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President’s MessageAlthough Christmas 2009 will have come and gone by

the time you read this, I am writing it just after I return fromWashington following our Fall executive board meeting.Again, I am deeply grateful for the warm reception providedby our members at the Supreme Court and especiallyfor Wilma Grant’s care and attention. If any of you canever make it to a board meeting, please try – it is definitelynot restricted to the executive board, and we would loveto have you attend! The spring meeting is scheduledfor Friday, April 9, 2010.

Before getting to 2010, however, I would like to reflect abit on the wonderful 2009 annual conference we enjoyedin Halifax last summer. Once again, Cliff Allen assembleda talented roster of speakers to inform and entertain us.Chief Justice Kennedy from the Supreme Court of Nova Scotiaopened the conference with self-deprecating humour andsome very thoughtful observations on the need for courtsto connect with the people they serve, noting the crucial rolereporters play in ensuring the integrity of the judicial system.

Professor Daniel Poulin, founder of LexUM and the Chairin Legal Technology at the University of Montreal, made adetailed presentation of his observations on the relationshipbetween technology and decision reporting, mainly aboutsecurity, accessibility, public ownership, cost effectiveness,and efficiency of the judicial system. Professor BernardHibbitts, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law,provided us with a tour of JURIST, an innovative use oftechnology which enables virtual teams of law students toinnovate and collaborate on law reporting – the law reviewsof the 21st Century. Professor Douglas Abrams, fromthe University of Missouri Law School, gave a presentationon the relationship between judges and their editors, plead-ing the case for judicial modesty. (“There is no such thingas good writing, only good rewriting” – WILLIAM BRANDEIS)

Karen McCall, from Criterion 508 Solutions, gave ahands-on demonstration on how to create accessible legaldocuments using Microsoft Word 7. Finally, Ray Krontz,a former Reporter for Washington who is now withLexisNexis, led a thought-provoking discussion onheadnote writing. Ralph Preston and Susan Williamsmoderated a roundtable discussion on Arkansas’ conversionto online opinions – for Susan, a courageous endeavour!We look forward to the continuation of this discussionnext summer in Las Vegas.

As usual, LexisNexis, Thomson Reuters and Loislaw

spoiled us with their events and hospitality in Halifax.Who knew that an editor from Kenya could expertly hoista sail on a Canadian schooner? That a whole lobster couldbe an appetizer? Or that the namesake of a strapping younglad from Kansas burned down the White House andis buried in Halifax? There was much to ponder in thehospitality suite.

A huge thanks to all involved and kudos to Kevin Loftuswho masterminded the whole event. As treasurer Tim Fullerreported at the executive board meeting, Kevin did awonderful job at keeping expenses under control andeven making a tidy profit. Thank you Tim for agreeing tostay on as Treasurer despite your recent retirement. Bestwishes for the road ahead. Congratulations to Dan Anselmowho has replaced Tim as Reporter for Washington state.

Another item of note from the Fall board meeting isBilee Cauley’s Membership Committee Report, which raisedthe issue of our “graying” association. She notes a trendtoward fewer active and associate members and moreretired members. Bilee would welcome your suggestionsfor increasing our membership. Some ideas that wecame up with were establishing a scholarship fund todefray costs of attending the annual conference or waivingregistration fees for the first conference a member attends.We hope to have a more detailed discussion on this topicat the Spring meeting.

Unfortunately, Richard Ross, the chair of our HonorsCommittee had to report that there were again no nomina-tions for the HENRY C. LIND AWARD. The Associationbestows this award on individuals who have made a sig-nificant contribution to the improved reporting of judicialdecisions or the preservation of historic court records.The award was last given in 2004. According to ourprocedures, any nomination must be presented to the fullmembership at an annual meeting, and if the membershipvotes in favour of awarding to the proposed nominee,the award would be presented at the following annual meet-ing. So, I encourage you to consider whom you mightnominate. We could consider a proposal this summerin Las Vegas and potentially honour a deserving individualin 2011 in Boston.

