Author : Frank Cox at Internet Date : 3/11/ 0 12:59 PM Priority: Normal BCC : citation at AO-OCPPO TO : citation@ao.uscourts.gov at Internet CC : fcox@marin.org at Internet Subject : Public domain citation system Re: Public domain citation system I understand the The United States Judicial Conference is contemplating an on-line public domain citation system either to complement or replace West's hard-copy-based citation system. Briefly, I have been a Public Defender attorney for almost 30 years, working for two counties. I am recognized as something of expert in lawyer's use of computers & automated legal research, having given training programs on computers for lawyers almost annually since 1986, in California, New Mexico, and Canada. Although my County (with my continual urging), has much better than average in-office PC support (including working 386SX 16 mhz machines, some 486s, and a for a few of us Pentium PCs), in this office, we do not have access to books or disks with Federal Reporter decisions, or Fed. Supp. decisions. The County Law library used to be in this building, but it has moved to a building some 10-15 minutes away from us, with limited library hours. In most PD offices (and I do know about PD offices), the situation is much worse. In many public defender offices, there are one or two old PCs in the office, or none at all. Very few defender offices have federal law books available to them easily. We have no federal grants, or State grants, to defend the Victims-of the day, as prosecutors do, and we every year grovel before local Boards of Supervisors for core funding for staff or book resources. At these annual budget events, in many counties, defender offices must compete with "low bidding" low rent private defender groups who have less resources than defenders. A few of us have come to use the Internet for core research. I will be lecturing on this use of the Internet (again) in San Francisco on March 22 for the California Public Defender's Association. Whatever you can do to loosen the stranglehold of monopolistic book-sellers on the law, and provide it to us who don't have access to the law today, would be appreciated. Not only would defenders learn, and cite, the law, but many persons of all type might could, in theory, come to know and perhaps follow the law, including judges. As I think about it, this might be a good thing. Will you help us have access to the law? Frank Cox Chief Deputy Public Defender, Marin County Hall of Justice, Rm 139 San Rafael, CA 94903 voice: 415 499 6340 fax: 415 499 6898 fcox@marin.org http://midas.co.marin.ca.us/mc/pd/index.html