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Supreme and Appellate Court Decisions
Available on Judicial Branch Website
HARTFORD
—
Advance release opinions of
the Supreme and Appellate Courts are now available to the public on the State of
Connecticut Judicial Branch website, www.jud.ct.gov. On Wednesday, July 12th,
two Supreme Court and several Appellate Court opinions will be placed on the website for
the first time ever. The information is free to interested parties and includes the case
docket number, the judges who heard the case, the attorneys who argued it, the date it was
argued and the date of its release. Each listing includes the majority opinion and any
concurrent or dissenting opinions in that particular case.
"The impetus to post the opinions on the
Judicial Branch website was to give the public easy access to the decisions of the Supreme
and Appellate Courts," said Chief Justice Francis M. McDonald, Jr. "I am happy
to see this go forward."
In addition to the website, opinions are
still available through subscription to the Electronic Bulletin Board Service and at the
State Library and Judicial Branch Law Libraries as well as in The Connecticut Law
Journal. Ultimately, all decisions by the Supreme and Appellate Courts are published
in the Official Connecticut Reports and the Connecticut Appellate Reports.
"Our website is an evolving project and
we continue to solicit ideas and recommendations from members of the bar and the public to
better improve the information that is available," said Robert C. Leuba, Chief Court
Administrator. "Having these advance opinions of the Supreme and Appellate Courts
provides a valuable resource for all, whether the user is a member of the legal community
or not."
The "officially released" date that
appears near the beginning of each opinion is the date the opinion will be published in
the Connecticut Law Journal or the date it was released as a slip opinion. The
operative date for the beginning of all time periods for filing post-opinion motions and
petitions for certification is the "officially released" date appearing in the
opinion. In no event will any such motions be accepted before the "officially
released" date.
All opinions are subject to modification and
technical correction prior to official publication in the Connecticut Reports and Connecticut
Appellate Reports. In the event of discrepancies between the electronic version of an
opinion and the print version appearing in the Connecticut Law Journal and
subsequently in the Connecticut Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports,
the latest print version is to be considered authoritative.
The posting of the opinions is just one of
the many additions to the Judicial Branch website, which has been cited by two
organizations, Justice Served and the National Center for State Courts, as one of
the Top 10 Judicial websites in the country.
For information please contact Ginny Apple,
Manager of Communications, (860) 566-8219.
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