Ralph Preston, chair of the Electronic PublicationCommittee, reported that he was an observer at the initialmeeting of a new committee of the National Conference ofCommissioners on Uniform State Law. This committee will

(Contd. on Pg. 2)

Report me and my cause arightHamlet, Act V, Scene 2

The CatchlineBULLETIN OF THE ASSOCIATION OF REPORTERS OF JUDICIAL DECISIONS

VOLUME XXIX, NO. 1 MARCH 2010

The Catchline March 2010

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draft a uniform or model law to address the authenticationand preservation of state electronic legal materials. Ralphsubmitted written comments for the ARJD. Ralph’scomments are an impassioned plea that “the model/uniformlaw must require that if an official document is madeavailable online, then it must remain available online,either in its original location or in some archive location,indefinitely.” As he notes, “the judicial branch mustinvariably deal with what the law was and must be ableto conveniently access superseded statutes and administra-tive codes.” Thank you Ralph for so ably representingour interests.

Also discussed at our meeting was Janette Bloom’sSite Selection Report for our 2010 conference in LasVegas. As you know from previous Catchlines and fromour discussions in Halifax, it has been particularly difficultto settle on a site for our conference next summer. Janettehas been doing yeoman’s duty and we will most likely havea signed contract with the Paris Las Vegas when you readthis. Thank you Janette, as well as Kevin Loftus andWilma Grant, who have been providing valuable ideason the contract details. Cliff is well advanced with theeducation program and the 2010 annual conferenceis not to be missed! Book the dates – August 4 - 9, 2010 –Las Vegas, Nevada!

Well, I think that brings you all up to date for now.‘Til the next time.

LOUISE MEAGHER

ARJD President

Those in attendance at the annual meeting in Halifaxwere pleased that four members of the staff of KenyaLaw Reports were able once again to make the longtrip to North America. In addition to old friends GladysBoss Shollei, Jo’Rum Abuodha, and Michael Murungi,we enjoyed meeting Cornelius Lupao, Kenya LawReport’s senior legal researcher. Not only will Corneliusbe a great addition to the ARJD, his distance runningtips to Kevin Loftus will certainly improve Kevin’s run-ning technique and keep him on the roads for manyyears into his retirement.

On behalf of Kenya Law Reports and his colleagues,Michael Murungi sends their thanks to the ARJD for agreat conference and share the message that they areglad to be part of the ARJD family, that they traveledback home safely, and that they look forward toLas Vegas in 2010.

KenyanDelegation

Halifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009Halifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009Halifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009Halifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009Halifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009

The Catchline March 2010

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(Contd. on Pg. 4)

A RetrospectiveBY TIM FULLER

5. biggest blunder: In August 2006, a subscriber calledto report that although the memorial service transcribed inthe 154 Wn.2d bound volume was for Justice James Dolliver,printed at the base of the spine of the volume was “InMemoriam Gerry L. Alexander” (our sitting Chief Justice).I immediately called our contract publisher and learned thatthe books had been shipped and couldn’t be recalled.An investigation revealed that some unidentified binderyemployee had glommed onto Chief Justice Alexander’sname because he was listed as the first speaker at theservice. Fortunately, the Chief accepted the prematurereport of his demise with his customary good humorand our publisher shipped a corrected replacement volume.The original has become something of a collector’s item.Before volume 154 Wn.2d, the Reporter’s Office reviewedevery aspect of the bound volume production except forthe cover and spine; we now also see an advance proof copyof the cover and spine.

6. most embarrassing incident: One June afternoon,I opened the barred, frosted window in the men’s roomadjacent to the Supreme Court courtroom only to be staringat a startled bride in full wedding attire less than five feetaway posing for pictures on the courthouse steps. I assumedshe didn’t want a stranger behind bars in her weddingphotos, so I abruptly closed the window. My guess is thatshe still tells her friends this same story, albeit from adifferent perspective.

