Date: Thu, 25 Jul 1996 11:49:49 -0400 (EDT) From: James McDonough Subject: EPIN Summary ************************************************************************** SUMMARYOF THE ELECTRONIC PUBLIC INFORMATION NEWSLETTER VOL. 6, No. 7 July 1996 ************************************************************************** INDEX: 1. West Opposes ABA Special Committee Proposal On Legal Citations 2. Tax Analysts Appeals a U.S. District Court Decision On JURIS Database 3. Consultant Sprehe Warns NTIS It Must Develop New Products 4. Office of Management and Budget Slates GILS Conference for November **************************************************************************** For more information on the complete ELECTRONIC PUBLIC INFORMATION NEWSLETTER or to receive a free sample of the complete printed version send an email message to: epin@access.digex.net. Include your snail mail address. ***************************************************************************** 1. West Opposes ABA Special Committee Proposal On Legal Citations: West Publishing Company of Eagan, MN opposes major parts of a recommendation by the Special Committee on Citation Issues of the American Bar Association (ABA) that the nation's courts adop t a uniform method of citation, which the Committee claims would be equally effective for printed or electronically published opinions. However, the company fell short of stating whether it will actively lobby to have the recommendation amended when it c omes up for approval before the ABA House of Delegates, the organization's top legislative body, at its scheduled meeting August 5-6 in Orlando, FL. Georgia Attorney J. D. Fleming, Jr., Chair of the Special Citation Committee, said that, although it is di fficult to predict how the body will vote, he has received no opposition to the proposal from any ABA group. Nevertheless, James Freidman of the law firm of LaFollete & Sinykin, which represents the West Publishing Company, said in a telephone interview from his Madison, WI office that both the Intellectual Property Law Section and the General Practice Section of the ABA have gone on record calling for changes in the Special Committee recommendation. He said West opposes the part of the recommendation that makes it optional for the courts to require a legal citation to a printed or physical source. 2. Tax Analysts Appeals a U.S. District Court Decision On JURIS Database: Tax Analysts of Washington, D.C. has appealed a District of Columbia U.S. District Court decision denying its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for large parts of the Depart ment of Justice's (DOJ) JURIS (Justice Retrieval and Inquiry System) database. JURIS is an electronic legal research system, containing federal court opinions, regulations and digest material, created and maintained by DOJ up until 1994. An attorney repr esenting Tax Analysts said District Court Judge Gladys Kessler, who decided the case, "doesn't understand computers and databases." The nonprofit organization that publishes news and documents about federal, state and local taxation filed its appeal in M ay before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The District Court ruled earlier this year (1/16) that the parts of JURIS supplied to DOJ by the West Publishing Company were not "agency records" and therefore not subject to a FOIA reque st. Beginning in 1983, DOJ contracted with West to supply 80% of the JURIS material. The most recent contract between the two entities ran from 1988-93. 3. Consultant Sprehe Warns NTIS It Must Develop New Products: A private information consultant has warned the National Information Technology Service (NTIS) that it must develop new products, and new relationships with federal agencies and the private sec tor if the agency is not to "wither and atrophy." J. Timothy Sprehe, President of Sprehe Information Management Associates, Inc. of Washington, D.C., made the recommendation in the report, A Study of NTIS Prices Compared to Costs. NTIS had commissioned t he report after receiving reports that its prices were out of line. A NTIS spokesperson said the report, which was completed in March, cost under $25,000, but that the agency would not reveal the exact amount paid to Sprehe. However, Sprehe said the con tract was for $24,000. 4. Office of Management and Budget Slates GILS Conference for November: The Office of Management and Budget is planning to hold a major agency conference on the Government Information Locator Service (GILS) in late November. The conference is part of an e valuation of GILS promised by the GILS Board for the current calendar year. ******************************************************************************** James McDonough, Editor epin@access.digex.net Tel: 301/365-3621 Fax: 301/365-2782