Subject: Recommendation that the ABA citation style be adopted
Date: Sat, 01 Mar 1997 17:11:40 -0800
From: "John R. Hiner Jr." <"John R. Hiner Jr."@delanet.com@delanet.com>
Reply-To: @delanet.com@delanet.com
Organization: John R. Hiner Jr., Attorney at Law
To: citation@teo.uscourts.gov

Please:

     I am a solo practitioner in Wilmington, Delaware. I would like 
to lend my support to the ABA's proposed citation style.

     By adopting a citation form which is equally applicable to all 
media of publication, the recommendation equalizes the availability 
of legal decisions regardless of the means of access which one has to 
the material. The recommended style also recognizes the inevitable 
need to adopt legal information to the faster pace and broader 
publication which electronic media make possible.

     The new citation style would eliminate the ambiguity and 
confusion which a delay between the release of a binding decision by 
the court, and its ability to be systematically cited, only after 
"publication" by a private company, has made necessary until now.    
By allowing the court to immediately define the citation form for all 
purposes at the time a decision is released, the ABA proposal serves 
the dual purpose of relieving confusion by making fixed citation 
possible, and the democratic goal of making the law of the land more 
available to the public generally, rather than to a limited number of 
groups able to afford the expense of case reports.

     I hope that these comments are helpful and that the ABA proposal 
can be accepted by as many jurisdictions as possible. Thank you.

                                   John R. Hiner Jr.

Attorney at Law, Wilmington, Delaware

Web Page: http://www.delanet.com/-jrh/index.htm