7. second most embarrassing incident: Shortly afterJustice Talmadge was elected to the court, I began noticinga somewhat overweight, middle aged man in the hallways.That corresponded with my understanding of the Justice’sappearance, so I greeted the man as “judge.” This contin-ued for almost two months until I learned that the “judge”was actually Bernie Friedman, Justice Talmadge’s law clerk.Of course, Bernie (being Bernie) never corrected me.

8. samples of Reporter’s Office “catch of the day”editorial revisions:

“It is worthy of note that the child’s problems wereexasperated exacerbated after the . . . visits resumed.”

“The plaintiff expressed her willingness to considermedication mediation.”

9. most ignorantly pretentious fax received: The tenorof the letter is evident from the faxer’s self-description:“unimpeachable substantive accommodator, providentof non-fictitious fiducial real fiscal equity – for litigatingcontroversy, to ameliorative remediation, by legallyfictitious equity judicial non-partizan rectitude – in processand procedure; and the non-partizan underwriter by whomparties are tolerable rather than criminal turpitude.”

10. favorite linguistic blunders in opinions: “long armstatue,” “sexually violet predators,” “presentation ofdam-aging evidence”

11. favorite names from opinions:• plaintiff’s first name: Snowwhite

criminal defendants’ names that foreshadow their crimes:• convicted of burglary: Grabner• convicted of DUI: Schmuck• convicted of murder: Slaughter• convicted of sex offenses: Foondle, Pouncy

Plan for retirement: I’m a list maker, and near the topof my list of retirement activities is becoming the nextAmerican Idle. When friends scoff and politely mentionthat I’m tone-deaf and that the show has an age limit wellbelow my 63 years, I switch into reporter mode and remindthem to be mindful of homophones – my plan is to becomethe next American Idle, not Idol.

Alternative plan for retirement: Actually, I hope notto become a total sloth. In fact, I have a project in mindthat will take intense concentration, discipline, and commit-ment over a period of six months or more: every weekdaymorning as the court begins its work, I plan to sit down atmy desk at home and systematically, page by page and lineby line, purge my mind of the entire contents of the Bluebook.

Scattered memories:1. most surprising telephone call: An NBC TV associ-

ate producer called and asked me to recommend a current orretired Washington judge to be a contestant on The BiggestLoser. (If your level of taste is sufficiently refined thatyou have never watched The Biggest Loser, it’s a reality show featuring obese adults who compete to lose weight.)I knew better than to enter into that thicket, so I politelytransferred the call to the court administrator’s office.

2. most perplexing mail received: The University ofIdaho in 2002 and again in 2007 sent the Washington CourtReports Commission a check in excess of $4,000 for30 tons of feeder hay.

3. most personal telephone call: A woman called on aThursday at 8:10 a.m., asking about the status of a criminalcase. I told her that the opinion had just been filed, wasbeing uploaded to the Internet, and would be available onlinein about 10 minutes. She then mentioned that she wasthe sister of the defendant and that the appeal had beenpending for almost two years, so I volunteered to readher the opinion’s concluding section. I could hear herchoke up as I read the last sentence, affirming her brother’sconviction. It was a stark reminder that appellate courtopinions have real-world consequences and are not mereacademic exercises.

4. most self-important mail received: An inmate at theMonroe Correctional Complex sent me a letter suggesting acorrection to a Supreme Court opinion, adding, “Perhapsyou should consider retaining my services to edit youropinions? My fee, of course would be remarkably low.”The letter included the inmate’s qualifications: “a bachelordegree from the University of California and more thanten years studying and writing legal briefs.” Fortunately forthe Reporter’s Office staff, who don’t want to competewith prison wages, the inmate’s suggestion was incorrect.

