinions." Caution: Only the bound volumes of the United States Reports contain the final, official text of the opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States. In case of discrepancies between the bound volume and any other version of a case-whether print or electronic, official or un-official-the bound volume controls.
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Last Updated: October 2, 2000 |
