Appellate Court Rules Governing Publication, Citation, and Precedential Value of Opinions: An Update

<div> In the mid-1970s, the federal courts of appeals began to&nbsp;<span>issue opinions designated “unpublished” that were not typically&nbsp;</span><span>published, citable, or accorded any precedential value. Many&nbsp;</span><span>states followed suit. A great debate ensued questioning the&nbsp;</span><span>practice, which has consumed considerable academic attention&nbsp;</span><span>and appellate rulemaking time. States continue to vary in their&nbsp;</span><span>treatment of unpublished opinions and even in the wake of&nbsp;</span><span>Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1, intended to provide&nbsp;</span><span>uniformity, the federal circuits remain inconsistent.&nbsp;</span><span>This&nbsp;</span><span>survey seeks not only to update the information on these issues,&nbsp;</span><span>but also to provide information about various jurisdictions’ rules&nbsp;</span><span>on the precedential value accorded to decisions. The charts that&nbsp;</span><span>follow, like those in prior surveys, attempt to convey the essence&nbsp;</span><span>of each jurisdiction’s rules. The goal is to provide a quick&nbsp;</span><span>reference to the rules from each jurisdiction and a source for&nbsp;</span><span>comparison of jurisdictions.</span> </div>