The Catchline March 2010

There’s truth in the cliché that if you love what you do,you’ll never work a day in your life. By that standard,I should return 30+ years of salary to the State becauseI enjoyed almost every aspect of my Reporter’s Officework. I can’t imagine any job that would better fit myinterests and abilities.

The Reporter’s Office is small but productive. Those whodoubt the efficiency of state government should take notethat in our office fewer than half as many people as whenI arrived in 1979 are responsible for more than twice thenumber of published pages. Much of my job satisfactionresulted from providing timely answers to questions fromcourt personnel. “We’re from the government, and we’rehere to help” was one of my favorite ways to end an email.

My successor will face challenges. Subscriptions to theofficial reports have been declining since the early 1990s.Electronic publishing is a reality, and the reporting of deci-sions will have to adapt to the evolving needs and expecta-tions of the legal community and the public. But electronicpublishing, despite some clear advantages over print, doesnot obviate the need for in-depth opinion editing and for thetype of reasoned analysis that is reflected in headnotes andcase summary statements. Furthermore, the proliferationof case law databases presents version, accuracy, and secu-rity issues. The need for the Supreme Court to maintain andcontrol a single, authoritative source for Washington caselaw, i.e., an official reports in some form, is greater in thiselectronic age than ever before.

The next reporter will inherit a staff of three who are ex-traordinarily competent, hard working, friendly, and dedi-cated to their jobs. That description almost makes me wantto hang on. But nothing lasts forever, except possibly (atleast I hope) the Washington official reports. Retirement isthe gift of time, and none of us know how much time wewill be given. At this stage of life, my “work” will transi-tion into long-anticipated projects and leisure time/familyactivities.

My wonderful wife, Jean, is retiring on the same day as I.With five grandchildren, postponed hobbies, travel plans,volunteer work, more than an acre of landscaped groundssurrounding our house on Offut Lake, an abundance of fishin the lake waiting to be caught, and five small craft to getus underway, we’re retiring from 8 to 5 workdays but notfrom life. We expect retirement to be life’s dessert course,and we intend to savor every moment.

Accesssibility of E-Book Readers

This summer, shortly before our annual meeting at whichwe considered the need for accessible documents online,the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and the Ameri-can Council of the Blind (ACB) filed suit against ArizonaState University (ASU) to prevent the university fromdeploying Amazon’s Kindle DX electronic reading deviceas a means of distributing electronic textbooks to itsstudents because the device cannot be used by blindstudents. Complaints were also filed against five otherschools. While the Kindle DX features text-to-speechtechnology that can read textbooks aloud to blind students,the menus of the device are not accessible to the blind,preventing a blind user from purchasing books fromAmazon’s Kindle store, select a book to read, activatethe text-to-speech feature, and use the advanced readingfunctions available on the Kindle DX.

More recently, Amazon has announced that it is takingsteps to make the Kindle more accessible to the visuallyimpaired, including its creation of audible menus andextra-large fonts. Further developments during 2010 willindicate whether accessibility concerns are being addressed.

New Washington State Reporter of Decisions

Dan Anselmo has been appointed as Reporter of Deci-sions in Washington State and shares the following thoughts:“At an age when most people are contemplating retirement,I decided to take on the challenge of serving as the reporterof decisions for another state’s appellate courts. Three weeksinto my new post, my nearly quarter century of experienceas editor and later as reporter for the Michigan SupremeCourt and Court of Appeals, although valuable for editingopinions and distilling their essence into headnotes, is prov-ing to be of minimal value in terms of learning the paperflow and work processes of the Reporter’s Office for theWashington Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. Fortu-nately, my predecessor in Washington, longtime ARJD trea-surer Tim Fuller, gave me a week of orientation, left de-tailed instructions for the reporter’s various job functions,and staffed the office with highly capable personnel whocan guide me. Reporters would do well to follow Tim’sexample of writing detailed manuals and hiring the rightpeople so that courts are not left in the lurch when reportersleave their jobs.”

