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Judges reading legal blogs

From Steve Bainbridge, I picked up on discussion between he and Howard Bashman on judges reading legal blogs.

Howard asks:

What should judges do if, while visiting the legal blogosphere, they encounter discussions about how pending cases ought to be decided?

And concludes:

… if the blog post is publicly available to anyone with Internet access, and if the blogger has not taken any steps other than publishing the post to draw it to the attention of the judges before whom a case is pending, then those judges are free to consider and rely on that information if they find it to be helpful.

I agree with Steve that this is a non issue.

Judges read law review articles and treatises all the time, as Bashman himself acknowledges. There’s no reason for blawg posts of the type he describes to be treated any differently than law reviews or treatises.

Not sure why we’re so afraid to accept blogs for what they can be. Well reasoned analysis of legal issues from some of the more knowledgeable people around. I’d be scared if judges were not reading some of them.

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  • http://www.georgiabankruptcyblog.com Scott Riddle

    My stats show that uscourts.gov ranks pretty high on the domains reading the blog each day, so someone in the courts is reading every day.

  • http://kevin.lexblog.com Kevin OKeefe

    Good pickup Scott. Steve Jakubowski at the Bankruptcy Litigation Blog mentions the same thing – big audience with US Bankruptcy Courts.
    Maybe that’s why I found the Federal Bankruptcy Judges, as opposed to some other judges, a pretty good group to work with.
    Seriously, with bankruptcy law always evolving, especially with the recent reformation, the judges and clerks are smart following the discussion among leaders in the bar.

  • James

    Tennessee judges and lawyers doesn’t understand the true meanin of abuse and shoulder dystocia in babys. If a child is a shoulder dystocia deliver and the DCS takes the child or children from there mother or father, in court it is abuse and not injury due to brith. Why is the system this way? They need to look futher into the matter so a child can stay with his mother or father when this happens. this brings back a case in Manchester Tennessee, the judge has called this case off four times already cause the dcs hasn’t came up with there info but why don’t the judge read stories that really happen on here so he or she can understand the truth and not lies the layers tell in court. I know this girl will loose her child in December 06 cause they say abuse and in which case it was abuse by the doctor who delivered the baby but taking it away from the mother is better they think cause of doctors being sued all the time for things they do. If anyone reads this, please feel free to copy and paste this message and place it anywhere you feel like and i do not care if it’s on every webpage on the internet. Please read the link below i have placed on here also and copy it also and see if shoulder dystocia can or cannot cause broken ribs and i truely hope all the lawyers and judges here in Coffee County Tennessee reads this all. Thanks
    http://alexanderharris.co.uk/page/Case_Study_Daniel_73.asp