Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States
The reporter of decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States is the official charged with editing and publishing the opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, both when announced and when they are published in permanent bound volumes of the United States Reports. The reporter is responsible for only the contents of the United States Reports issued by the Government Publishing Office, first in preliminary prints and later in the final bound volumes.[1] The reporter is not responsible for the editorial content of unofficial reports of the court's decisions, such as the privately published Supreme Court Reporter and Lawyers' Edition.
| Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
|---|---|
Seal of the Supreme Court | |
| Supreme Court of the United States | |
| Style | Reporter |
| Status | Editor-in-chief Publisher |
| Reports to | Supreme Court of the United States Chief Justice of the United States |
| Seat | Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. |
| Appointer | The Supreme Court |
| Term length | No fixed term |
| Constituting instrument | 28 U.S.C. § 673 |
| Formation | 1817 |
| First holder | Alexander J. Dallas |
| Website | www.supremecourt.gov |
By federal statute, the reporter is appointed by the Supreme Court.[2] The office is currently held by Rebecca Anne Womeldorf.[3]
History edit
The first two reporters acted in an unofficial capacity. Only in 1817 did Congress create the statutory office of reporter, with a $1,000 a year salary. The early reporters profited from selling the printed volumes of the reports of decisions. In 1874, Congress for the first time appropriated funds to publish the volumes of the court's opinions; from that time the report was known as the United States Reports and numbering began as if the first volume by the first reporter, Alexander J. Dallas, was number one. The Government Printing Office took over publication of the United States Reports in 1922. The title of court's reporter was changed to "Reporter of Decisions" in 1953, to clarify the duties of the office.[4]
List of reporters edit
The 16 reporters of decisions are listed here with their tenures and the volumes of the United States Reports they edited. Through volume 90, the volumes were also known by the name of the reporter and the numbers of those "nominative reports" are listed after the United States Reports numbers.
| Name | Tenure | Volumes edited | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexander J. Dallas | 1790–1800 | 1–4 (1–4 Dallas) |
| 2 | William Cranch | 1801–1815 | 5–13 (1–9 Cranch) |
| 3 | Henry Wheaton | 1816–1827 | 14–25 (1–12 Wheat.) |
| 4 | Richard Peters | 1828–1842 | 26–41 (1–16 Pet.) |
| 5 | Benjamin Chew Howard | 1843–1860 | 42–65 (1–24 How.) |
| 6 | Jeremiah S. Black | 1861–1862 | 66–67 (1–2 Black) |
| 7 | John William Wallace | 1863–1874 | 68–90 (1–23 Wall.) |
| 8 | William Tod Otto | 1875–1883 | 91–107 |
| 9 | J. C. Bancroft Davis | 1883–1902 | 108–186 |
| 10 | Charles Henry Butler | 1902–1916 | 187–241 |
| 11 | Ernest Knaebel | 1916–1944 | 242–321 |
– | Office vacant | 1944–1946 | 322–325[a] |
| 12 | Walter Wyatt | 1946–1963 | 326–375 |
| 13 | Henry Putzel Jr. | 1964–1979 | 376–444 |
| 14 | Henry Curtis Lind | 1979–1987 | 445–479 |
| 15 | Frank D. Wagner | 1987 – September 30, 2010[5] | 480–561 |
| 16 | Christine Luchok Fallon | March 3, 2011[5] – September 25, 2020 | 562–591 |
| 17 | Rebecca Anne Womeldorf | January 13, 2021[6] – present | 592– |
| Source:[7] | |||
- ^ Volumes 322–325 (1944–1946) were retroactively edited by Walter Wyatt after he became Reporter of Decisions in 1946.
See also edit
- Court reporter
- Lists of United States Supreme Court cases by volume
- Reporter of decisions for similar offices in other countries
- United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co.
- Wheaton v. Peters, a dispute between two reporters that reached the Supreme Court
References edit
- ^ See: 28 U.S.C. § 673c
- ^ See: 3 Stat. 376
- ^ Arberg, Kathleen (28 December 2020). "Rebecca Anne Womeldorf has been named the new Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States". Washington, D.C.: Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ^ "Court Officers and Staff: Reporter of Decisions". fjc.gov. Washington, D.C.: Federal Judicial Center. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ a b "Christine L. Fallon Named Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the U.S." (Press release). Supreme Court of the United States. March 7, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
- ^ "Rebecca Womeldorf Named Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the U.S." (Press release). Supreme Court of the United States. December 28, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
- ^ Joyce, Craig (9 August 2005). "Reporters of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States". Public Law and Legal Theory Series 2005-A-11. Houston, Texas: University of Houston Law Center. SSRN 800884. Retrieved February 23, 2020.