Internships

A recent exchange of e-mails with Professor BernardHibbitts of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law,followed by a telephone conversation with the professor,raised the possibility of what could be a mutually beneficialinternship arrangement with law students who work onJURIST. Professor Hibbitts notes that, given the intensiveediting, research, and writing skills that law studentson the staff of JURIST acquire, these students might behelpful in assisting in reporters’ offices.

If ARJD members have any interest in such an idea,please contact Cliff Allen at:

clifford.allen@sjc.state.ma.usHalifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009Halifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009Halifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009Halifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009Halifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009

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The Catchline March 2010

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ARJD Volunteer OpportunitiesDue to approaching retirements of some ARJD members,

those members who are new to the association or, if notnew members, those who are still some years away fromretiring may wish to consider joining a committee orvolunteering to take over some of the essential duties ofour organization.

At least two opportunities come to mind. First, theposition of Catchline editor will be vacant at the end ofthe current (2009-2010) term. The new editor willbe responsible for producing three Catchline issuesduring the 2010-2011 term. Second, a new EducationCommittee chair will be needed at the close of the annualmeeting in Boston in 2011. The ARJD member currentlyresponsible for these duties will be available to explainthe nature of the positions and to assist in the transition.

2010 Education ProgramThe education program for the ARJD annual meeting

in Las Vegas, Nevada, is coming together and the detailswill be available in the next Catchline issue.

Two topics that are close to certain are:(1) a first-hand account of the founding and early

years of the ARJD and(2) a presentation of the issues raised in managing

employees of different generations.

Two roundtables will:(1) continue the discussion of the Arkansas experience and(2) provide an open forum for grappling with the fu-

ture of the ARJD.

The Catchline March 2010

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Halifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009 - Annual Meeting PhotosHalifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009 - Annual Meeting PhotosHalifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009 - Annual Meeting PhotosHalifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009 - Annual Meeting PhotosHalifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009 - Annual Meeting Photos

The Catchline March 2010

Halifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009 - Annual Meeting PhotosHalifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009 - Annual Meeting PhotosHalifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009 - Annual Meeting PhotosHalifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009 - Annual Meeting PhotosHalifax, Nova Scotia - August 2009 - Annual Meeting Photos

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The Catchline March 2010

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2009-2010 Officers2009-2010 Officers2009-2010 Officers2009-2010 Officers2009-2010 Officers

President: Louise Meagher, Supreme Court of Canada

Vice President: Ralph W. Preston, Supreme Court of Ohio

Treasurer: Kevin Loftus, Supreme Court of Connecticut (Ret.)

Secretary: Danilo Anselmo, Supreme Court of Washington

Past President: Kevin Loftus, Supreme Court of Connecticut (Ret.)

2009-2010 Committee Chairpersons2009-2010 Committee Chairpersons2009-2010 Committee Chairpersons2009-2010 Committee Chairpersons2009-2010 Committee Chairpersons

Education/Newsletter Editor:C. Clifford Allen, Supreme Judicial Court of MassachusettsNewsletter Publisher:Wilma M. Grant, Supreme Court of the United StatesElectronic Publishing:Ralph W. Preston, Supreme Court of OhioHonors:Richard D. Ross, Supreme Court of KansasMembership:Bilee Cauley, Alabama Appellate CourtsNew Reporters:Leah A. Walker, Supreme Court of the United StatesNominating Committee:Barbara Kincaid, Supreme Court of CanadaSite Selection Committee:Janette M. Bloom, Supreme Court of NevadaWebsite Committee:Position open - please contact Louise if interested in serving

The CatchlineThe CatchlineThe CatchlineThe CatchlineThe CatchlineEditor:C. Clifford Allen, Supreme Judicial Court of MassachusettsNewsletter Publisher/Layout & Design:Wilma M. Grant, Supreme Court of the United States

VOLUME XXIX, NO. 1 MARCH 2010

Visit our Web site athttp: //www.arjd.washlaw.edu

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