Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States

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Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States
Seal of the United States Supreme Court.svg
Seal of the Supreme Court
Incumbent
Rebecca Anne Womeldorf
since January 13, 2021
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.
AppointerThe Supreme Court
Term length No fixed term
Constituting instrument 28 U.S.C.   § 673
Formation1817
First holder Alexander J. Dallas
Website www.supremecourt.gov

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 .

Contents

By federal statute, the reporter is appointed by the Supreme Court. [2] The office is currently held by Rebecca Anne Womeldorf. [3]

History

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

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.

NameTenureVolumes edited
1 Alexander James Dallas (1759-1817) 1873 26 lightened.jpeg Alexander J. Dallas 1790–18001–4 (1–4 Dallas)
2 William Cranch portrait.jpg William Cranch 1801–18155–13 (1–9 Cranch)
3 Henry Wheaton by George Peter Alexander Healy.png Henry Wheaton 1816–182714–25 (1–12 Wheat.)
4 Eastman Johnson, Richard Peters, c. 1842, NGA 180965 (cropped).jpg Richard Peters 1828–184226–41 (1–16 Pet.)
5 Benjamin Chew Howard 1791-1872.jpg Benjamin Chew Howard 1843–186042–65 (1–24 How.)
6 Judge Jeremiah Black.jpg Jeremiah S. Black 1861–186266–67 (1–2 Black)
7 John William Wallace - John Neagle (page 25 crop).jpg John William Wallace 1863–187468–90 (1–23 Wall.)
8 WilliamTodOtto.jpg William Tod Otto 1875–188391–107
9 J. C. Bancroft Davis.jpg J. C. Bancroft Davis 1883–1902108–186
10 BUTLER, CHARLES HENRY LCCN2016860312.jpg Charles Henry Butler 1902–1916187–241
11 Ernest Knaebel 1916–1944242–321
–
Office vacant1944–1946322–325 [lower-alpha 1]
12 Walter Wyatt 1946–1963326–375
13 Henry Putzel Jr., Reporter of the Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, half-length portrait, facing front, seated at a desk in his office, surrounded by law books, Washington, D.C.tif Henry Putzel Jr. 1964–1979376–444
14 Henry Curtis Lind 1979–1987445–479
15 Frank D. Wagner 1987 – September 30, 2010 [5] 480–561
16 Christine Luchok Fallon.jpg Christine Luchok Fallon March 3, 2011 [5] – September 25, 2020562–591
17 Rebecca Anne Womeldorf January 13, 2021 [6] – present592–
Source: [7]
  1. ↑ Volumes 322–325 (1944–1946) were retroactively edited by Walter Wyatt after he became Reporter of Decisions in 1946.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ See: 28 U.S.C.   § 673c
  2. ↑ See: 3  Stat.   376
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ "Court Officers and Staff: Reporter of Decisions". fjc.gov. Washington, D.C.: Federal Judicial Center . Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  5. 1 2 "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.
  6. ↑ "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.
  7. ↑ 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.
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