Subject: Attention: Joan Countryman.
   Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 10:16:19 +0000
   From: Marsha Woodbury <marsha-w@uiuc.edu>
     To: citation@teo.uscourts.gov

attention: Joan Countryman.

Joan Countryman,

     Please accept our support of the ABA resolution on 
citations . . .

     In support of the American Bar Association's Resolution from 
Report No. 107 by Andy Oram, for Computer Professionals for Social 
Responsibility (CPSR).

     CPSR is in favor of the American Bar Association's Resolution 
from Report No. 107 which proposes a universal citation system for 
court decisions. This simple, sequential numbering system is well-
suited to modern publishing techniques that adapt to a variety of 
formats, and especially to electronic online display.

     Flexibility in publishing case reports, particularly online 
publication, is critical for making the law more accessible to the 
general public and organizations that contribute to democratic 
debate. Case reports, and citations of these reports, are a key 
element of government that should be quickly and freely available to 
all. Online publication, with a citation system such as proposed by 
the ABA, would allow easy cross-references such as links on the World 
Wide Web. Searches of large quantities of documents might also be 
made easier by tools based on this citation system. Were the new 
system put in place in an online format, not only would traditional 
users of these legal documents be able to cut costs and time 
dramatically, but new representatives of the public interest who were 
previously unable to participate closely in legal debates would now 
be able to join.

     Thus, in the interests of modernizing the citation system and 
supporting wider democracy, we urge you to adopt the ABA proposal.

     CPSR is a public-interest alliance of computer scientists and 
others interested in the impact of computer technology on society.    
CPSR attempts to direct public attention to difficult choices 
concerning the applications of computing and how those choices affect 
society.

     CPSR
     P.O. Box 717
     Palo Alto, CA 94302
     Phone: (415)322-3778
     Fax: (415)322-4748

                                   Marsha Woodbury, Ph.D.
                                   Director of Information Technology
                                   Graduate School of Library and 
                                     Information Science
                                   UIUC
                                   Chair, CPSR
                                   http://alexia.lis.uiuc.edu/~
                                     woodbury/
                                   Work: 217-244-4643
                                   FAX: 217-244-3302
                                   marsha-w@uiuc.edu